Niccolo Machiavelli: The Prince
Background: One of the most famous political works of the Renaissance era was
Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince, in which he analyzed politics in Renaissance Italy.
While more power-hungry rulers embraced Machiavelli's work as legitimizing their
methods, many attacked the book because of the ideas he advocated.
Excerpts from The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli, 1513:
That Which Concerns a Prince on the Subject of the Art of War
The Prince ought to have no other aim or thought, nor select anything else for his study,
than war and its rules and discipline; for this is the sole art that belongs to him who
rules, and it is of such force that it not only upholds those who are born princes, but it
often enables men to rise from a private station to that rank. And, on the contrary, it is
seen that when princes have thought more of ease than of arms they have lost their
states. And the first cause of your losing it is to neglect this art; and what enables you to
acquire a state is to be master of the art.
Concerning Whether it is Better to be Loved than Feared
Upon this a question arises: whether it is better to be loved than feared or feared than
loved? It may be answered that one should wish to be both, but, because it is difficult to
unite them in one person, it is much safer to be feared than loved, when, of the two,
either must be dispensed with. Because this is to be asserted in general of men, that they
are ungrateful, fickle, false, cowardly, covetous, and as long as you successes they are
yours entirely; they will offer you their blood, property, life, and children, as is said
above, when the need is far distant; but when it approaches they turn against you. …for
love is preserved by the link of obligation which, owing to the baseness of men, is broken
at every opportunity for their advantage; but fear preserved you by a dread of
punishment which never fails. Nevertheless a prince ought to inspire fear in such a way
that, if he does not win love, he avoids hatred; because he can endure very well being
feared whilst he is not hated, which will always be as long as he abstains from the
property of his citizens and subjects and from their women.
Concerning the Way in Which Princes Should Keep Faith
. . . a wise Prince cannot and should not keep his pledge when it is against his interest to
do so and when his reasons for making the pledge are no longer operative. If all men
were good, this would be a bad precept, but since they are evil and would not keep a
pledge to you, then you need not keep yours to them. (The Prince) must stick to the good
as long as he can, but, being compelled by necessity, he must be ready to take the way of
evil. Therefore it is unnecessary for a prince to have all the good qualities I have
enumerated, but it is very necessary to appear to have them. And I shall dare to say this
also, that to have them and always to observe them is injurious, and that to appear to
have them is useful; to appear merciful, faithful, humane, religious, upright, and to be
so, but with a mind so framed that should you require not to be so, you may be able and
know how to change to the opposite.
Name_______________________
Block________
Possible Procedure:
(Remember that this is only a framework. You should adapt the framework to make it
work for your own content and purposes.)
1. Background Information: Review necessary background information.
2. First Read: Students read the source through one time independently and perform
an annotation task (ex. underline central idea, read for gist).
3. First Discussion: Students engage in a broad discussion of the text. (ex. partners,
small groups, whole class)
4. Second Read: Students re-read the text to deepen their understanding of the text
(ex. teacher read aloud, partner read) while performing another annotation task. (ex.
circle confusing words or phrases, placing ? in margin next to confusing passages)
5. Second Discussion: Students engage in a more detail - oriented discussion of the
text. (ex. partners, small groups, whole class)
6. Third Read: Students re-read the text and perform an annotation task that will lead
them toward answering the objective of the close reading lesson. (ex. EV next to pieces
of evidence)
7. Third Discussion: Students engage in a discussion to deepen their understanding
of the text and to answer the objective of the close reading lesson.
8. Text-dependent Questions: Students use evidence from the text to answer the
text-dependent questions. (Don’t give text-dependent questions until this point or put
them on the back of the paper and tell them not to look at them until instructed to do
so.)
9. Review and Discuss or Collect Text-dependent Questions for Assessment
(ex. hand out red pens and have students add to their answers to show growth of
understanding)
10. Written Piece: Students will create an argumentative, informative or explanatory
writing piece that directly relates to the objective. (ex. “What if” statements, short
answer, essay)