The humanistic, Petrarchan characterization of the early Italian Renaissance1 had begun to give way to a more unstable, anguished atmosphere by 1478.2 The vacuum of power that had been brought on by the Babylonian Captivity3 was still inflicting conflict within the Italian leadership hierarchy. The thriving neo-classicist jurisdiction of Lorenzo de’Medici in Florence was beginning to falter at effective management of the city-state,4 slowly creating an opening for opposing figures, such as the resurgent papacy,5 the friar Girolamo Savonarola6 and King Charles VIII of France,7 to mobilize support for a return to the seemingly less indulgent notion of religion having supremacy over discourse and daily affairs. The clash of these two forces, along …show more content…
The work from which Machiavelli gains his reputation most, The Prince, was written as a guideline for stability in society, but the very fact that it is inspired mainly by the foils of the hopeful, merciless Italian conqueror, Cesare Borgia,37 implies a lack of feasibility for Oppenheimer’s thesis. Similarly telling is the extent to which Machiavelli respects and praises the power-accumulating methods of Borgia during negotiations about future Florentine rule; Machiavelli, as per a primary sourced document, speaks highly of Borgia’s confidence and unwillingness to flinch, and of the ability he has to attract followers to coalesce around him as the centre of an ideology.38 Stemming from this approval, Machiavelli goes on to write in The Art of War about the need for militia rule within a society so that one’s societal involvement can be maximized and patriotism and unity affirmed for the stability of the community.39 Again, by using mostly unquestioned primary sources, most of Oppenheimer’s narrative does play into the hands of the counter-argument, as not only do his choices of …show more content…
This element is the main empirical mechanism Oppenheimer uses to prove his point, as these writing forms, especially the sonnet, are conceived as being more introspective, artistic and humanistic than the works Machiavelli ended up becoming infamous for,40 but the inclusion of Machiavelli’s realist philosophies within these mostly abstract art forms makes us call into question the validity of Oppenheimer using these examples to subvert the popular portrayal of him. Indeed, Machiavelli’s play, The Mandragola, uses its characters to show both the corruption of the Church and the necessity of duplicity to sustain a stable home life;41 his novella, Belfagor, deals with the misadventures of an arch-devil who assumes a deceptive disguise for personal gain;42 and most tellingly, Machiavelli even manages to insert his ideals into a poem, an art form known for its subtle analogies and pensiveness. The excerpt of said poem reads thusly: “You are merciful: if one of them is made miserable by adverse Fortuna or by love, with your sweet speech you restore him to contentment.”43 “Sweet speech” is the key phrase here, drawing an eerie parallel to the type of rhetoric distortion associated with the deception required for the ideal Machiavellian leader,