ipl-logo

The Influence Of Power In Shakespeare's The Prince

1352 Words6 Pages

The main influence on society are the people with the most power, who the average, everyday person aspires to be. What makes someone an “idol”? An idol is a person or thing that is greatly admired, loved, or revered, a person who individuals yearn to be. People have a need to seek themselves in others, it is a characteristic of human nature to want to belong and fit in. This is what can make an idol or celebrity so influential and powerful. People admire people of power because they have traits, values and qualities that the average person wishes to possess and replicate. Idols must have admirable traits in order to maintain their high profile meaning. Throughout history, celebrities are constantly changing. Society has gone from dreaming to …show more content…

The “ideal” idol gained their power by being remarkably intelligent and liable. Machiavelli is the perfect example of this. Machiavelli gained his power from being a political leader for people to seek themselves in. This justifies people’s needs for power, and therefore, they envied Machiavelli because of his political power. Machiavelli influences the modern political science we still use today, and continue to pathe his paths. His book, The Prince uses Renaissance values and applies them to politics, intriguing most everyone. His book targets powerful men, teaching them how to gain and maintain power. “It is not al all necessary for a prince to have all the good qualities which I have named, but it is necessary to seem to have them” (Machiavelli). Although Machiavelli gained his power, not every man can, so Machiavelli is saying that in order to become an idol, you just have to project the idea of power. People with power are admired, so Machiavelli wrote a book teaching how to gain power, and become and idol themselves. This allowed Machiavelli to “create a stir” and “shock the Western world” (ABC Clio), and become the idol that we know him as today. Machiavelli was the turning point where men started to value power, seeking to find Machiavelli in

Show More
Related

  • Comparing The Qualities Of The Prince And Letter From Birmingham Jail

    910 Words  | 4 Pages

    President Obama echo a leadership of both Niccolo Machiavelli "The Qualities of the Prince" and Martin Luther King Jr. "Letter from Birmingham Jail". Machiavelli point of view to become a successful prince was that you must lead your people. He talks about how a prince should appear to his people for authority. There are different types of principles such as war and is it better to be loved or feared.

    Read More

  • The Prince Rhetorical Analysis

    676 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Niccolo Machiavelli's book, The Prince (1513), he evaluates on how a prince can be a successful leader. Machiavelli’s purpose of this guidebook was to construct his argument to the rising ruler Giuliano de Medici for when he comes to power in Florence. He adopts a casual but authoritative tone in order to convince the prince that Machiavelli’s evaluation on how to be the best prince, is the right thing for the prince to do without coming off as he knows more than the prince or is trying to intimidate him.. Machiavelli’s reference to previous rulers and whether their tactics failed or succeeded helps to benefit his credibility along with his allusion to historic text. He appeals to our logic by simply stating a prince can only do what is within his power to control, and his use of an analogy furthers his argument.

    Read More

  • Thomas Jefferson And Niccolo Machiavelli's The Morals Of The Prince

    762 Words  | 4 Pages

    Machiavelli argues the perfect prince will be both feared and loved by his people, and if unable to be both he will make himself feared and not hated. Machiavelli believes it is much safer to be feared than to be loved because people are less likely to offend and stand up against strong characters, also people are less concerned in offending a prince who has made himself loved. Accordingly, Machiavelli believes generosity is harmful to your reputation and the choice between being generous or stingy, merciful or cruel, honest or deceitful, should only be important if it aids the prince in political power. All in all, Machiavelli believes the ruler must be a great deceiver and do what is essential to uphold power over the

    Read More

  • First Global Age Analysis

    716 Words  | 3 Pages

    The main point made by Machiavelli was that men are inherently bad, so a leader must rule in a way that takes this into account. He taught that because of man’s ungratefulness, it is safer to be feared than loved (D-4). This shows that Machiavelli believed that the power and success of a country will lead to the prosperity of its inhabitants. Both influential people believed that a country prospers the most under absolute power.

    Read More

  • Money And Power In Shakespeare's King Lear

    1961 Words  | 8 Pages

    As the human race continues to evolve there has been one common theme that stays the same. Humans are driven by money and power. It is just the nature of humans. We tend to thrive off of the thrill of having materialistic objects and control of others. In the Shakespearean tragedy King Lear it portrays two fathers who put too much blind trust into their kids.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Niccólo Machiavelli's The Prince

    1519 Words  | 7 Pages

    Hence, he uses personal pronouns like “you” and “I” as well as phrases like “My reply is.” This makes it seem like The Prince becoming famous was neither Machiavelli’s first priority nor real purpose; he simply wanted to express his knowledge on the western government and gives advice on how to be a strong leader. Also, some of his words sound like he was in grief. For instance, the sentence that says “But as soon as you need help, they turn against you.” It could be that he was disappointed or was betrayed that he decided to put together The Prince.

