Most people think that the world is a Wheel of Fortune and we have no choice other than staying passive to its consequences. Machiavelli employs “fortune” in The Prince in a very distinct way. He suggests that despite the inevitable power of fortune, humans can resist it. He proposes two analogies for understanding the human situation in the face of events. Fortune is analogized as a ruinous river or a woman who likes young and aggressive men. Throughout my paper, I will argue how Machiavelli’s depiction of Lucrezia in The Mandrake Root is an allegorical equivalent to the discussion of fortune as a woman in chapter 25 of The Prince.
The first parable between discussion of fortune as a woman and the depiction of Lucrezia arises when Machiavelli states that “Fortune is the arbiter of one half of our actions, but that she still leaves the control of the other half, or almost …show more content…
For the final arrangement to work out, Lucrezia is the dominate character who needs to be convinced. Thus, returning to the assimilation in The Prince, Callimaco signifies the one who tries to exercise his will – his desire to have sex with Lucrezia – while Lucrezia represents the fortune that must be overcome. Surprisingly, despite the risk Callimaco takes and his careless impulsiveness, the play ends favorably, in which Callimaco creates his own destiny by manipulating his fortune in the form of