The Originals : The Prince

Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are. Niccolo Machiavelli wrote The Prince-a book on the ruthless acquisition of power and governance of the State-with the intention of appeasing Lorenzo de’ Medici, the ruler of Florence, in the hope of resuscitating his political career. Often referred to as Machiavelli’s ‘job application’ in disguise, The Prince foregrounded the contrasting aspects of virtue and vice: virtue is not always an admirable trait and vice is not always detrimental to society. He presented an ‘unsentimental’ analysis of human behaviour and justified acts of immorality, deceit and deviousness to control a State. Written in 1513, shortly after Machiavelli was exiled from Florence, The Prince was posthumously published in 1532. Prohibited by the Court of Rome, The Prince was also banned by the Catholic Church. By early 1600s, William Shakespeare used ‘Machiavel’ as a term to describe an unscrupulous, devious and scheming person in his works. Even today, ‘Machiavellian’ means everything evil.