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What Is The Central Idea Of Macbeth Chapter 5

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In chapter XVII of The Prince, N. Machiavelli discusses the topic of cruelty and whether it is better for a ruler to be loved or feared. Machiavelli asserts the idea that if you are king, it is going to be quite impossible for all people to like you further emphasizing the idea that it is better to be feared. If a king needs to be cruel to maintain power, then so be it. One characteristic he expresses in this chapter is the ability to make decisions quickly without the influence of personal feelings. He believes a prince should be able to act ruthlessly if necessary, without hesitation. In addition to this, another key idea expressed in this chapter is the potential downfall if princes rely solely on love or promise to maintain power. …show more content…

Machiavelli believed that if the desired outcome is important enough, any method or action can be justified if it leads to it. Macbeth was an ambitious character in this play, and wanted to become king, but he did not have a legitimate claim to the throne. Therefore he turned to immoral means to make sure he would succeed as king. He killed King Duncan, to take the throne, following Machiavelli's idea about doing whatever it takes to get the desired outcome. Additionally, Machiavelli argued that a ruler must inspire both fear and love, and Macbeth did cause fear. People feared Macbeth due to his ruthlessness and his violence, all to maintain his position on the throne. This ties in with another one of Machiavelli's claims, that it is better for a ruler to be feared because people will take advantage of a ruler who is too kind. However, Macbeth makes mistakes that go against Machiavelli's assertions as well. Macbeth allowed his emotions to get the best of him. Machiavelli believed that a ruler should be rational in their decision-making, but Macbeth’s emotions, such as guilt and fear, got the better of him, leading him to make poor decisions. It states “ This is the very painting of your fear. This is the air-drawn dagger that you said Led you to Duncan. Oh, these flaws and starts, Impostors to true fear, would well

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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.

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According to Machiavelli, “when the prince is with his armies and has a multitude of soldiers under his government, then it is above all necessary not to care about a name for cruelty because without this name he never holds his army united or disposed to any action" (Machiavelli 67). Machiavelli promotes rulers practicing cruelty because it inspires fear in a ruler. Essentially, This fear makes his subjects easier to control because they fear the retribution the ruler may bring down upon them for disobeying one of his laws or

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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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The play entitled Macbeth by William Shakespeare portrays Macbeth, a loyal and brave thane to the king. When a prophecy reveals he will become king, Macbeth is overcome with ambition and greed. Convinced of this prophecy and the encouragement from his wife, he is able to kill the king and take the throne. Although Macbeth was able to obtain the throne, he was was overwhelmed by power and guilt leading to internal conflict, which suggests that success is not desirable through cheating and corruption and ultimately cost more than its actually worth, Macbeth`s reckless pursuit of killing and becoming the king is representative of the power he has and what he is able to do with the power he's gained; therefore. His relentless ambition for king reveals the guilt behind power.

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Regarding the proper role of a ruler, Machiavelli is more convincing in The Prince than Sir Thomas More is in Utopia because Machiavelli is able to use demeaning diction in a brusque writing style to create a stronger emotional appeal between the reader and his pessimistic ideals. In his book addressed to the ruling Medici family of Florence, Machiavelli stresses the importance of using cruelty to subdue a population, claiming that “men...are ungrateful, fickle, false, cowardly, covetous… [and love] is broken at every opportunity for their advantage; but fear preserves you by a dread of punishment which never fails” (Machiavelli). By using cynical diction to describe the nature of humans, Machiavelli makes the reader feel disgusted at the thought of their disloyalty, thus making rulers more receptive to Machiavelli’s negative approach to ruling as it satisfies the desire within the reader to fight fire with fire.

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In his world renowned book The Prince, Machiavelli expresses what he thinks is the best way to rule a nation. In many ways, his policies reflect his cynical view of humanity. At multiple points throughout his writing, he criticizes human beings for their selfish, judgmental, and impatient nature. In chapter 17 he states that men are “ungrateful, changeable, simulators and dissimulators, runaways in danger, eager for gain.” Machiavelli also notes that men are very likely to turn against those they love for personal profit.

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With this control, they could stage a revolt and displace the prince. The prince, with no control, has no option other than to respond with detrimental actions in an attempt to subdue the hatred and his impending removal. Machiavelli argues that this sequence of events can be avoided entirely by preventing hatred from starting in the first place. If the prince does this, then he controls how the civilians perceive him and he can act in ways to limit their desire to overthrow him.

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Machiavelli did not take kindness as a virtue, he believed it only showed weakness as a leader. His guidelines show the absolute opposite and emphasize the use of force, deception, and manipulation to maintain power. Throughout The Prince, Machiavelli conveys the tone of a realist who believes power is the ultimate goal of politics, and that a ruler must do whatever it takes to maintain it. He also supports his points with examples in history as he saw failures and created his own set of rules to follow to be the supreme ruler that does not make the same mistakes as a weak leader would. He emphasizes that rulers should be feared rather than worshiped, and that kindness is the foe of political

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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.

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The question of fear and mercy is pivotal to Machiavelli's discussion regarding the appearance of a Prince. Machiavelli seems to be an individual that seems to be for obtaining dominance, regardless of the actions taken to gain that power. For instance, he praises the actions of Borgia and Agathocles who murder anyone they need to, to achieve their goals. This calls to question whether one wants to be feared or respected. Machiavelli appears to see Borgia's actions as ones to be respected due to the fact they restored Romagna.

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580 Words | 3 Pages

Furthermore, princes themselves are privy and subject to primordial inclinations which effectively gauge their political agenda. Having already established the Machiavellian virtue, its analysis within the work can be commenced in the understanding of the apolitical nature of the people. In civil principalities, since order is vested in the people, the Prince must cater to their needs despite whether or not one becomes prince through them or the great (40) since “men willingly change their lords in the belief that they will fare better” (8). When Machiavelli speaks of the necessity of the Prince keeping the people friendly, a social contract is implied. Yet, it is in terms of what would be beneficial to both parties but is dictated by the Prince

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1015 Words | 5 Pages

Macbeth is also a power hungry man who would do just about anything to achieve his goal of becoming King. When Macbeth first hears the prophecies from the three witches he instantly became invested with the journey to become king. Similar to Lady Macbeth, nothing was going to come between him and his potential power, “My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, shakes so my single state of man. That function is smother'd in surmise, and nothing is but what is not” (1.3.52-55). This quote exemplifies how Macbeth’s initial solution to becoming king was murder.

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1652 Words | 7 Pages

In chapters six and seven of his book, “The Prince”, Niccolo Machiavelli stated that the difficulty in keeping and maintaining new principalities depends on how the prince acquired them. The principalities can be acquired either by one’s own arms and abilities or by the arms of others and by relying on luck or good fortune. Although the two options will both mitigate different problems and issues, Machiavelli argues that those who rely least on good fortune will come out the strongest. In this chapter, the dependent variable would be the difficulty a prince would experience in acquiring a principality. The independent variable then will be the method in acquiring the principality, whether through ability or good fortune.

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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).

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Instead a vice like miserliness will enable a prince to properly govern (Machiavelli,

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