Machiavelli's The Prince

Machiavelli expressed in The Prince that he believed that a prince or ruler should be one that appeared to be very compassionate and caring towards others, one that others or the subjects could truly rely on and trust as well as one that is appears to be kind and righteous, however this should all be an illusion. He believed that princes should only appear to be this way so that the subjects or the public would be more submissive to his rule. He felt that the more respect that a prince gained would mean the more likely his subjects would take his side and be more willing to protect him and his honor during a war or battle. Machiavelli also believed that it was okay for a ruler to break their word to their people if that said ruler was at a
He thought in order to be successful a ruler should also drain the subjects of all of their resources so that they could rely solely upon him. He also encouraged the conflict amongst subjects so that no one would think to join and ban together in order to rebel against him and challenge his authority. Machiavelli thought that this was in the best interest of the ruler. It was frowned upon by Machiavelli if a ruler was not strategic in his moves, “The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and a fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps and a lion to frighten wolves.” (Machiavelli. The Prince. Chapter XVIII.
Sir Gawain was another interesting leader I felt who also possessed many knightly qualities as well. He was very courageous, loyal and brave which I think Machiavelli would have been very approving of while judging him. However, I think he would disagree with the fact that Sir Gawain tended to be very naïve, too trusting of others and too kind. “Like purified gold, Sir Gawain was known for his goodness.” (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. 634-35.) I feel like this would be frowned upon by Machiavelli because according to him this was something that could really land a ruler in deep trouble and not only make him a target but open would possibly even open the door to the possibility for his subjects to unite and rebel against him and his authority. I think one thing that Machiavelli would however in exchange be in favor of is the fact that Sir Gawain understood his concept of not keeping his word when at a disadvantage. Overall, I felt that Sir Gawain was a good leader but he was just very immature and he still had some obvious learning to do and I feel Machiavelli would agree with that because of some of the actions done by