Machiavelli The Prince Rhetorical Analysis

When one thinks about virtue, they think about how someone acts and gives to their community, however, Niccolo Machiavelli presents it in a new way. He defines virtue or “virtu” in three different ways; it is physical strength, utility, and most importantly, political ability. Throughout his letter, “The Prince”, to the Magnificent Lorenzo de’ Medici, Machiavelli emphasizes that a prince will not have success unless he is virtuous in these three areas. He links virtue to man’s ability to understand the world and to control it.
Machiavelli focuses on the virtue of liberty, however, he opposes the idea. He suggests that instead of having a virtue of liberty, one should have the virtue of frugality in the beginning to eventually earn virtue
He debates virtue of mercy versus virtue of cruelty. He concludes that virtue of cruelty is better than the virtue of mercy and bases this argument on what helps the people. He states that it is better to be feared than loved, but only if the prince can inspire fear in such a way that he avoids hatred. “It is much safer to be feared than loved...That prince who has founded himself entirely on their words, stripped of their preparation, is ruined; for friendships that are acquired at a price and not with greatness and nobility of spirit are bought, but they are not owned and when time comes they cannot be spent. And men have less hesitation to offend one who makes himself loved than one who makes himself feared; for love is held by a chain of obligation, which, because men are wicked, is broken at every opportunity of their own utility, but fear is held by dread of punishment that never forsakes you.” (Machiavelli, 66) This is important because it justifies why a prince must be feared rather than loved. A prince must not rely purely on man’s words, for they are never true. According to Machiavelli, men are wicked and they will break their word at every opportunity they get. Love is held by commitment which cannot be depended on because it is not trustworthy. One might say and act as though they are committed, however, they may be thinking otherwise and because men are evil, they will
Although Borgia gained his power through his father, Pope Alexander VI and lost it through the same, Machiavelli uses his actions as advice for new princes. He hopes that princes to come will strive to do as Cesare Borgia did. “I do not know what better teaching I could give to a new prince than the example of his actions...whoever judges it necessary in his new principality to secure himself against enemies... can find no fresher example than the actions of that man.” (Machiavelli, 27; 32) Borgia used force and fear in wars with foreign lands, establishes a loyal military, and developed friendly relationships with neighboring states. By using force, fear, and deceit, Borgia gained a courageous and powerful reputation. Even though his virtue was not enough to save him from ruin, he still his highlighted my Machiavelli because achieved greatness. Every human makes mistakes and his first was allowing his enemy to become pope, however, the death of his father and his own sudden illness kept him from stabilizing his power, but what a prince does in between his rise and ruin is what truly