The Prince Ferdinand Quotes

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Essay one – The Prince


Ferdinand the II of Aragon ruled over a plethora of countries, including Spain, Italy and France. Besides being notably famous for driving the Moors out of Granada, he was arguably the most reputable prince of his time, and Niccolò Machiavelli, author of The Prince, uses Ferdinand as a prime example when describing how a Prince gains and maintains his reputation, and public image. To Machiavelli, Ferdinand is an excellent exemplar as he both developed a reputation through harsh measures while managing to keep a respectable public image. However, Machiavelli does in fact criticize Ferdinand for some of his actions and makes subtle references to events that took place with another character in his book, César Borgia. …show more content…

The major issues with theses examples are that they are extremely outdated and therefore hold less significance, and gives less substance than if he had used a current example during his time period of the renaissance. This may be a factor as to why Machiavelli brought in Ferdinand, as opposed to using his previous examples in an attempt to make The Prince more relatable to the target audience – essentially those who are aspiring to become future princes. Furthermore, when Machiavelli first introduces Ferdinand, he presents him as a new prince, due to his transition from a weak king into one of fame and glory (P 21). His argument continues to develop into a praise of Ferdinand and the various acts he did to achieve his mighty image and reputation. However, Machiavelli is always contradicting himself and as a result, towards the end of his argument, begins to mention the negative acts that Ferdinand performed. These acts may lead some to believe that he was not entirely as great a prince as Machiavelli initially set him up to …show more content…

The similarities stem from the fact that both princes had to be relatively cruel and hateful in order to fulfill their duties as a prince and attain greatness. In César’s case, his ordering of a public execution that many saw as an act of pure cruelty was what ‘restored the Romagna, united it and reduced it to peace and to faith’ (P 17). Similarly,

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