Idol In The Prince

1670 Words7 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 pave 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