Discusses how William Shakespeare's character, Iago from his play, "Othello" fits the characteristics of a true Machiavellian figure from "The Prince".
Abstract The paper begins by examining how Machiavelli portrayed the characteristics of a true leader in his book, "The Prince", which was meant to offer sound advise to those in power. The paper then looks at Iago from William Shakespeare's "Othello" as an example of how selfishness can sometimes lead to success and how one might use evil powers of manipulation and ruthlessness to destroy the life of one's enemies.
From the Paper "Iago possesses the genius of Machiavelli's prince. He is ruthless and cares about no one but his own goals and ambitions. Secondly, just like the prince, he is least concerned about morality or ethical aspects of his actions. He simply believes in winning by hook or by crook and that is exactly what Machiavelli wanted his prince to do. Iago is aware of the evilness of his intentions as he says, "To counsel Cassio to this parallel course,/Directly to his good" Divinity of hell!/When devils will the blackest sins put on,/They do suggest at first with heavenly shows,/As I do now:? (Act 2, Scene 3)"
