Machiavelli: The Prince of Political Writing

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Lozano 4 of participating in a conspiracy to restore the republic, because of this he was sent to jail for three weeks, and tortured. He fled the city of Florence, and decided to settle down in a calm quiet town called Sant’Andrea. He also decided to continue his dream and career as a writer. In 1513 he started to write his Discourses, this book focused on states controlled by the prince and the citizens. It was not finished until 1521, because he interrupted his work on Discourses to write the very famous The Prince.
“Machiavelli wanted to return to his longtime dream and understanding of politics. One of his goals in writing The Prince was to win the favor of Lorenzo de’ Medici, then-governor of Florence and the person …show more content…

A definition, which argues against the concept, brought forward by the Catholic Church. He has many metaphors in his novel and many main ideas that he is trying to get across. “The
Lozano 5 lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves” (The Prince: Machiavelli).
The main point that he is trying to get across is the question, “Is it better to be feared rather than loved?” and he explains very thoroughly in The prince his thoughts and views on this question and he says that “it is much safer to be feared than loved because ...love is preserved by the link of obligation which, owing to the baseness of men, is broken at every opportunity for their advantage; but fear preserves you by a dread of punishment which never fails” (The Prince: Machiavelli). He also covers the topics of religion, morality, power, and of course politics.
Another topic he covers is cruelty, if cruelty is used in the right way the prince will gain much respect and it will preserve a prince’s safety or will help secure the state; it is safer for a prince to be feared than it is for him to be loved because no one will listen or respect a leader who they take to be a joke. Men fear punishment, and this can be used to a prince’s advantage. Men will not disobey if there is a chance of them being killed or thrown in …show more content…

Generosity should be exhibited to a point. Machiavelli never directly says things towards the church, but he makes it clear he disagrees with many of the church’s policies. At the end of his novel he puts out a desire and goal to make Italy one again. He also gives many explanations and ways that this could be achieved. Out of anyone he had the most faith in Italy and their government even if he was no longer a part of it. He even personally confronts Lorenzo de Medici as the possible savior of Italy. Niccolo says “There is no figure presently in sight, in whom [Italy] can better place her trust than your illustrious house, which, with its fortune and its merits, favored by God and the Church of which it is now the head, can take the lead in this process of redemption.” By this he means bringing Italy together is a way of vindicating it. In the end the overall main point of this novel is that a leader is there to make the difficult choices for his people. It is not his responsibility to be liked or loved, but is instead being feared and respected. This is not implying that he should be brutal, but rather to advance his subject’s security and authority. Many leaders today use this tactic, the show a mean front to their competitors and other nations, but show their caring and loving side to their

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