The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli

The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli

The Prince written by Niccolo Machiavelli simply puts forth the beliefs of Machiavelli in how a ruler should rule during a time of chaos, power struggles, and political turmoil in Italy. He is hoping to gain respect from the Medici family with his views in government and politics and a one way ticket back into the Florentine government, where he used to work. One of the main points in the article that Machiavelli wanted to make note of was the necessity of a prince to act not only good in most occasions, but also know the importance of being evil whenever required. This is shown through the quote, "It is necessary for a prince, who wishes to maintain himself, to learn how not to be good, and to use this knowledge and not use it, according to the necessity of the case" (Machiavelli Pg. 56). Machiavelli truly believes if the prince possesses this quality, it will allow Italy to be successful and prosper into a better environment for everyone to live in. Another main point Machiavelli tries to get though in his writing is, a prince should be able to adapt to any situation or circumstances well in order to deal will dilemmas he might come across. He is trying to tell his audience that one can "seem merciful faithful, humane, sincere, religious," (Machiavelli Chapter 18) but when in need one must be versatile enough to show the opposite of those characteristics when ruling. The final main point of the article is, as long as the prince shows to have great believe in religion, god, and the life a Christian should live, it will be easier for him to have power of the state in the palm of his hand. If people see this quality in the prince, they will be more gullible and believe his actions, even if they're evil and against the beliefs of the bible, are still pure and meant for the good of the state and its people.

This article is definitely not a very reliable source if someone ever wanted to know how a prince should rule. The author, Niccolo Machiavelli is trying his hardest to get back into the government of Italy and pursue his career as part of the Florentine civil service again. Due to his removal from the government because of the Medici family coming back to power in 1512, Machiavelli is forced to write as a plea to persuade them to have his old job back. Since his audience is mainly focused on the Medici family and the book is an application to allow them to see his opinions about government and ruling, this source is not very reliable. His application is subjective because when writing to the Medici family he will most definitely praise them indirectly in his writing and make sure that they are pleased by what he wrote. In doing so, Machiavelli isn't speaking the entire truth about the government and the musts and must not's of ruling during that time in fear of disapproval from the Medici family. The author has a bias towards what he's writing not only due to the place in society he was in or the type of document being used, but more importantly because his writing is dedicated to the Medici family, making them his main focus for the audience.

The Prince is a book that is considered to serve a great significance due to the distinct opinions the writer has during a time of uncertainty in Italy. The major change in Medici family becoming the rulers of Florence is what drove Machiavelli to write the book which is more of an application to the family in hopes of a job and a stable government for a longer period of time than Italy had experienced before. It is notable for being unique since it is blunt in pointing out what a prince should and should not and also because it was a bold move on Machiavelli's part since he couldn't be guaranteed that the Medici family would approve of his words, even if they were sugar coated. As students of world history, we can apply the beliefs of Machiavelli and study several princes or rulers who might have followed those same rules to see whether he was right in having the certain opinions he had. In today's modern world, Machiavelli's belief of a ruler to be versatile is very true, causing the significance of what he wrote to be important and to an extent even be right.

Supriya Nair 9-19-11

The City of Ladies

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