The Prince
1515
- political science, early works to 1800
- machiavel, nicolas, 1469-1527. prince
- classic literature
- fiction
- ouvrages avant 1800
- science politique
- morale politique
- political science
- early works to 1800
- political ethics
The story
The Prince (Italian: Il Principe [il ˈprintʃipe]; Latin: De Principatibus) is a 16th-century political treatise written by Italian diplomat and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli as an instruction guide for new princes and royals. The general theme of The Prince is of accepting that the aims of princes – such as glory and survival – can justify the use of immoral means to achieve those ends. From Machiavelli's correspondence, a version appears to have been distributed in 1513, using a Latin title, De Principatibus (Of Principalities). However, the printed version was not published until 1532, five years after Machiavelli's death. This was carried out with the permission of the Medici pope Clement VII, but "long before then, in fact since the first appearance of The Prince in manuscript, controversy had swirled about his writings". Although The Prince was written as if it were a traditional work in the mirrors for princes style, it was generally agreed as being especially innovative. This is partly because it was written in the vernacular Italian rather than Latin, a practice that had become increasingly popular since the publication of Dante's Divine Comedy and other works of Renaissance literature.
What it’s like
Dense, unadorned Renaissance prose that reads like a cool-eyed letter from a man who has seen power up close: short chapters, blunt declaratives, and sudden flashes of concrete example (a cruel lieutenant cut in two, a fox and a lion, a city held by its own fear). The voice is dry, aphoristic and quietly sardonic, with no ornament for its own sake, so the pages feel more like a pared-down notebook than a sweeping literary romance. Reading it suits a rainy afternoon with a pot of tea, a slow evening in a quiet room, or a stretch of study when you want an argument you can underline rather than a story you have to follow. Its pacing is brisk and deliberate, each chapter a compact proposition followed by evidence drawn from history and recent events. Emotionally it stays cold and clear-headed rather than warm, with a steady undercurrent of unease as its advice grows colder. Violence appears in brief, matter-of-fact anecdotes rather than vivid scenes, so the intensity is intellectual and chilling rather than graphic. It suits readers who enjoy classic political thought, historical texture, and the bracing pleasure of a mind refusing sentiment.
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