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The Influence Of Fortune In Machiavelli's The Prince

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There is distinct ways a great political leader can be defined by the influence on human affairs; by ruling fearlessly with no morality, and being able to possess fortune. World affairs are controlled by the divine power and fortune, and that is what this chapter denotes, Machiavelli is aware that no amount of human wisdom can change that. Being aware that the notion of divine power and fortune are the factors that rule political issues also illuminates the idea that fortune is responsible to a certain degree, for either the failure or success that men have encountered with. At the beginning of the chapter Machiavelli states that fortune tends to predispose an individual’s actions, they can be influenced to a certain extent, …show more content…

When Machiavelli wrote the letter to Francesco Vettori, he discusses his vast knowledge and experience on political affairs and stated the relevancy amongst each issue. It all interrelates by displaying the distinct political ideologies and contrasting the positive and negative traits that a ruler should obtain. The idea that it shows to readers is that power can be given to any leader but obtaining glory gives that leader immortality and lives on in generations, which is the greatest success a ruler can achieve. Therefore Machiavelli mentions an analogy on fortune being a woman it can be fragile, attractive, and easy to seduce; but to be mastered completely a ruler must apply force and violence portray himself as ruthless to surrender. No matter the vast knowledge or skills of a ruler if acted upon impulsive decisions will be his downfall, for example Julius by doing so actions he achieved nothing if it weren’t for Julius arranging alliances. Machiavelli demonstrates how fortune is obtained and the difficulty it is to maintain it, creating rational decisions and acting accordingly in the moment of war is what creates a glorious

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