Machiavellian Behaviour In Shakespeare's Indulgence

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The Indulgence of Machiavellian Behaviour

The Elizabethan era is named after the reign of Queen Elizabeth the first. This era is one of the most fascinating eras in history, not only because of the queen herself but also because of the very first theatre in England – The Globe –which began with the performance of plays written by William Shakespeare and due to his many inspiring and renowned plays this era has been significantly marked. I have chosen texts based on this era and they are the following, William Shakespeare plays: Othello and King Richard III, the series Reign by Stephanie SenGupta and the movie Elizabeth the golden age by Shekhar Kapur. At least one character from these texts possesses the same traits of Machiavellian behaviour
On one hand Queen Elizabeth used Machiavellian tactics in order to protect England from Spain and all the Catholics who wished to harm her and take over the court. She had also deceived everyone in court constantly. In the movie Elizabeth the golden age it was shown that Elizabeth had short hair. Though, when she was in court, dealing with people she wore a wig to fool everyone in the court and the people of other courts. On the other hand Catherine de Medici had used similar tactics to ensure the safety of her son Francis, she slipped into darkness manipulating everyone who associated with her and betraying them so that she can save her son from the fate that was predicted by her prophet Nostradamus. The prediction was that if Francis were to marry Mary of scots then Francis will die so Catherine did everything in her power to stop the wedding from taking place. Catherine tirelessly tried to change the fate of Francis and during this journey she lost herself finally embracing the darkness that had been haunting her since childhood. Richard III was a character from William Shakespeare’s play King Richard III and Iago from the play Othello used Machiavelli tactics in order to extract revenge. They manipulated and constantly lied to everyone in order to prove their point that they have been treated unfairly and deserved the right of the
They had stooped so low that they were willing to surrender themselves to the darkness. All these characters were willing to use and manipulate everyone who were able to aid them with their plans no matter of the consequences, all that mattered to them was to reach their goal. The motifs for each character to be dancing along the tunes of darkness were different. Some are compelled to choose this path due to their love and loyalty to their people while others do it for personal gain and justify it with illogical reasoning. Elizabeth the first brought forth this sort of characteristics upon herself as she was willing to do anything to protect her country and the residents of England. Catherine did it out of devotion to her family. She did it out of love and duty as a mother. She lied and manipulated people so that she can protect her son. On the other hand Iago and Richard had committed their crimes due to jealousy and hate. They wanted to rise in status and power and did everything that was necessary in order to reach their ultimate

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