Machiavelli believes that a government should be very structured, controlled, and powerful. He makes it known that the only priorities of a prince are war, the institutions, and discipline. His writings describes how it is more important for a prince to be practical than moral. This is shown where he writes, "in order to maintain the state he is often obliged to act against his promise, against charity, against humanity, and against religion" (47). In addition, Machiavelli argues that a prince may have to be cunning and deceitful in order to maintain political power. He takes the stance that it is better for the prince to be feared than loved. His view of how a government should run and his unethical conduct are both early signs of dictatorship.…
Throughout The Prince and Discourses, Niccolò Machiavelli talks in great length, and seems to endorse, power, deception, and cruelty. There is one passage in particular that I found to contradict Machiavelli’s viewpoint on dominance and to support the fact that he is perhaps a classical republican. The way Machiavelli praises Rome in Chapter 2 of Discourses shows that he believes there is a way to make the system work without a “prince” being feared by his subjects.…
“A Modest Proposal” written by Jonathan swift in 1729 uses satire to propose his solution in Ireland. The problem is poverty and hunger, and the solution is eating babies. He is not being serious but trying to bring attention to the problem. Jonathan Swift’s not so modest proposal uses logos, ethos, and pathos to persuade the audience that cannibalism is the solution to poverty in Ireland.…
In 1494, Florence, Italy was overtaken by France. There the Prince, leader of Florence at the time was the third generation Medici. Given to him was a series of chapters of The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli written in 1513. Niccolo Machiavelli was known for his vast knowledge in politics and literature. Thus after being exiled from Florence by the French, he wrote from experience and vast knowledge to the current prince so he would know how to rule. In order to be a prestige prince, he must always be ready for war, act like a lion and fox, be feared but not hated, and to not take the property of citizen and people, but if it is a new prince having a knowledgeable advisee also…
Machiavelli strategically writes The Prince as a satire in an attempt to accentuate the fact that princes are often cruel and unjust. In his book, Machiavelli…
In Machiavelli's The Prince, hints of future democratic theories can be pulled out of Machiavelli's plan for the success of a prince of a state. Within Machiavelli's concentration of plotting out successful achievement of a stabilized state within a principality, he often reveals the importance of the satisfaction the people within the governing walls of that principality. One of the themes to Machiavelli's plan included the dismissal of the affection of virtue of the nobility as well as the significance of an honest people. Even though Machiavelli may have had other motivation for the writing of "The Prince",…
The Prince was written in the 1500’s by Niccolo Machiavelli, whom name became a synonym for crafty plotting. As noted, it is a political and social document, as relevant today as when it first appeared. Machiavelli’s work became thought of as a blueprint for dictators instead of a guide for efficient democratic government. The Prince does not give us all of Machiavelli’s political thinking; however, he devised this reading for the man who seeks power. It treated the most severe problem of Italy, its inferiority in political organization and military strength to nearby states like Spain and France and was addressed to princes like the Lorenzo “The Magnificent” Medici, to whom it was dedicated. As difficult as it was to read, I did not find…
Machiavelli's philosophy was that "The end justifies the means." This meant that the end result is the most important, and how you got there was of no importance. The Prince was a book of advice to rules on how to found a state and how to stay in power. Machiavelli explained in his book the many different ways to gain power. One way was to acquire land. The four methods that he discusses to acquire more land is: Your own arms and virtue, fortune, others' arms, and inequity. To Machiavelli, the word virtue meant manliness and strength. Machiavelli also advocates the use of evil to achieve any goals. He gives an example of Agathocles of Syracuse as a proof that this works and will enable the prince to rule the land peacefully through fear. "Born of a potter, this one always had an iniquitous life throughout his years: nonetheless, he accomplished his iniquities with such virtue of spirit and of body that, having joined the militia, he rose through its ranks to become praetor of Syracuse. Being established in rank, and having decided to become prince and to keep with violence and without obligation to others what had been conceded him by agreement... ...one morning he convened the people and the senate of Syracuse, as if he had had to deliberate things pertinent to the republic; and at a preordained nod…
Don Quijote was a tall, skinny "wanna-be" who found himself morally obligated to involve himself in other people's business for the sole purpose of acting as a proper knight errant would. Although he believes that his "battles" help solve situations (though the results is usually the opposite), what it comes down to is that he wants to be famous, to be in love with his woman, to be accomplished, recognized, and adored. Therefore, Don Quijote's motives are self-serving, and not "by-the-book" as a knight errant should be. "As much for the sake of his own greater honor as for his duty to the nation, he decided to turn himself into a knight errant..." (p. 15) The thing was, this was how knights generally were - a selfish man looking for trouble to fix so people will respect him and give him things, and women will sleep with him. The reader sympathizes with Don Quijote, though, because his insanity prevents him from seeing his reality as fake and inappropriate to actual societal needs.…
