Lyricism and Simplicity in ‘The Prince’ Anonymous College

When we think of rulers we think of extravagance and authority, wealth and might, grandeur and command. But what slips our mind is that perhaps even rulers follow rules to rule. ‘The Prince’ by Niccolo Machiavelli is one extended prescription of rules proposing how rulers must acquire and maintain political power. The translation of Chapter 17 distills one of his seemingly diabolical rules into a question - “whether it be better to be loved than feared or feared than loved?” In answering this question, Machiavelli loops insights, examples and anecdotes to construct a straightforward argument—cruelty, if used strategically, may be viewed as a virtue. However, this simplistic content is curiously embellished with the rhetoric devices fashioned into the text—aphorisms, alliterations and juxtapositions. The contrast between the two poses the question of the need for understated lyricism in an otherwise lucid piece.

The writing in Chapter 17 is littered with aphorisms that reduce complex recommendations to statements of fact. Machiavelli states that "All the same, while a ruler can't expect to inspire love when making himself feared, he must avoid arousing hatred.” The phrases “can’t expect” and “must” position this sentence less...