Nicola Machiavelli's The Prince Analysis

Nicola Machiavelli’s book “The Prince” consists of theories and experiential advice on what are the true makings of an ideal prince and an effective government based on the life of Cesare Borgia. According to Machiavelli a good ruler should be ruthless and at times unethical in order to maintain power. In addition he stated that preparations for war should be the foremost occupation of a successful leader. Most importantly a successful prince should exhibit virtue. The first most emphasized characteristic in Machiavelli’s theory of an ideal prince is power. Machiavelli provides an entire chapter based on Cesare Borgia, who rose to eminence mostly through his father’s connections, however he was cunning enough to make use of his newly acquired position. In the beginning of The Prince Machiavelli classifies many kinds of states, mainly focusing on …show more content…
However Machiavelli states, “It is unnecessary for a prince to have all the good qualities I have enumerated, but it is very necessary to appear to have them.” Meaning that in order to be triumphant in your leading position one should be willing to be dishonest, telling people what they want to hear, while being crafty enough to make them believe you. Thus a ruler must gain a good reputation while actually doing whatever seems correct under the circumstances. Rulers must seem generous while spending their money wisely, must appear compassionate while ruling their armies cruelly. Even though he should be ruthless he should also appear to be just. In other terms, in order to be a good ruler, one must know when to do what no one expects a trustworthy ruler to do. Consequently as an individual a prince may have good moralities such as duties towards religion, nonetheless the blames of actual human beings can serve as a great disadvantage in the real world when not all your people agree with your adopted