An Analysis Of Machiavelli's The Prince

Superior Essays
What does it mean to be Machiavellian? This could be defined in a number of ways but to begin I will start out with a simple definition. According to the Oxford English dictionary Machiavellian is defined as: Cunning, scheming, and unscrupulous, especially in politics or in advancing one’s career. Another site (dictionary.com) defines it as being or acting in accordance with the principles of government analyzed in Machiavelli 's “The Prince”, in which political expediency is placed above morality. From these definitions you can see clearly the being “Machiavellian” is by no means a good thing. These definitions describe Machiavellian as something evil and deceitful. While there are some people who believe in Machiavelli’s principles most people think that his philosophies are immoral and would not help a ruler with their political undertakings. One of the main goals for Machiavelli in writing this document was to gain favor with Lorenzo de’ Medici, this can be seen in the beginning …show more content…
Creon is an old king who is weary of ruling but knows what must be done to rule correctly. Creon thinks very logically and only cares about keeping his kingdom in control. In the play it is shown that Creon truly does care about his kingdom’s order over everything. This is shown by the way that he handles Antigone and tries to convince her to let go of her feelings and marry Haemon, he repeatedly tries to save Antigone from herself so that the kingdom can go on. In the end his attempts fail Antigone, Haemon, and Eurydice kill themselves, leaving Creon alone. While this is seen as a tragedy Antigone was the problem and Creon was just trying to maintain stability in his kingdom. I believe that Machiavelli would have approved of the way Creon handled the situation because it falls under when Machiavelli talks about how sometimes the prince must do hard things for the greater

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    As above-mentioned, we must clear that Machiavelli is not the person who advocated bad morality. On the contrary, he thought that the morality and religious would have a great influence of society. He also thought that a country would not have a good organization without good virtue. So we must combined with the specific time and background when we try to understand who was Niccolo Machiavelli and why he wrote the book. Otherwise, it will result in many misunderstanding of…

    • 1199 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the play Antigone by Sophocles, Creon has recently been appointed as king of Thebes due to the recent deaths of his nephews, Polyneices and Eteocles. Although he is new to the throne, he proves himself to be an extraordinarily well rounded king, simultaneously being reasonable, fair, and good to the City of Thebes, as well as his own family. Through his actions and words it is as clear that he wants simply the best for those around him. He also makes decisions for the interest of not only himself, but others. Creon is a good, reasonable, and fair king to his family and the City of Thebes by not sentencing Antigone to death, not allowing Polyneices to be buried, and imprisoning Antigone despite her being family.…

    • 864 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Machiavelli's Summary

    • 2626 Words
    • 11 Pages

    PART A. IDENTIFICATIONS 3. “This division of labor, from which so many advantages are derived, is not originally the effect of any human wisdom…it is the necessary consequence of a certain propensity in human nature…to truck, barter and exchange one thing for another.” Adam Smith (pg.21) - In this quote, Adam Smith introduces the idea that although the specialization of skills in division of labor leads to efficiency when it comes to production, this is bad for the people because they lose other skills. People are so focused on their specialty that their other skills are not improved upon and start to deteriorate so they become good for one thing, their specialty.…

    • 2626 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Machiavelli in The Prince is primarily a practical observer and diplomat analyst prescribing numerous ethical and political instructions to Cesar Borgia for pyramidical maintenance, sustenance and enhancement of political power at various stages of capturing, nurturing, preserving and augmenting power and absolute power for the prince. Hobbes’s aim in his Leviathan is similar to that of Machiavelli’s The Prince. Both are equally concerned for bringing about order out of chaotic civil war like situation in England and arbitrary ruler in Italy respectively. Hobbes is making an all-out effort to create an edifice and basis of scientific foundation for the need of a sovereign power through his so called scientific materialism. That is why he discusses at length human nature, psyche and need for sociological order in society.…

    • 879 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This project entails an argument that Machiavelli’s writings did not convey irony in his discussions concerning God. He might have hated the Church, but that should not detract from his Christian faith. Machiavelli’s combination of ancient religion and Christianity fit somewhat into what ancient theologians such as Justin Martyr, Origen and many others did. These men mostly focused on bringing Platonism into Christianity, but Machiavelli considered Aristotle more important. Black argued that Machiavelli was not the next Aristotle, however, this paper would not argue that either.…

    • 472 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Machiavelli's The Prince

    • 400 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The first piece of evidence to suggest Machiavelli is the prince is seen in the Dedicatory Letter. Machiavelli states, “... no greater gift could be made by me than to give you the capacity to be able to understand... all that I have learned and understood in so many years...” (Prince, dedication). This statement suggests that Machiavelli is persuading Lorenzo de Medici that his involvement in politics and his knowledge of the ancients make him an invaluable adviser.…

