Princely Power Essay -- Essays Papers

Princely Power Niccolo Machiavellis 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 nigh virtuous, but in Machiavellis eyes, the most effective prince. In the selections found in chapters 15-26, Machiavelli teaches his intended princely students the required political skills that a prince must(prenominal) 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 forward 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 t o put on the necessary front in order to disguise himself as the most effective prince in an effort to maintain tick off. Machiavelli may on the surface seem to deliberate 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 be limitations on a princes power. Machiavelli begins his section on princely virtues by emphasizing why a prince must in actuality depart from being virtuous or approximate 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 stylus 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 Machiavellis 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 peoples intelligence. Yet, a overbold 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.