The Prince was written by Niccolò Machiavelli while he was in exile. In his efforts to return to politics, Machiavelli wrote the Prince in order to exert the true nature of a successful leader, and once again be in the good graces of the Medici’s who were rising to power in Italy. The Prince reveals what Machiavelli views to be a successful leader. The Prince also reveals how Machiavelli views the nature of humans and how that effects how a dictator/leader should rule. Machiavelli believes human beings are selfish, greedy, easily manipulated, and incapable of self-governing as it often ends in their own demise. “[F]or men change their rulers willingly, hoping to better themselves, and this hope induces them to take up arms against him who rules: wherein they are deceived, because they afterwards find by experience they have gone from bad to worse” (Machiavelli 201). Human selfishness inhibits the individual’s ability to make rational long-term decisions thus deeming them incapable of self-governing. If given the people the right to make their own decisions, their greed ill cloud their judgment and cause them to make decisions that may not be in their best interest. If the society is not capable of self-governing they will need a strong leader and Machiavelli has the recipe for the perfect…
In the pamphlet A Modest Proposal, written by Jonathan Swift, a narrator, if you will, proposes that babies from poverty be bought and eaten to help the economy. The narrator goes through the story explaining the bad points of Dublin and he throws out the most controversial solution possible: eat the excess babies. The poor families in the city can sell their unwanted children and get paid nicely for their losses. In turn, the rich feast on the young flesh and are pleased, leaving both parties better off. The poor have more money to circulate, helping the economy, and the rich are fat and happy and clothed in baby leather.…
The Enlightenment was a period of time in European history when English and French philosophers created new outlooks on life. Leibniz was one of these philosophers and he introduced the idea of optimism. Optimism was described as believing that "all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds" . In Candide, Voltaire writes a successful satire of optimism because Candide includes the two main components of satire; parody and irony. Parody is "[a] composition imitating another, usually serious, piece. It is designed to ridicule a work or its style or author" . Additionally, irony is "[a] broad term referring to the recognition of a reality different from appearance. Verbal irony is a figure of speech in which the actual intent is expressed in words that carry the opposite meaning."…
The author of the novel ‘Candide’ published this satirical fiction the year of 1759. Voltaire having went to school to become a writer and then being thrown out of numerous countries afterwards. Kings and noble people who were offended by Voltaire’s genre of satire and black humor throughout his books. Leibniz, a german philosopher proposed Optimism and this philosophy was created upon the reason that they thought that logic was the reason for why god created the world and its people were as perfect as it was. The german philosopher constructed the philosophy on three major concepts. It was discovered that God was selfish because he created the world with enough evil, so that the world would not be the definition of perfection as he was created…
A wise man once said, “I see offense of the collateral damage of free speech. I hate the thought of a person’s ideas being modified or even hushed because someone somewhere might not like to hear them…”(Ricky Gervais, 2013) This generation faces many social issues, but the main on that offends many people is Freedom of Speech about Christianity. In today’s society it is okay for someone to have their own opinion as long as they don’t say something about Christianity that may cause another person to feel or be offended. Today’s generation has become so overly offended by Christianity that the truth has become based upon what is socially acceptable to say. People who speak the truth are being muzzled and even killed because they said something that caused another person to be offended. Our generation is no longer willing to stand up for what they believe is right and wrong for a social change to happen.…
The satire that appears throughout The Alchemist does more than show the flaws in society, it creates and supports the intricate character-based theme of reality versus desire that helps to “sell” the image of London that Jonson creates. As stated earlier, The Alchemist relies on a gambit of fabricated characters, with the three main characters, Face, Subtle, and Doll, relying heavily on made-up personas that help them with their cons. Besides protecting the main characters, the personas used serve to show the reader who the three desire to be. The theme of reality versus desire appears here first, but it is not the last time the reader sees it reappear. Like the character based satire in the play, the theme appears only in the characters and their desire to be what they are not.…