    • 400 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Machiavelli’s reputation rests primarily on his works, The Prince, this brought him a reputation as an atheist and an immoral cynic. The Prince is an extended analysis of how to obtain and preserve…

    • 1636 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Niccolo Machiavelli wrote "The Qualities of the Prince" in July 1513 in Florence, Italy, to convey his idea of the strong, active, and perfect ruler to the current ruling the Medicis. The work is remembered and responsible for bringing “Machiavellian” into wide usage as a pejorative term. The essay takes a stringent position on the proper way to govern a nation. With a straightforward logic, a relevant idea, and an expressed method, Machiavelli’s “The Qualities of the Prince” is a practical guide for current…

    • 85 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In Vincent Barnett's article that interprets Machiavelli's "The Prince" was intriguing. Many readers were shocked about Machiavelli's guide to be a leader, but he was only telling the truth. To be a successful leader, Machiavelli proposes that "the end justifies the means. " Machiavelli's critical manual was meant to appeal to leaders to reach their goal for the greater good.…

    • 123 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The ideas that Machiavelli displays are the true ideals of the era, however, the irony and satire surrounding how they are presented are not genuine: ““Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good. Hence a prince who wants to keep his authority must learn how not to be good, and use that knowledge, or refrain from using it, as necessity requires” (Machiavelli). Machiavelli is revealing to the reader that in order for a prince to do a good job, he must lie to his subjects in order to be successful. He continues to be ironic and poke fun at the system in play and proves that these thoughts of the prince are not genuine. The beliefs that correspond with those of the era that are presented in The Prince are a strong ruling body in order to maintain social order:“Machiavelli, in the world we have described, often holds qualities like liberality, affability, generosity, courage, sincerity, gravity, and faith, to be of no more or less political value than their opposites, except in communication”(Moore).…

    • 1412 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    After he tries freeing Antigone from his mandate but being to late he tells this to his guards “Then take this foolish man away from here/I killed you, my son, without intending to,/and you, as well, my wife. How useless I am now,” (Sophocles exodes 1477-1479). In this moment Creon is talking about himself and now he finally learns to listen to others, but when he now it is already too late to fix anything, but he did learn his lesson. Even though it cost him his wife, son and daughter in law lives. This is what makes this story tragic.…

    • 1164 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    At face value, The Prince and the Discourses seem to have a conflicting nature, but both texts focus on the administration of a state and present textual similarities. Much of what Machiavelli writes in The Prince reinforces the Discourses, echoing both stylistically and thematically. Machiavelli uses pragmatic methods in both and accentuates the importance of historical studies. In The Prince, there is a significant amount of reference to Cesare Borgia, a man that Machiavelli admires, and he states, “I shall never hesitate to cite Cesare Borgia and his actions,” and his views on virtue and fortune come out of Borgia’s narrative . For Machiavelli, Borgia is the superlative example of a man who can compel any individual to do the distasteful…

    • 1201 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    An explanation that is potentially one of the more conventional validations of the relationship between Machiavelli’s The Prince and the Discourses is reading The Prince as a manual for the founder of what would eventually emerge as a republic. Once the prince has established a foundation of the state, the republic that Machiavelli advocates for in the Discourses will become achievable and desirable. The Prince was written to establish a unified state; the republic in the Discourses will maintain that stable and unified state. Academic Leo Strauss explains that Machiavelli wrote the Discourses to promote the imitation of ancient republics. Machiavelli longed for the rebirth of ancient republicanism .…

    • 764 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    What many readers do not understand is that, in every arrogant and harsh individual, there’s a human being that is going through his/her own judgements and make them be who they are with others. In Creon’s character, Creon pretends to be an insensible man in order to have the respect of his servants and son. What he does not realizes is that, because of his pride, he does not only loses the support of his son, but he also loses his son by feeling what it is to seeing his son in a dead body. Not only hi loses his son, he also loses his wife. This is a tremendous lesson learned to a character who at end, ends staying alone without anyone.…

    • 885 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In life, “we [can] do everything right, act on the best information available, and with the best of intentions, yet still commit unspeakable horrors” (“The Tragic Hero in Greek Drama”). Aristotle created a definition of a tragic hero based on Sophocles’ characters in the tragedies Antigone and Oedipus the King. His definition, known as the Aristotelian tragic hero, has specific requirements the character must possess. Creon is the character that best exemplifies Aristotle’s tragic hero because of his virtue, his hubris, and his realization of his fate; however, others may argue that Antigone is a better example of a tragic hero because of her virtue and her hamartia, but in fact, Creon displays more qualities of a tragic hero Aristotle has…

    • 1172 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays