Drouillard 1 Jake Drouillard 11/23/13 Theatre History and Lit.

Machiavellian Influence on Shakespearian Villains Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this sun of York; and all the clouds that lour'd upon our house. In the deep bosom of the ocean buried. (Richard III I. i.) These are the first lines of Richard III who is one of Shakespeares most evil and vial characters. Richard is the type of character audiences love to hate. But what is it about him that makes him so compelling? In fact what is it about all of Shakespeares villains that make them so intriguing and interesting? The answer lies in the influences that brought about their creation. Machiavellis The Prince is a book that describes the perfect leader, a description that is in many ways very similar to that of Shakespeares most villainous characters. This book has influenced many of Shakespeares most memorable characters. It has influenced dramatic characters such as Iago from Othello as well as Richard from Richard III. It has even influenced the creation of some comedic characters such as Don John from Much Ado About Nothing. This character type does not restrict itself to only Shakespearian characters, but has transcended even into modern day literature and media. Machiavellis The Prince has played a huge influence on the creation of Shakespearian villains as well as many in modern literature and media. The Prince is a book written by Niccol Machiavelli in the year 1513 and was published in 1532 after Machiavellis death. The book was dedicated to Lorenzo de' Medici the duke of Urbino in efforts to gain his favor. The Prince was a very

Drouillard 2 controversial piece of literature, which is why it wasnt published till 20 years after being written despite its unofficial circulation shortly after being finished. The subject of The Prince is a description of how Machiavelli believed a leader should rule. It describes a very different type of ruler than what is normally portrayed by literature as the ideal ruler. Most literature portrays a fair and kind ruler to be the perfect ruler. The Prince on the other hand describes a rule that gains and maintains power not by love and fairness but instead by fear and a strong hand. Machiavelli states that it is better for a ruler to be feared than loved, he goes on to explain that this is due to the fact that love can easily wane while fear is much more of a stable constant. Machiavelli goes on to state that any compassion or emotions that most would consider to be positive, are not needed in an individual but instead the ability to fake these feelings when necessary is not only sufficient but in fact preferable due to the fact that these emotions could at times hinder the individual in their pursuits, if said emotions were genuine parts of their personality and not merely facades. Machiavelli in a whole describes an individual who is power driven, who to get what they want, must forgo any concerns for others and should do whatever benefits them the greatest. This was soon after translated into a specific type of stage character, now known as a machiavel. This character is almost always very cunning, very goal oriented and does not care about those around them. They do whatever it takes to achieve their goals and are exceptionally good at manipulation and feigning empathetic emotions despite never actually possessing these emotions. Some of the most famous machiavels can be found in the writings of William Shakespeare. One of Shakespeares most well known and arguably greatest machiavel is the character Iago from Othello. Iago is the main antagonist in Othello. Iago is a charming,

Drouillard 3 handsome man who has all the outwardly appearances of a Shakespearian hero, but underneath he is a heartless cruel individual. He is one of the Othellos high ranking officers and one of Othellos most trusted friends, but Iago hates Othello due to being passed over for the position of lieutenant which was given to Cassio instead. Through the course of the play Iago sets out to exact his revenge on Othello for this perceived wrong. Inevitably causing the deaths of multiple characters, both directly and indirectly. Through the course of the play Iago demonstrate many of the key features of a machiavel: throughout the play he deceives nearly every character in the play on multiple occasions. The character Rodrigo is deceived by Iago from the beginning of the play through his death. Iago tricks him into believing he was helping him win the heart of Desdemona the fianc of Othello, which he was paying a hefty sum for when in fact Iago was merely using Rodrigo to further his own endeavors. In the end Rodrigo is double crossed and killed by Iago. He also is able to deceive Othello into believing that his wife has made a cuckold and continues to convince him that the only line of action is to kill her. This is a completely false accusation concocted by Iago, but he is able to keep this fact from Othello until after Othello has murdered his innocent wife, close after grief stricken Othello kills himself, thus Iago has achieved his goal of revenge on Othello. One of the most impressive aspects of Iagos character is that while he has an endgame he does not have much in the way of a plan, instead he merely does whatever comes to mind at the time. These are just some examples of the many Machiavellian attributes of this character, another great example as to what truly makes Iago a great Shakespearian machiavel is as Fred West describes the play itself shows clearly that Iago goes off as he comes on, devoid of conscience, with no remorse. (29) this statement points out that

