“A leader is a dealer in hope.” Even Napoleon referred that leaders are meant to be reassuring. Are all benevolent leaders successful? Niccolo Machiavelli, an economist in the Renaissance, will absolutely say no. His method of keeping immense power by using fear to manipulate citizens has been manifested for a long period of time, since the book The Prince was published. Similarly, his methods are manifested in William Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar with characters that are attractive and expressive, yet flawed. Although some of the characters from Julius Caesar did not manifest Machiavellian traits, those that did ran into the same consequences as those who didn’t, indicating that a disastrous ending awaits them either way. …show more content…
First of all, Caesar is overly lavish to Roman citizens. Therefore, he fell from power. Caesar believes that leaders are supposed be compassionate, as Antony states in his eulogy after the assassination. “When the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept ” (5.3.100). In contrast, Machiavellian traits seem to be contradictory to what Caesar values as a quality of a good leader. In Machiavelli’s masterpiece, The Prince, claims that a leader must be a miser rather than being an indulgent leader. (Machiavelli 8). Caesar was never a miser through out the play; he was very compassionate to the poor. Moreover, Caesar’s lavish attitude accelerated the feeling of detestation among the senators, including the members of the conspirators. “A prince should try to avoid, above all else, being despised and hatred; and generosity results in …show more content…
Machiavelli’s traits are occasionally powerful especially “it’s better than being feared than loved”, while its effect is merely temporary that leaders often lose its power after a short time of their glory and dominance. As a conclusion, Machiavellian thoughts can be manifested through out politics today, however in Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”, all the characters lose their power and fame, as if it’s their fate. Not only the characters from Julius Caesar, modern day dictators such as Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler ruled over fear along with Machiavellian qualities, which seemed to be glorious in the beginning. However, they both faced a catastrophic end at last. Likewise, leaders should not cling to a particular method, since there is no right answer to be a good
Lao Tzu and Machiavelli have different perspective on how a leader should lead, one believes in a compassionate leader while the other believes in a cunning leader. These seemingly contrasting ideas can be combined to form an effective leader. Lao Tzu’s idea of a compassionate leader is compatible with Machiavelli’s idea of a cunning leader, because these ideas are complementary. For a leader to become respected and praised, one must be compassionate to one’s subjects. A leader must try to act for the benefit of the citizens, one must have empathy towards the people.
Despite their different opinions on the role fear should play in preserving a political order Niccolo Machiavelli and Thomas Hobbes both assert that fear is an important element of functional societies. Machiavelli’s The Prince primarily focuses on preserving and expanding a ruler’s position, while Hobbes’s Leviathan primary focus is on constructing an ideal commonwealth to escape the “state of nature”. Machiavelli believes that a ruler should use fear as a tool to maintain his position of power, while Hobbes believes that the use of fear should be to ensure the sanctity of contracts in a Commonwealth, the most important contractual obligations being the obligation between sovereigns and their subjects. Hobbes’s belief that fear should be used
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
In the book, Machiavelli believes in the idea of having a strong dominant leader, in order to preserve the benefits to the citizens as a group instead of individually. This strategy clearly shows in chapter seventeen where Machiavelli points out that every prince would prefer to be loved than to be feared. However, the two rarely co-existed. If one had to choose, it is not only better to be feared than to be loved but it is also much “safer” looking at it realistically. By safer, it means that you will not have to worry and watch out as much since people will be less likely to conspire against someone they fear than someone they love.
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.
Some playwrights choose to write plays about historical events, among them there is The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, a play that describes the downfall of the rule of Julius Caesar, but is also a play that is not as truthful as it first impressionably is, a complete truthful account of Julius Caesar’s assassination and the events leading up to it. In order to greater attract the audience, Shakespeare, along with other playwrights, relied on adding historical inaccuracies to add the necessary suspense. Thus, Shakespeare strayed away from historical events occurring during Caesar’s lifetime, implementing inaccuracy into the story. Shakespeare based one of his most well-known plays, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, on historical events that includes
In “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar”, Caesar’s main flaw is his arrogance and ambition, which both led to his doom. His overconfidence and self-love blinded him of the sharp thorns growing from his sides which were masked with loyalty and care. Viciously assassinated by the closest people in his heart, Julius Caesar had been known for centuries as the blind conceited man. On the other hand, loyalty conflicted Brutus, who is argued to be the protagonist of the tragedy. Although he was loyal to Caesar, he was loyal to his nation too and thought that the death of Caesar would be for the best for the nation.
His mindset was simple. to manifest dismay and use the overwhelming power as a dictator. His intentions are clear, and his words are powerful. With a combination of rhetorical devices, a symphony of teachings are made and preached. Machiavelli is a strong advocate to use fear to herd together the common man, he begins his argument by asking a simple question, “ Here the question… safer than to be loved”.
The play Julius Caesar, written by William Shakespeare, has many themes. The themes, or life lessons, that can be related to the world today, are ambition, power, and corruption. These motifs are similar to politics and the politicians of today. Does giving politician’s power make them too ambitious for more power? Are politician’s power hungry?
Machiavelli believed that men will follow a ruler as long as the ruler serves their interests, and a quick to turn against the ruler unless they fear great punishment. Machiavelli would say that it is best to be feared rather than loved as long as the fear does not cause hate, which he believed to be perfectly possible.
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.
In Shakespeare’s famous play, Julius Caesar, there's an essential theme of characters and their portrayal/actions in public versus private life. Julius Caesar himself led two very different lives with his family and close friends in contrast to how he presented himself to the public eye. In both settings, Caesar makes himself out to be invincible; however in private he is more vulnerable and superstitious whereas in public, he is immortal and the great leader Rome makes him out to be.
According to Machiavelli, a successful leader should to exhibit a certain character which is key to their success. He highlights five key qualities that a leader should possess A leader should be feared by the people. According to Machiavelli, it is better to be feared than loved. He believed that the people were less likely to revolt if they feared the leader
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).
Having an open mind is another characteristic people turn to when contemplating what an ideal person is. It shows that one is open to new ideas, suggestions and can see the opposing side of an argument. Appreciation is given to those with this trait because it is easier to reach agreements on important matters by both sides of the argument compromising. Machiavelli, on the other hand, prefers to be in control and tells people this in The Prince. Once again, he has a pessimistic outlook on what the optimal person is.