Body PoliticsUP914197 The Prince, a guidebook written by Niccolò Machiavelli, advises on how to become a more successful ruler as well as how to stabilise the rule. It offers an advice for those who want to become a prince, or possibly better leader, and how to govern. Furthermore,The Princeis addressed directly to Lorenzo de Medici who just recently became a new leader of Italy. To advance upon that, Mary Dietz suggested thatThe Prince‘considers Machiavelli’s advice to Lorenzo on where to reside, how to behave, and whom to arm in light of the political reality of sixteenth-century Florence’ (Dietz, M., 1986, pp. 777-799). In Machiavelli’s guidebook, the prince is understood as a leader; someone who wants to gain power. In other words,The Princeaims the focus on practicalities of gaining and retaining power. This person could be also referred to as a Machiavellian. Machiavellian is known as a person who is cunning, cruel but also hungry for power. Furthermore, the person who is suggested to be the Machievallian is willing to betray people at the expense of greater good. It could be argued that Christopher Marlowe thought of Machiavelli as of an evil person. To amplify this point, Christopher Marlowe used a character called ‚Machevill‘ in his bookThe Jew of Malta, which suggests that he saw Machiavelli as ‚the teacher of evil‘ and a cunning person. However, it could be argued that Machievelli‘s intensions are to bring order to a chaos by suggesting ideas on how to rule and using examples of ancient rulers to prove their mistakes. Initially, the essay will explore, examine and focus on the context of one of the passages in Machiavelli’sThe Princeand consider Machiavelli’s intension. The reason why Machiavelli wroteThe Princecould be linked to the time period which he lived in. By virtue of the fact that Italy during this time period regularly changed the head of state; each new leader having opposed ideas as well as morals thus creating the turmoil which can be seen through the text. Having said that, it can be argued then that Machiavelli’s life experiences influenced his bookThe Prince. There are many different opinions about Machiavelli’s bookThe Prince; some believe his intentions were reasonable, however, the others see Machiavelli as ‘the teacher of evil’.
