Tempest Vs Machiavelli

While not immediately recognizable, Machiavelli’s Prince and Shakespeare’s Tempest share many similarities. Machiavelli continually sites that a good leader is someone who has the desire and the ability to stay one step ahead of any rivals. He believes that if you rise up to gain authority, it is rightfully yours, as a good leader should always “depend on their own and are able to use force” (24). In this way, the connection between the Prince and the Tempest are clear. Shakespeare uses Antonio and Prospero to demonstrate Machiavelli’s views. In the Tempest, we learn that Antonio overthrew Prospero as the Duke of Milan because Prospero became more and more enthralled with his studies of the metaphysical world, a realm that Machiavelli deems

Prospero allowed Antonio to take the thrown by becoming a poor leader. This allowed Antonio to lead a rebellion much like the great rulers that Machiavelli speaks of throughout the Prince. Cyrus is a prime example of the situation we are introduced to in the Tempest. Machiavelli states, “Cyrus needed to find the Persians malcontent with the empire of the Medes, and the Medes soft and effeminate because of a long peace” (23). While Antonio seizing power of Prospero is not at the scale of Cyrus’s rebellion, the setting and characters are similar. Prospero loses his position because of his lack of interest in his people and his obsession with his studies. While Prospero paints Antonio and the king as a villain saying such things as “Who, having into truth by telling of it, made such a sinner of his memory to credit his own lie” (19 Tempest), or “This King of Naples, being an enemy to me inveterate” (21 Tempest). While portraying the men as villains, Prospero displays himself as the victim. Throughout his speech he states how his people stilled loved him and that how sad he was about what happened. While these portrayals put Antonio in a negative light, Machiavelli would argue that Antonio took the steps to secure his power, which every great ruler would do. This reinforces the point that Machiavelli would respect Antonio’s