Drouillard 4 Iago does not feel for anyone but himself, one of the truest signs of a Machiavellian character. The only Shakespearean Machiavel that is possibly better known than Iago is Richard III. Richard is the title character of the play Richard III. He is very similar and yet quite different from Iago. Where Iago was outwardly beautiful Richard outer exterior is just as crippled and corrupt looking as that of his inner self, this only makes Richards achievements that much more impressive. Richard starts his play with a monologue about his great envy of his bother whom is King of England and plots to take the thrown. Through the course of the play Richard uses manipulation and other means to remove all obstacles in his accession to the thrown. One of Richards most impressive Machiavellian act occurs quite early in the play. This is the instance when he procures his wife. He decides he wishes to woo the Lady Anne, the widowed wife of Edward of Westminster. The mere attempt is impressive in itself given the fact that he is attempting to woo her shortly after he murdered her father and husband, an act she is all to well aware of. When they first encounter one another Lady Anne, justifiably, expresses her great hatred for Richard, but through the course of the scene he is able to not only talk away her hatred but in fact gain her favor and eventually her hand. Later on in the play after Richard has secretly removed most of his obstacles and with the King dead, brought on by both an ill condition as well as unsettling news brought to him by Richard, proceeds to present himself as the rightful heir to the throne to the people. Richard plays the part of a devout and modest individual who has no aspirations for power, whos only reasons for seeking the thrown are purely selfless and noble. Through this deceit Richard is able to procure acceptance of his place on the thrown and is crowned King. Richard then poisons his wife

Drouillard 5 because he wishes to pursue another women. These examples of Richards actions truly show how Richard is able to manipulate with great skill those around him. McNeir describes Richards deceit extremely well when he states, In Richard III (Richard) acts always for two audiences, his dupes in the play, who never learn the truth about him until too late, and the auditors in the theater, who are never misled because he takes us into his confidence in his soliloquies, making us his accomplice.(173) Richard is very special among Shakespearian Machiavels because he is outwardly as hideous as inwardly yet he is able to trick those around him into seeing a good that is not existent in either. Shakespeare of course did not restrict these villainous characters to merely his Tragedies. Even his lighthearted comedies may contain a villainous machiavel. One example of this is occurs in the play A Much Ado About Nothing. This comedic tail of love and romance and mistaken identity is driven very much so by the character of Don John. Though the results of his actions are much less drastic in comparison to that of his Tragic counterparts he none the less falls in line with them. Shephard on multiple occasions compares Don John to other Shakespearian machiavels such as Iago stating that they take delight in villainy for villainys sake. (342) Don John is much less delved into in comparison to his tragic counterparts as well but this very well may be due to the much more lighthearted mood of the play, none the less due to this we do not get much in the way of motive. Through out the play Don John uses deceit and manipulation both directly and through other people to achieve his goals. Don John is able to, despite an air of mistrust, gain the confidence of both his brother the prince as well as Claudio into

Drouillard 6 believing his accusations of infidelity against Hero. Through the course of the play this is Don Johns only great deceit but he uses manipulation of others to achieve it. He is able to talk Borachio, his follower, into seducing and sleeping with Margaret in Heros chambers so that when he brings his brother Don Pedro and Claudio they would believe it was Hero being unfaithful. It is now very apparent that Machiavelli was able to greatly influence Shakespeares writing, this character type that was shaped from Machiavellis book has obviously shaped that of Iago, Richard, Don John and countless others, but this begs the question so what? why does it matter what influenced the writings of the past? The simple answer is that it is still greatly influencing the writings of today. Machiavels are not by any means found only in Shakespeare, but in fact they are found through out modern literature and media. Machiavelli is shaping characters all the way from childrens movies to the biggest blockbusters. Some examples of these Modern Machiavels are Scar from Disneys The Lion King, Hannibal Lector from The Silence of the Lamb movie series, Sylar from NBCs Heroes, or even the Joker from DCs The Batman series, to name a few. Machiavel continues to influence and shape todays greatest antagonists. Machiavelli has influenced Shakespeare through out his plays whether it be Othellos great deceiver Iago who can convince others to do whatever he wishes, Richard IIIs evil hunchbacked king who will kill whoever it takes to get what he wishes. Or even Don John the scorned brother of the Prince whose only obvious goal is to cause pain and dismay in those around him. Shakespeares writing is filled with the influence of Machiavellis The Prince and the influence expands even beyond the great writings of

Drouillard 7 Shakespeare to todays modern story telling venues of movies, comics, television, all of which would never be the same if it were not for the writings of Niccol Machiavelli.

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Work Cited Machiavelli, Niccolo, and Anthony Grafton. The Prince. Trans. George Bull. New York: Penguin Classics, 2003. Print. McNeir, Waldo F. The Masks of Richard the Third Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 11.2 (1971): 167-186. JSTOR. Web. 24 Nov. 2014. Shakespeare, William. Much Ado about Nothing. New York: Washington Square, 2003. Print. Shakespeare, William. Richard III. Ed. E. A. Honigmann. New York: Penguin Classics, 1981. Print. Shakespeare, William. Othello. New York, NY: Washington Square, 1993. Print. Shepherd, J. Albert, The Self-Revelations of Shakespeare's Villains The Sewanee Review 10.3 (1902): 341-363. JSTOR. Web. 24 Nov.2014. West, Fred. Iago the Psychopath South Atlantic Bulletin 43.2 (1978): 27-35. JSTOR. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.