The Prince

Nonfiction | Essay / Speech | Adult | Published in 1532

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Dedication-Chapter 11

Chapters 12-14

Chapters 15-23

Chapters 24-26

Key Figures

Themes

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Themes

Immoral Means for a Desired Result

The overarching theme of The Prince is the use of immoral means for a desired result. While much of the immorality sanctioned by Machiavelli can be attributed to the political turmoil and continual military conflict of the Renaissance Era, it is still appalling to many that such a level of deception and cruelty was recommended by a man who is now remembered as one of the preeminent political philosophers in history. In Chapter 15, Machiavelli begins his discussion concerning “the rules of conduct for a prince towards subject and friends” with the caveat that his methods depart from those of other people (59). In the following passage, he describes the advice that he offers as “the real truth of the matter” rather than “the imagination of it” (59). Today, this would be described as political realism, a philosophy in which ideological or ethical concerns are dismissed in favor of pragmatic political gains.

In Machiavelli’s early discussions concerning how princes should obtain and maintain power, immoral means for a desired result is a frequent recommendation, but much of that might simply be attributed to the nature of the times. For instance, in Chapter 3, Machiavelli cautions that when an annexed state is conquered and added to a principality, the family of their former lord must be eliminated. Concerning the offense that some in the annexed state might take to a new ruler, he advises that “men ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot; therefore the injury that is to be done to a man ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge” (7).

A more glaring example of immoral means for a desired result comes from Chapter 8, which discusses those who become princes through wickedness. Machiavelli considers the difference between properly or badly used cruelties in the form of mass executions. The properly used are those “that are applied at one blow and are necessary to one's security, and that are not persisted in afterwards unless they can be turned to the advantage of the subjects” (34). The badly used example of mass executions “are those which, notwithstanding they may be few in the commencement, multiply with time rather than decrease” (34). In Chapter 18, Machiavelli examines the way in which princes should keep their word, arguing that “princes who have done great things have held good faith of little account, and have known how to circumvent the intellect of men by craft” (69). His implication is that great princes need not be honest, but they must know how to deceive. According to Machiavelli, “[I]t is unnecessary for a prince to have all the good qualities I have enumerated, but it is very necessary to appear to have them” (70).

The Relationship Between Goodwill and Hatred

A major secondary theme arising throughout the entirety of The Prince is that of goodwill and hatred. Machiavelli does not use these as competing emotions, but rather he explores how each emotion can affect a prince. For a prince to be successful, he must have the goodwill of the people, but in order for a prince to survive as a ruler, he must avoid the hatred of the people. A distinction to note is that goodwill does not equate to love, and hatred does not equate to fear. A competent prince can have the goodwill of the people without being loved just as a prince can rule through fear and intimidation without being hated. What is important, however, as Machiavelli reiterates throughout his work, is that a prince avoid the hatred of the people. The reasons why receiving the goodwill of the people and avoiding the hatred of the people are so important to the prince are essentially the same: to be protected from rebellion and conspiracies against him.

Virtually all of Machiavelli’s recommendations to princes concerning the ways to behave and rule are explained in terms of avoiding the hatred of the people. However, no chapter in The Prince is more clear on the ways to avoid hatred and the reason why it is important than Chapter 19, “That One Should Avoid Being Despised and Hated.” Here, Machiavelli argues that above all things it makes a prince hated “to be rapacious, and to be a violator of the property and women of his subjects, from both of which he must abstain” (73). Similarly, Machiavelli explains that it makes a prince contemptible “to be considered fickle, frivolous, effeminate, mean-spirited, irresolute, from all of which a prince should guard himself as from a rock” (73). Although he acknowledges that princes cannot help being hated by someone, Machiavelli suggests that their first goal should be to avoid the hatred of everyone, and when that is not possible “they ought to endeavor with the utmost diligence to avoid the hatred of the most powerful” (77).

In regard to goodwill, Machiavelli also details the qualities that will lead a prince in that direction, writing that “he should endeavor to show in his actions greatness, courage, gravity, and fortitude; and in his private dealings with his subjects let him show that his judgments are irrevocable” (73). Goodwill is important for a prince in that it may allow him to achieve fame and glory, but it is extremely important as a means of defense. Machiavelli explains how goodwill can operate as a defense system by pointing out that such a prince with the goodwill of the people is not easily conspired against, “provided it is well known that he is an excellent man and revered by his people, he can only be attacked with difficulty” (73). The notion of goodwill as defense is expanded upon in Chapter 20 in which Machiavelli considers the advantage or harm of fortresses and concludes that the best possible fortress for a prince “is to not be hated by the people” (86).

The Class Tensions Between the People and the Nobility

Class difference is a theme running throughout The Prince. Machiavelli continually contrasts the role of the common people, which he typically refers to as the prince’s subjects, with that of the upper-class families of nobility and also that of the ruler. In virtually all principalities of the Renaissance Era these three entities coexisted. Despite the fact that the people and the nobles have drastically different goals, the two groups rely on each other to balance out their relationship to the prince. Similarly, the prince must find a balance in how he deals with the two groups, so as to keep both contented and to prevent conspiracies against him. Concerning the relationship between these two groups in Chapter 9, Machiavelli argues that in all cities two distinct parties are found: the people, who “do not wish to be ruled nor oppressed by the nobles,” and the nobles, who “wish to rule and oppress the people” (35). He explains further that it is difficult to please the nobles because that requires harming the people, but to satisfy the people it only requires that they be not oppressed. Therefore, according to Machiavelli, the objective of the people “is more righteous than that of the nobles” (35).

Concerning how class relates to the prince, Machiavelli discusses this in his opening dedication letter to Lorenzo Di Piero dé Medici, the new prince. He compares a painter moving above or below a mountainous landscape in order to gain a better prospective to the way princes see the people below them or the way that the people see princes above them. As he explains, “[T]o understand the nature of the people it needs to be a prince, and to understand that of princes it needs to be of the people” (xvii). Machiavelli recognizes the reality of social class, but he also acknowledging that the most valuable perceptions of each group are provided by the other. A prince makes judgements on the people, which manifests in the way he rules, by choosing clemency over cruelty and liberality over meanness, for example. In turn, the people make judgements on the prince, which manifests in the goodwill or hatred that they show him.