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Deception In The Prince

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In his “mirror of princes” style novel, The Prince, Niccolò Machiavelli explains step-by-step how deception is an essential tactic that princes must utilize in order to successfully control their state and maintain power. Interestingly in Calderons’ “Life is a Dream” and Shakespeares’ “Othello,” two characters featured exemplify the traits that Machiavelli expects princes to have. One of the characters is a person of nobility and the other is not. this is a weird fragment, you can better incorporate it so that your paper seems smoother. One might question whether Machiavelli would approve of a servant using his tactics to get his way, similarly as a King would. In his novel, The Prince, Machiavelli advises rulers to risk morality, in order …show more content…
This quote directly correlates with King Basil because all of his people know him as their esteemed ruler, but they do not, and will not, know him personally. The only people that could potentially know what he truly is are the people working for him in his court, but if they want to keep their position, they would not risk challenging him. They put their trust in him, but will most likely never know if they are being deceived. For instance, he does not even inform Clotaldo, Segismund’s tutor and prison guard, that the heir to the throne is actually alive and right under his nose. Machiavelli would agree that King Basil keep this immoral secret from even a trustful person like Clotaldo. Machiavelli reasons that for a person of such high rank of nobility, it is difficult for members of the state to realize how unethical their ruler is, because they only see him; and will never get the chance to get close to him. Even on the off chance members of his kingdom do get to meet him, they are not powerful enough to stop him. The idea that King Basil will not get punished for imprisoning his own son and that he is able escape all repercussions, because of his position, distance him from his people, who simply have no way of having knowledge of the

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