How Princes Steal Republics: Machiavelli’s "Prince" and "Mandragola"

• In Event: The Spectacle of Privilege in Machiavelli’s "Mandragola"

Abstract

Most readers today see Machiavelli’s "Prince" as a dispassionate "treatise" that teaches princes how to acquire and hold power. On this view, the book simply shows princely readers the means needed to get what they want, never questioning their power‐seeking ends. If a prince longs to possess a great empire like the Romans, or to gain "absolute" control over a republic, Machiavelli coolly describes how he can gratify these desires, if necessary by violating oaths, betraying allies, and subverting established laws. His comedy "Mandragola" has a similarly amoral theme: a rich young Florentine returns from abroad and conceives a passion for another man’s wife, Lucrezia, whose virtue he contrives to steal by weaving an elaborate web of deceptions. This paper compares the theme of republic‐stealing in both works. It argues that comparisons with the openly satirical "Mandragola" help bring out the Prince’s subtly ironic criticisms of princely rule.

Author

• Erica Benner