    Read More

  • Qualities Of A Good Man In Machiavelli's The Prince

    1284 Words  | 6 Pages

    In Machiavelli’s book, The Prince, he maintains a harsh perspective on reality. His advice on how to maintain power leaves no room for compassion or generousity. While some may believe that these are qualities of a good person, Machiavelli believes these qualities lead to the downfall of rulers. He acknowledges that, in reality, it is impossible for someone to have qualities of a good person and simultaneously a good ruler. Machiavelli’s realistic outlook causes him to emphasize that it is better to maintain power through fear, rather than compassion.

    Read More

  • Erasmus Vs Machiavelli

    1034 Words  | 5 Pages

    Machiavelli has the most correct ideas on both controlling the people as a ruler and on being remembered as a great one. These two viewpoints had great influence during their time and for centuries to come, both with modern ideas and correct ideas even though they had a lot of contrast. Machiavelli’s The Prince may be thought of the more recognizable of the two in the present, but people in the present day have many of the same ideas that

    Read More

  • Power And Corruption In Shakespeare's Macbeth

    496 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the play Macbeth by Shakespeare, the main character Macbeth believes he will be king. The power he thinks he will have causes him to kill the people who stand in his way Of fulfilling his destiny. The Spiderman quote “With power comes great responsibility,” relates to the theme of Shakespeare's play Macbeth. Macbeth and the actor Lindsay Lohan, share the trait that people with power often abuse it, corruption is frequently the result of responsibility to great for one person.

    Read More

  • Machiavelli: The Existence Of Selfish Individualism

    1012 Words  | 5 Pages

    The contemporary world has been referred to by many names. The modern age is considered to be the age of information or the age of technology. Though these different names do not define the Zeitgeist of today’s world, they all point to main cultural functions that can be observed and seen. The spirit of the times of today’s world is the idea of selfish individualism, or ego. Machiavelli states that human nature is cruel and self-interested.

    Read More

  • Plato Vs Machiavelli

    429 Words  | 2 Pages

    He believes anyone can rule a polis if they have virtu. Once a ruler, a simple rule to follow to maintain power and not to be hated by the people, is to “not take away a man’s possession or woman”, Machiavelli believes the people will not feel threaten by following this rule, thus maintaining a stable polis. He expresses how “human nature never changes”, and that people are self-interested and they can turn against you once you are not profiting them. A good ruler must have the strength to do whatever it takes to obtain and maintain power, which essentially means that even if they have to hurt some of the people for the benefit of the popular mass, then they shall do so for the greater cause. Both Plato and Machiavelli believe that there must be a government in order for human kind to survive.

    Read More

  • The Position Of Power Revealed In Shakespeare's Macbeth

    856 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the position of power, people are often driven off the deep side. Sane goes to crazy, and crazy goes to schizophrenia. There are many real world and fictional examples such as, Julius Cesar and Maleficent, who were great leaders at a point but then driven to be nefarious. If you are filled with power you provoke yourself more than anyone else, you act first and make sure things happen, and being superior; you distance yourself. The accommodation that ignited the power to consume Macbeth was the witches praising him by saying , “All hail, Macbeth!

    Read More

  • The Failure Of Leadership In Machiavelli's The Prince

    981 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Prince, written by Machiavelli, is a candid outline of how he believes leaders gain and keep power. Machiavelli uses examples of past leaders to determine traits that are necessary to rule successfully. Leaders such as the King of Naples and the Duke of Milan lacked military power, made their subjects hate them, or did not know how to protect themselves from the elite, causing them to lose power. He says that these rulers should blame laziness, not luck, for their failures. By looking at these historical successes and failures, Machiavelli is able to develop his own thoughts on how politics and leaders should be in the future.

    Read More

  • Machiavelli: The Characteristics Of Being A Good Prince

    1526 Words  | 7 Pages

    This is a work that still influences us today and is still relevant in today’s complex society. Some of the most prominent leaders of the 20th century have been influenced by Machiavellian ideas. U.S Presidents like Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton and U.K Prime Minister Anthony Blair are called Machiavellian leaders today. According to Machiavelli a prince must focus all his serious time and energy to war and how to wage it (Machiavelli, 31).

    Read More

  • The Prince Reflection

    1021 Words  | 5 Pages

    In his novel, the prince, nicolo machiavelli guides us to be a fruitful ruler. He clarifies the best routes for any ruler or sovereign to govern a region, bring prosper to the society, and keep up their position. This book can be read by anyone to get a few pointers on political issues. Most of the thoughts held by machivelli were linked to mercilessness and evil, hence they raised a considerable number of eyebrows. He maintains that the ruler 's primary goal should be conquering, staying in control of the general public and to always have the idea of war in mind.

    Read More

More about The Influence Of Power In Shakespeare's The Prince

Open Document