Analysis Of The Prince - 1849 Words

Not by coincidence, JK Rowling nicknamed her most complex, morally ambiguous Harry Potter character â€Å"The Prince†. Severus Snape’s royal epithet has more than a little in common with Machiavelli’s The Prince, which Rowling, as a student of Classics and Literature surely read. To be Machiavellian, one must be â€Å"cunning, scheming and unscrupulous,† (OED) and those who belong to Snape’s Hogwarts House of Slytherin are â€Å"cunning folks [who] use any means / to achieve their ends† (Rowling, Philosopher’s Stone, 88). Even firmer parallels are drawn between Severus Snape and Machiavelli’s Prince as the texts continue. Severus Snape is not a likable man. Whether or not he is morally good or evil keeps most if not all witches and wizards in his vicinity questioning whether or not he is truly on their side. Harry and his friends spend nearly their entire educational careers trying to reveal Snape as working for Voldemort, and even one of his fellow elite Death Eater’s expresses her distrust of him after eighteen years of working together. â€Å"I don’t trust you Snape, as you very well know† Bellatrix Lestrange, Voldemort’s most prized confidant tells him in the dead of night (Rowling, Half Blood Prince, 30). Snape accepts the Machiavellian attitude that â€Å"how men live is so different from how they should live that a ruler who does not do what is generally done, but persists in doing what ought to be done, will undermine his power rather than maintain it† (Machiavelli, 54). For this reason,Show MoreRelatedThe Prince Machiavelli Analysis1490 Words   |  6 Page sThroughout The Prince, Machiavelli advocates for the use of force to achieve the Prince’s goals. However, these acts are justified because they are done to benefit the state. Moreover, Machiavelli’s political philosophy repetitively stresses the fact that the Prince should not act in a way as to cause hatred. In this, constant cruelty is inappropriate and unjustifiable because it provokes contempt towards the ruler. In The Prince, Machiavelli discerns that good acts of cruelties â€Å"are carried outRead MorePrince Sports Market Analysis1289 Words   |  6 PagesPrince Market Analysis As the sport continues to experience growth due to the younger interest, Prince has created its own death warrant because it fails to see how it can create a positive and lasting strong hold in a market that has seen a recent upswing. One of the things that sticks out the most to me was the amount of time it took for Prince to realize its superior position in the niche market of tennis and other racket designated sports, I can’t grasp the idea that Prince was not alreadyRead MoreMachiavellian Prince Analysis1688 Words   |  7 Pagesgoodness and wisdom above all else, and would find Machiavelli’s concept of a prince to be a leader void of these qualities. Socrates would be critical of a Machiavellian prince’s character and actions for failing to meet his morally absolute standard of goodness, and of the Machiavellian prince’s notion of wisdom for conflicting with his own. Socrates would not be supportive of the political system formed under a Machiavellian prince, the perpetuation of which inherently clashes with his stringent moralRead MoreThe Little Prince Character Analysis1557 Words   |  7 Pagesseem to work quite as well as the novel, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupà ƒ ©ry. These lessons taught in the short novel even helped Saint-Exupery’s great nephew improve and learn in his life (Inman). An analysis of The Little Prince shows that there are many lessons to be learned about adulthood and how to better live your life. It teaches children how to be grown-ups and it teaches grown-ups how to become better grown-ups. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery is a short novel all aboutRead MoreAnalysis Of The Prince By Niccolo Machiavelli832 Words   |  4 Pagesand philosophies. His comprehensive work The Prince is considered as a remarkable piece of historical writing not only for the age of renaissance but also for the contemporary age. He was of the view that politics has the morality of its own, and that there is no repute of justice or injustice, of brutality or forgiveness, of agreement or dishonor, which should interfere with the decision of defending the state and preserving its freedom. The Prince was written as a letter of personal advice toRead MoreAnalysis Of Niccol Machiavellis The Prince931 Words   |  4 PagesMachiavelli’s The Prince, a 16th-century political treatise that acts as an extended analysis, instructing a ruler on how to acquire and maintain political power. Presumably drafted in 1513, Machiavelli was a known humanist scholar, working as a diplomat in Flore nce. Upon the time of its publication, Machiavelli had been recently released from imprisonment, his writings therefore may have had an agenda of regaining favour from the ruling Medici family, or was a means of prolonging his wisdom. The Prince is consideredRead MoreAnalysis Of Machiavellis The Prince978 Words   |  4 PagesWhat is a Prince? Thesis: achaivelli believes a prince should What is a prince? Who is to say what a prince should be? According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, a prince is a â€Å"monarch, king; the ruler of a principality or state, a male member of a royal family; especially a son of the king.† In the dictionary definition, there is no mention of the expectations, or the characteristics of a prince. Throughout history, leaders have taken many roles. Some leaders, like Alexander the Great, tookRead MoreMachiavelli The Prince Analysis873 Words   |  4 PagesIn the prince, Machiavelli explores a world of governments and presents the many different ways in which a ruler must adapt in order to run an efficient government. Machiavelli provides a number of applications in which a ruler can acquire and maintain the leading position of a government. While many of these applications are just and moral, there is no denying that some of the Machiavelli’s tactics are cruel and immoral. However, as we advance deep into the meaning behin d Machiavelli’s choice ofRead MoreAnalysis Of Niccolo Machiavellis The Prince 1246 Words   |  5 Pages Niccolo Machiavelli, the author of The Prince, said â€Å"Never was anything great achieved without danger.† This could be rephrased to â€Å"Nothing great is achieved without taking on risk†. The definition of risk is as an â€Å"act or failure to act in a way that brings the possibility of an unpleasant or unwelcome event†. And even though risk has a negative connotation, all risk is not bad. Intelligent businesses understand they must take on calculated risks to be competitive in the marketplace. However, takingRead MoreAnalysis Of The Two Princes Of Calabar 1536 Words   |  7 Pagesthere is little documentation of individuals from the African Slave Trade. As such a familiar occurrence in history, there is little to be known about the individual experiences of captives during this horrific time. Randy Sparks, author of The Two Princes of Calabar, ends the silence as he provides the reader with a glimpse into an eighteenth century odyssey, and first hand ac count to the trading communities along the coast of West Africa. This trade not only transported people, but the exchange of