Fortuna and virtue: An Analysis of The Prince and The Mandrake by Nicholò Machiavelli

Andrés Agudelo-González, Javier Alonso Cárdenas Díaz
2013 Desafíos  
This article explores the connections between two literature pieces written by Niccolò Machiavelli: The Prince and The Mandrake. Despite a noticeable distance between the contents of a political treaty and a theater play, we will argue that the Machiavellian concept of virtue and its link with goddess Fortuna is a recurrent concept in both pieces. The battle between personal will and fate is always recurrent in Machiavelli's work without having to take into account his writing style. This
more » ... is one of the most remarkable issues in the occidental world. Machiavelli (re) created a new conscience of European politics in the 16th century: the individual's Prevalence over the community; of the calculated rationality over destiny; of science over tradition. In both The Prince and The Mandrake a political and cultural model can be found. This model convered over the Old World, and it obtained the well known victories in the name of freedom, equality, and democracy.
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