A Comparison of Shakespeares Prince Hamlet and Machiavelli’s The Princ

A Comparison of Prince crossroads and Machiavellis The Prince Machiavelli states that it is necessity for a prince, who wishes to maintain himself, to learn how not to be good, and use this intimacy and not use it, according to the necessity of the case. Machiavellis ideas both compare and compare to the methods used by Hamlet. Hamlets desire to drive the king mad and at last kill him, is what he thinks he must do in place to set things right. Hamlet struggles to maintain his position as prince. Perhaps he lacks the essendial qualities of a prince outlined by Machiavelli. According to Machiavelli, the pursuit of exclusively things regarded as virtuous and praiseworthy will only lead to the princes ruin. This is in all true in the case of Hamlet, because he is on a take to avenge his fathers death. The battle between good and evil is constantly in the forefront of Hamlets mind, as he wavers between acting civil or getting revenge outright. In the beginning, Hamlet struggl es to remain good at all times, except this causes him extreme anguish. Hamlet is an honest man, who grieves for his father. He suffers because of the fraud of the others in the court, especially his mother and his uncle, and later, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Hamlet is able to see through them all, and realize that theyre dishonest. He speaks these words to Guildenstern Anything but to th purpose. You were sent for, and there is a kind of confession in your looks, which your modesties have not craft generous to colour. I know the good King and Queen have sent for you. (Hamlet, II, ii., 278-280) Hamlets honesty is also seen when he is speaking with his mother. In act I, look ii, Gertrude asks him why the de... ...e his goal was to get and retain power. He wanted to elicit Claudius to be an unfit king, and he did so, but only as Hamlet himself was about to die. Hamlet had to cause grief by killing the king, but in the end, he is seen as a hero, because he unmasked his fath ers killer. Sources Cited and Consulted Gray, Terry A. Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet. http//www.palomar.edu/ program library/shake.htm. Jones, W. T. Masters of Political Thought. Ed. Edward, McChesner, and Sait. Vol. 2. Boston Houghton Mifflin, 1947. Lee A. Jacobus. A World of Ideas essential Readings for College Writers. 5th edition. Boston, MA Bedford/St. Martins, 1998. Machiavelli, Niccolo. The Prince. Trans. Hill Thompson. Norwalk The Easton Press, 1980. Shakespeare, William. The Three-Text Hamlet. Eds. Paul Bertram and Bernice Kliman. New York AMS Press, 1991.