Princely Power Essay -- Essays Papers

Princely Power Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince contains a very unique section entitled "Princely Virtues" in which Machiavelli takes on a how-to approach in regards to becoming a prince. The instructional qualities of the novel lead its reader to create in themselves an image of not the most virtuous, but in Machiavelli's eyes, the most effective prince. In the selections found in chapters 15-26, Machiavelli teaches his intended princely students the necessary political skills that a prince must possess in order to maintain his position on top. Machiavelli paints the illusionary portrait of the perfect prince. The prince must take great pains to keep up this virtuous front in order to maintain command as well as respect of his people. Even if the prince does not have a desired virtue, Machiavelli reasons that he must only appear to have certain virtues, and more importantly know when it is appropriate to display such virtues to benefit himself. The prince is obligated to put on the necessary front in order to disguise himself as the most effective prince in an effort to maintain control. Machiavelli may on the surface seem to argue that a ruler must focus on the positive end and employ whatever means necessary to achieve his desired result, maintaining power and control; however, he only argues this to a point, there are limitations on a prince’s power. Machiavelli begins his section on princely virtues by emphasizing why a prince must in actuality depart from being virtuous or good in order to avoid coming to ruin among other men who are evil; seeming to be good is more important than being so. To emphasize this point, he says: For there is such a difference between the way men live and the way they ought to live, th... ...tudes of men towards those in authority bring about an understanding of sorts, which leads to sympathizing with the deceitfulness of Machiavelli's prince. For a prince to lead men who are inherently evil he must think clearly about his actions, he will fail miserably, if he does not rise above his people's intelligence. Yet, a wise prince will not allow his greedy desires to rule his good judgment. Without a watchful eye, he may stand in the way of attaining his own goals. By Machiavellian logic, even if a prince obtains his goals through employment of what may seem like vices, he must always remember to keep up his good front. He cannot be justified in doing anything he pleases to maintain his power and control. Works Cited Machiavelli, Niccolo. "The Prince" in The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces (ed. Maynard Mack). New York: Norton, 2000. 1488-1497.