Courtier And The Prince example essay topic

Renaissance humanist cultivated the proposal of the high-quality life. For example: Castiglione, and Machiavelli fervently infused scholarship with action. Allying their inquiry of the precedent to an experiential study of the present, they championed a brave ideal of the human being that surpassed all traditional models. For Castiglione, the greater kind of individual was the well-formed and cultured being; for Machiavelli, only a heartless master of power politics could guarantee the endurance of the state. They are ambassador of those thinkers who assert the endless capability for self-knowledge and dignified the task of the individual in the worldly world. Their views twisted the modern personality of the humanistic tradition in the European West.

These two thinkers express their ideas in the books their wrote. In this paper I will compare and contrast the social ideal Castiglione articulate in The Book of the Courtier and the political ideal Machiavelli articulated in The Prince. The Book of the Courtier changed the Renaissance deeply in many ways such as the deeds expectations of the courtier and what his wife should do to assist her husband. He also said that the courtier should be of dignified birth. He should be good at certain sports like tennis, throwing rocks, jumping, running, and swimming. He should also have a wide education in many dissimilar areas and also be amusing, enjoyable and an aristocrat.

In the Prince, Machiavelli offered a monarchical sovereign guidance designed to keep that ruler in power. He suggested policies that would dispirit mass political activism, and channel subjects' energies into private pursuits. Machiavelli wanted to convince the monarch that he could best conserve his power by the prudent use of violence, by respecting private property and the traditions of his subjects, and by promoting material prosperity. Machiavelli held that political life cannot be governed by a single set of moral or religious absolutes, and that the monarch may sometimes be excused for performing acts of violence and deception that would be ethically vulnerable in private life. The courtier and the prince have many similar qualities, but they also have some different qualities that set them apart. The courtier and the prince are similar in their roles of leadership.

They should both be strong leaders with good reputations. Both should have honorable qualities and seem benevolent and not ruthless. Both should also be very bright in the qualifications of their positions and how to stay in control of their people. The prince should have a stronger military background and greater control over others than the courtier who doesn't control as many people. The prince and the courtier are very different in their aspect of how others perceive them and the way that they actually are. The prince should have virtuous qualities, but only to use them to his betterment.

This keeps the prince from being marked as righteous, which can only bring him blame or shame. The prince should be considered kindly and not cruel to gain respect and be feared to stay in control of his people. On the other hand, the courtier should show compassion for others and be brave, physically powerful, and faithful to whomever he serves. The courtier should be bold and stern among the enemy but gentle, modest, and reserved with his kinsmen.

The courtier's day is expected to have all of the hours filled with honorable and pleasant exercises designed for the body and the mind. These exercises are for the courtier to stay in control and have the respect of his people. The prince uses wit and trickery to stay in control of his people. In conclusion, both the prince and the courtier should seem to have the same qualities and talents to everyone else. The prince uses his trickery to stay in control, but the courtier uses his born talent and hard work from his exercises to stay in control.

Each man is an ideal leader, but the courtier is a more down to earth leader. The courtier's qualities are like an efficient version of the typical Renaissance man. The courtier's qualities are easier to accomplish, because they are more like natural human behavior. The courtier's qualifications are not as mind-boggling as the prince's..