The decrepit prince

             Shakespeare's famous play Richard III portrays King Richard III of England as a devious manipulator. In turn, his character is identified as a Machiavellian prince, as outlined in Niccolo Machiavelli's famous work The Prince. Although Richard is cunning and deceitful, he disobeys key rules outlined, contributing to his eventual downfall. Richard's evil ambitions manifest at the beginning of the play but he does not disperse with his enemies, rise to power, or handle his anxiety in accordance to Machiavelli's laws.
             Richard does adhere to some of Machiavelli's advice in Chapter 3 of The Prince. Indeed, he does leave the customs of the state unchanged, but he fails to extinguish the line of the previous prince. Richard has the powerful relatives of Edward's wife Queen Elizabeth arrested and executed, but does not kill Queen Margaret. He allows her to keep residence in the palace of the new ruling family, where she prophesizes the downfall of its members. These curses spread fear and doubt among the nobles, causing an anxious atmosphere. Richard also kills all of King Edwards's followers; according to Chapter 7, he should have kept them alive. Making them his own followers and friends, by treating them well and paying them amply, would secure more support for his rule. Machiavelli goes on to advise that "violence should be inflicted once for all; people will then forget what it tastes like and so be less resentful" (66). Therefore, Richard should have killed all of his enemies at one time. Instead, he kills his rivals off one after the other, breeding suspicion and distrust within the kingdom.
             Richard's reign of terror causes the masses of England to fear and loathe him, and alienates nearly all the noblemen of the court. Chapter 8 of The Prince emphasizes that the common people should not hate the prince, but almost everybody in the play hates Richard. He has the unfortunate circumstanc
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