More handpicked essays just for you.
Summary essay on excerpt from the prince by machiavelli
Machiavelli's.the.prince.analysis
Machiavelli's.the.prince.analysis
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
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.
Then for Machiavelli he talks about how a prince should show no fear instead for him to show that he is the one with power. That a prince's people should fear him. Both authors go on to talk on how their people react based on the prince and princesse act. The authors then go on to explain how they should view and run their people. Both authors also reflect the fact that the way their people are going to act towards them is mainly based off of how they treat them.
Machiavelli expressed that it is good to be loved, but when it comes down to controversial decisions, fear is vital among members of a country. Machiavelli also believed that if citizens of a country feared a leader, they would always be forced to stay loyal. He believed in a totalitarian government. Machiavelli wanted a harsh government with unlimited power and unfair citizen standards. Fear of individuals seen as essential is very similar to slaveholders' views. "
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
Machiavelli also says that any time a person does anything that does not overtly benefit them there is an underlying reason that gives said person some sort of gain. This is a fair assumption to make because sometimes this is the truth, but we are not biologically hardwired to do this, it is not within our nature and therefore it cannot be a law. One might claim that, with the introduction of capitalism and society, some are able to overcome instinct to be more self beneficial while some are not, and this is true, but not all are able to do so in every circumstance, for instance not everyone would kill someone else for personal gain, only a select few would, and it proves that it is impossible to predict what any person or a population would do since some can overcome instinct but
Ultimately, this means that a prince should look to be feared rather than loved, but at the same time refrain from being hated. For men are, “ungrateful, fickle, pretenders, and dissemblers, evaders of danger, eager for gain” meaning that man is more likely to break trust with a loved prince for their own gain (66). However, a feared, but unhated prince is one that few are willing to conspire against, as there is little opposition due to lack of hatred, and fear of punishment. Machiavelli cites the roman emperor Severus as one who successfully executes this balance, and use of fear to maintain security. Severus carefully used deception and ferocity to gain and maintain power in Rome, as he defeated one general, and deceived another.
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.
The best place to begin for this where he answered the question which is better to be loved or feared Love or Fear Which is to be better loved or feared? This question is an important one and Machiavelli answer for it is great. “One ought to be both feared and loved, but as it is difficult for the two to go together, it is much safer to be feared than loved” (Machiavelli 61). This leads to one of his core beliefs which is that, he believes humans are awful creatures and will seek out
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.
According to Machiavelli, a prince who keeps his promises is generally praised. But history demonstrates that most success is achieved when princes are crafty, tricky and able to deceive others. A prince can fight or succeed by using law or by using force. The use of law comes naturally to men and the use of force comes naturally to beasts. Hence, to achieve success, the prince must learn to fight with a balance between both law and force.
According to him, rulers should know their respective limits when it comes to the force and violence they inflict. Machiavelli believes that maximizing betrayal, deception and other cruel acts aren’t considered talents. Although these methods are effective in gaining empire, these don’t help in getting glory. Therefore, using violence and cruelty may be necessary but should have limits. The prince must know up to what extent his violence should be inflicted upon and he must do it all at once to avoid the hatred and resentment from his
The Songs On The Radio Are Okay As an avid music listener, I tend to tune into the local radio stations when wanting a daily dose of music, but in these last few years I’d rather dig out my old iPod and aux cord than endure the repetitive new age nonsense that plays on a continuous loop every two hours. No matter what button your finger eagerly clicks, you’ll have at least three stations playing the same Justin Bieber song about loving oneself or some offspring sound with a regurgitated beat and an earworm of a chorus to help the singer achieve millionaire status with your hard earned money. While artist like Judah and the Lion and Black Map get zero radio play because their music is vastly unknown to people who refuse to broaden their musical horizon from Taylor Swift and Drake.
Both of these highly influential authors had different opinions on ruling that would shape how people would rule during their time and for rulers to come. One of Machiavelli’s major points in The Prince was that it was better to be feared than to be loved. He said this was because while both ways can be useful tools to help one rule, men are less likely to turn a ruler if they were afraid of punishment. Machiavelli had little faith in the common man and had this to say about them, “They are ungrateful, fickle, deceptive and deceiving, avoiders of dangers, eager to gain”(pg.353).
Probably one of the most infamous and controversial ideologies of the 16th century, the prince by Machiavelli has been a reference for many great leaders and academicians since it was published. The book provides historically tested and proven principles of leadership. The prince has been described as a manual for those who want to win and retain power. While some may argue that leadership is an inherent trait in human, leaders are made, not born. Making a great leader out of a person is not just a matter of identifying the leadership traits, skill and talents of the individual, but harnessing the traits, develop them and eventually mastering how to be leader.
I. Machiavelli In his famous work the Prince Niccolo Machiavelli exposes what it takes to be a good prince and how only this good price and keep control over his state. There are many different qualities that make a man a good ruler but there are some that are more essential than others. In this work Machiavelli stresses the importance of being a warrior prince, a wise prince, and knowing how to navigate the duality of virtù and vices. Without these attributes there was no way that a prince could hold together their state and their people.
