Niccolo Machiavelli's 'The Prince'

513 Words3 Pages
1. The situation that prompted Machiavelli to write the Prince was partly the fact that he had been exiled from his previous position in the court and now had no power. Therefore he was trying to get into the good graces of Lorenzo ‘de Medici- the ruler of Italy at the time- by writing this book of advice advising him on how best to rule Italy. The fall of the Florentine Republic had occurred with Florence being betrayed by France and defeated by Spain, shortly before Machiavelli wrote the Prince. After this fall Machiavelli was thrown into prison for years, tortured, and exiled and the Medici family rose to power in Florence. This book is essentially Machiavelli begging to be promoted to a government position. 2. Three of the major themes in the Preince are a)…show more content…
This is because “men love at their own will and fear at the will of the prince” (73) therefore it is easier for the prince to control his subjects. Another reason is that men are much more afraid of disobeying or offending one they fear than one that they love. b) Another theme that is very important in The Prince is that one should always study and know history well enough to use to one’s advantage. He uses countless examples of other princes throughout the book and advises the reader to study the best leaders in history to learn how to effectively rule his own people as he writes in this quote, “A prudent man should always enter by the paths beaten by great
Open Document