It may not always begin as a conscious decision, but it remains clear that there are strong influences on works stemming from previous writings that manifest themselves in major concepts that have undergone changes across time. We can see multiple instances of these influences between Nicolo Machiavelli's The Prince and the French play, Le Cid by Pierre Corneille. These influences can be analyzed to determine the social changes that have taken place in the interim between the creations of the two works. This can prove to be a difficult task as the author often times conveys a problem they may currently have with the social or economic structure of their native lands outright. The author may also present a double-edged argument, seeming to point towards one conclusion while leaving the hint of another lingering on each word, or the most self-defeating argument of them all, where the author is making a statement they never intended to make. Some very interesting topics presented in one form or another in both works includes the role of women, aspects of power, aspects of honor. By examining the different arguments and methods used to present them, it can be suggested that the writings of Machiavelli may have had an impact on Corneille, which is reflected in his writing of Le Cid.
             Machiavelli and Corneille appear to show the clearest disagreement when discussing the role that women play in society, family, and otherwise, but inherently point to the same conclusion. Looking at The Prince, we can clearly see that a women's place is far lower on the social ladder than in the mind of Corneille as Machiavelli, throughout his dissertation, does not make mention to women, except in a comparison to fortune. In this tiny female implication, he says that "fortune is a woman, and if you wish to keep her under it is necessary to beat and ill-use her..." (Machiavelli, Ch. 25). This indicates that women were not frequent...