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Lord Varys In Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince

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As modeled by Niccolò Machiavelli in The Prince, a great leader should hold an even amount of love and fear over his citizens. In today’s day and age, many principles from this work have been disproven but as we take a look at contemporary art, such as television, it is seen that many ideas have found their way in. In the story told by the show Game of Thrones many characters embody traits Machiavelli describes in The Prince, some more rather than others. Although this character is not a prince currently, his intelligence and political prowess make him, Lord Varys, my Prince. Lord Varys is a quiet but very influential character in Game of Thrones and he serves the realm which gives him the right to the throne in a Machiavellian manner. Lord …show more content…

He uses this to his advantage however and that is what molds him into a great “prince”. After a botched military career and the deficiency of fortune and power from birth, Varys knew he had to pave his own path to reach the top of the hierarchy in the Seven Kingdoms. Varys began a Machiavellian stance here, because “Those private citizens who rise to become princes solely as a result of good fortune have little trouble rising, but much trouble remaining on top” (Machiavelli 348) as Machiavelli said himself. The Spider works hard to establish his credibility and integrity by making sure he is always of service to those who may destroy him in the end. Varys creates a deep network of spies, he calls his little birds, made up of local children and orphans to help gather information throughout the realm. This pushes Varys very high up and gets him a job with King Aerys II Targaryen because everyone needs auxiliaries, or allies, during all the chaos that goes on in this city. Although Machiavelli describes auxiliaries as, “…useless and dangerous” (Machiavelli 357) and armies that help aid in time of war, the King in Game of Thrones needs as many trustworthy people in his corner as possible and with Varys’s skill in gathering secrets and other important information he became the number one auxiliary in which everyone wanted on their

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The Prince: A Decidedly unMedieval Piece of Work The Prince, written by Niccolo Machiavelli, was a secular handbook that dealt with modern statecraft and leadership. In fact, this was the first modern book that discussed political science. This book has influenced many well-known leaders, such as Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. This essay will discuss the past behaviours of Machiavelli to prove that this book, The Prince, is a decidedly unMedieval piece of work which does not follow the idea of living life so that it is worthy of respect and honour, as stated in the Medieval Code of Chivalry.

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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.

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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

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Tyrants are always in doubt of everything and everyone around them, they can never be sure of people’s intentions because they do not trust anyone, not even their own families, and they have no friends. For this reason they need to have as many guards as they can get to protect them from any harm that might come their

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Lord Baelish does everything he can to avoid punishment by skirting the letter of the law. One example of this is when one of the first things Little Finger had to say to Sansa when he saw her again after selling her to the Boltons was that he was so glad to see her unharmed and claimed that he was coming to her aid, when in fact he was not really concerned about her safety at all. He states that he will do whatever she asks and that he wishes he could undo what had been done to her, which just shows how deceiving he can really be. Once again he acts as the court jester by telling Sansa that her uncle has taken River Run and that she should try to find him. He then tries to install doubt into her head by questioning her when she says her army and he asks her if she meant her half brother’s army, once again showing how he is ambiguous and likes to try to deceive people (Sansa Confronts Littlefinger, 00:53-4:35).

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In Machiavelli’s “The Morals of the Prince” the idea of a ruler’s/ tyrant’s obligation to his people is also presented. In one section, Machiavelli talks a ruler’s best way to navigate himself through leadership. Machiavelli weighs between the importance of being generous and self-preservative. A ruler risks his entire welfare for the sake of being seen as benevolent. He states, “A prince of character is bound to use up his entire revenue in works of ostentation...

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In The Prince (1532), Machiavelli lists elements a prince should have. The biggest thing Machiavelli cautions against is breeding hatred. He claims that “[…] a wise prince should establish himself on that which is in his own control and not in that of others; he must endeavor only to avoid hatred” (Machiavelli 82). Hatred will lead to loss of control. If the civilians hate the prince, then they have control over him.

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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.

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Machiavelli has clearly started a lot of thought on how the school of Realism operates. Though his view on humans and some of his methods may be extreme, The Prince and the Discourses shows a lot of insight on what do if a prince wants to hold his power and what action should be done to do

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Throughout the course of the article, many tips were given to help a college student make the transition from a community college environment to a four-year institution. The importance of going from a community college to a school of higher learning can be seen in many aspects such as cost and personal situations. Some people when graduating high school may not feel that they are prepared to take on a full course load away from home and the comfort of those surrounding them. Others may have a financial burden causing them to have to take classes at a community college to save money. No matter what the reason is for someone completing his or her 2-year degree at a community college, they must have tools available to them to succeed in any type

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Through all these conflicting characteristics, a side of Hamlet is seen in a new light; a Machiavellian prince. This aspect of Hamlet is the ruthless and cunning tactician who is open to using deceit for his own ends. Machiavelli, in his book 'The Prince ', shows a set of guidelines and philosophical arguments for a ruler to embody. He states that a ruler cannot always be virtuous and good as different situations could lead him to evil and inhumane acts as shown in his statement "learn how not to be good"(Machiavelli, Ch. XV). Machiavelli also stakes his point on a ruler been versatile with his analogy of the fox and lion.

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Correspondingly, in the beginning, when the prince has problems with the Christ’s Hospital boys mocking him, he would attempt to resolve it with a prideful royal edict. Furthermore, when he learned of his father 's death the former king, he immediately fills with pride from the thought “how grand and strange it seems – I AM KING!” Conversely, when the new venerable king finds acceptance in the home of a good wife, he humbles himself to the family level while eating breakfast, instead of being imperious requiring her family

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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.

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According to Machiavelli, ideal prince is a risk-taker who puts a military on action, as the people respect the warrior. An ideal prince thinks for himself rather than relying on others, knows how to read characters, and does not surround himself with flatterers. He lives in reality, not fantasy. He works hard, utilizes his own mind, and makes survival of his guide. The ideal leader is neither loved nor hated, but respected.

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