The Prince | Notes

Notes

What is a literary classic and why are these classic works important to the world?

A literary classic is a work of the highest excellence that has something important to say about life and/or the human condition and says it with great artistry. A classic, through its enduring presence, has withstood the test of time and is not bound by time, place, or customs. It speaks to us today as forcefully as it spoke to people one hundred or more years ago, and as forcefully as it will speak to people of future generations. For this reason, a classic is said to have universality.

Niccoló Machiavelli was born on May 3, 1469, in Florence, Italy. His family was not very affluent, even though his father was a judge and dealt with powerful people. Not much is known about Machiavelli's childhood, and the first mention of him in history came when he was involved in deposing the most important religious and political figure in Florence at the time, Girolamo Savonarola, for which Machiavelli was given a post in the new Florentine government.

This work allowed him to observe how people in power functioned and why political intrigue was important, but it also brought him into contact with many high-placed officials, including Caesare Borgia. Historical events, however, were against Machiavelli's further rise, and the leading politicians of the time, the Medici family, were reinstalled as rulers of Florence and forced him out of any position of power. Machiavelli was jailed, tortured, and subsequently exiled.

He used much of his time as a banished citizen to write numerous political discourses, including The Art of War and The Prince, which was an undisguised attempt to seek favor with the powerful Medici clan. However, the Medicis were quickly thrown from power, and Machiavelli was not given any position in the new government.

Machiavelli died in Florence on June 21, 1527. His most important, controversial, and enduring work, The Prince, was not published until a few years after his death.