Macbeth and Machiavelli Comparison

John C. Maxwell, a famous speaker and author, once said, “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” This quote shows how leadership has been interpreted differently through the years. Niccolo Machiavelli would approve of this quote by John C. Maxwell because it shows that a leader is always in control. One interpretation of effective leadership is how well a ruler is able to lead a country and how successful the outcome is. Niccolo Machiavelli’s book, The Prince, set rules on how to be a good ruler. Shakespeare’s character Lady Macbeth followed Machiavelli’s rules in the supernatural play Macbeth. Lady Macbeth would be considered an effective leader by Machiavelli because she did not worry about being moral, she gave up her good qualities, and did whatever was necessary to benefit herself so she could maintain her authority and power.

One idea Machiavelli addresses in The Prince, is that a ruler should not worry about being moral or following what the church the church tells them to do. “Being often obliged, in order to maintain the state, to act against faith, against charity, against humanity, and against religion” (Machiavelli 15). An effective leader must not be moral to gain power. In Macbeth, Lady Macbeth is shown to be a character who is controlling and does not worry about morals. She would be considered an effective leader by Machiavelli because loses her morality to get what she wishes.

Come to my woman’s breasts,
And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers,
Wherever in your sightless substances
You wait on nature’s mischief! Come, thick night,
And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,
That my keen knife see not the wound it makes,
Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark,
To cry ‘Hold, hold!’ (1.5.46-53).

This quote expresses Lady Macbeths effective leadership because she lost her sense of morality to maintain power. She is willing to have her motherhood taken away from her if it meant she