Compare And Contrast Utopia And The Prince

Sir Thomas More”s Utopia and Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince reflect the ideals of the Renaissance. Their reflections of the Renaissance are similar while also having palpable differences. The Renaissance or “rebirth” was a cultural movement that accompanied the passage of Europe from the Middle Ages to modern times. Niccolo Machiavelli was an Italian civic humanist, historian, diplomat, philosopher, politician, and writer during the Renaissance. He applied the values of the Renaissance to his political treatise, The Prince. Sir Thomas was an English lawyer, philosopher, statesman, and an English humanist during the Renaissance. He employed the ideals of the Renaissance to his Latin dialogue, Utopia. Both The Prince and Utopia reflect the

Machiavelli uses classical sources to advise a prince on the best way to maintain power. He alludes to Plato’ Republic to illustrate how many men have attempted to advice princes “ A great many men have imagined states and princedoms such as nobody ever saw or knew in the real word, and there’s such a difference between the way we really live and the way we ought to live that the man who neglects the real to study the ideal will learn how to accomplish his ruin, not his salvation.” Machiavelli also makes various references to classical figures to demonstrate examples of princely leadership. Machiavelli’s classical allusions are indicative of the Renaissance as the renewed study of the ancient classics was an important element of the Renaissance. Machiavelli adopted classical ideas in the hopes that these examples could inspire improvements within Italy. Rafael Major supports this idea in “ A New Argument for Morality: Machiavelli and the Ancients.” He argues, “ Even a cursory survey of classical literature reveals that very little of The Prince can properly be called original.” More also reflects the Renaissance through his classical allusions. He uses his classical sources to criticize certain practices within Europe, while also offering solutions to these problems through the example of the classics. For example, he also alludes to

Machiavelli supports education when advising a prince on how to best rule. He encourages a prince to train his mind. The honing of the prince’s intellect will make him a better military strategist. Machiavellis advises, “ As for exercising the mind, a prince should read history and reflect on the actions of great men.” The idea of studying history corresponds with the Renaissance value of obtaining knowledge from examples from antiquity. Machiavelli encourages princes to be educated through historical examples because he is convinced that a prince who is intelligent and bases his decisions on historical examples will be a strong and able prince. More also supports knowledge and education in Utopia. His zest for learning and education is evident throughout Utopia. In Book I of Utopia, the character More, argues that an educated and intelligent individual is the best advisor to a king. He suggests that Raphael would be a worthy counselor to a king due to his intelligence and education. He tells Raphael, “ Your learning is so full, even if it weren’t combined with experience, and your experience is so great, even apart from your learning, that you would be an extraordinary counselor to any king in the world.” More’s support for education and knowledge continues throughout Utopia. He illustrates how every child in Utopia receives an education and that the Utopians consider