The Fox And The Lion In Machiavelli's The Prince

He says that force is necessary when the law fails. A prince can use these interchangeable traits to deceive people and break promises.

A successful monarchy relies upon a stable leader who is concerned with the satisfaction of those he rules over. Henry Bolingbroke the IV in Shakespeare's Henry the IV Part I follows a trend set by his predecessor in Richard II of self-indulgence and neglect of his kingdom. These leaders worry about the possibility of losing their kingdom or their soldiers to other nobles who were also concerned more with obtaining a higher position rather than governing. The king must also be wary of his own life, something that was once revered and guarded closely by other nobles. Wars once fought for gaining or protecting land are overshadowed by personal battles fighting for the position of king.

A prince has plenty to worry about during times of war and everyone is out to get you so you must be greedy and heinous in times of war. The prince declares that the nation state comes first before individuals.

As such, it is very dangerous to impose a new order where one may face attack by hostile forces and have only “lukewarm” defenders of the new order. It is then necessary to examine how the prince will utilize his virtue. If he is to “beg” and ask others for help, he is then seen as week and cannot accomplish his goal. The alternative is to use “force”, to arm themselves, and to literally force those who do not believe in the new order to believe. After all, human nature is changeable and easily changed, but difficult to maintain in a certain persuasion, after which force is necessary to maintain it. And once created through great difficulty, it is then easy to maintain, as under the prince’s rule, the need for force will lessen, since those who would rebel are eliminated and the ruler gains reputation and respect from his subjects.

As the Prince is described as demanding his character proves that he understands the level of power and control he has. The prince also understands how much respect he expects from his subjects.

Both men mention that the leaders must have good reasons for what they are doing. Because the good reasons, ruler can dominate people easily. For example, if the prince had used punishment to people without any reasons,

We all have thought of what it would be like to be royalty, or the head of a nation. We simply tell ourselves that power will never change who we are, that it will not pervert us. Nonetheless, History has showed us that power is cancerous, it blinds us, victimizes us, and it corrupts us. In Frederick Douglass’ “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave” he states that immoral power eventually taints the most tender heart and turns it into stone. There is no way we can truly avoid irresponsible power and its effects, but we can learn to distinguish it.

The citizens would be more willing to try and defend the prince, especially if they follow the previous virtue of living with their citizens. Although a prince should maintain a relationship with their citizens, they must also try not to only do what their people want them to do. (87) A prince needs to be able to make decisions that their people do not want, if it benefits their kingdom. This goes back to the initial definition of how a prince must lead with fear and not allow their citizens to hate them. So a prince should make decisions that will benefit the people, even if it is not what is the general interest of the public. If a prince does not make unpopular decisions, their state will weaken. By making unpopular decisions, the prince shows that they are doing what they think is best for the other citizens and is thinking of the future of the

The Prince, a book written by Niccolo Machiavelli, was seen as a text about its coherent perspectives and noble concepts of Leadership. There is a term called “Machiavellian”. This term refers to “the belief that a ruler is justified in using any means necessary to stay in power”. Many people can point out many corrupt scandalous government officials that use deception and dishonesty to maintain their power or title. This

A prince must learn not to be limited to morality when unavoidable; a leader has to be able to use lies, force and deception if required in the world. Whether it is better to be feared or loved clearly addresses the reason for this.

Maintaining control over a position and government in the United States still functions the same as 16th century Italy on a broad basis. In both governments to maintain control the leader primary discipline must be warfare, expect today instead of fighting with other countries physically we fight monetarily and through technological advancement. Politicians fight amongst each other for campaign donations, policy, and funding for their districts. The outline Machiavelli still applies in many way because those who maintain their positions generally have higher donations and have consistently appeased their districts for reelection. On a global scale we have physically seen aspects of The Prince taken place throughout history after its publication such as with the former Soviet Union or the former British Empire being able to control its state with many different cultures and languages by colonizing and have a strong military. Politicians must always being aware of their political surroundings and ready to attack or defend at a moment’s notice which is no different than a prince in 16th century

society and the goal of The Prince is to instruct a prince, or ruler, on how to maintain his state.

Machiavelli goes on in Chapters Fifteen through Twenty Three to discuss his advice to the reader in the ideal behavior and characteristics of a prince. He mentions that doing good would only lead to the ruin of a prince’s kingdom. He claims that a prince should be stingy and cruel as opposed to generous and merciful. He then, of course, adds in examples of successful rulers who were both moral and immoral alike. A prince should break promises more than he keeps them, according to the author. He also suggests that, while behaving in the aforementioned ways, a prince should do his best to avoid being despised by leaving his subjects’ land and women alone and by undertaking great projects to boost his reputation. As suggested at the beginning of Chapter Nineteen, a prince should not be “fickle, frivolous, effeminate, cowardly, [or] irresolute,” (70). ¬¬¬He should also choose wise, as opposed to flattering, advisors.

According to the theory, every prince needs to be a lion for awhile, until he plants the fear seeds in them, and then he needs the fox to take care of the undertaking probabilities of reaching a wanted goal.

Those private citizens who become princes through fortune alone do so with little effort, but they maintain their position only with a great deal; they meet no obstacle along their way since they fly to success, but all their problems arise when they have arrives…such men depend solely upon two very uncertain an unstable things: the will and the fortune of him who granted them