History YMMV / ThePrince

* CommonKnowledge: Due to the current connotations that the term "Machiavellian" tends to use, many people may think that the book advises being a cruel and bloodthirsty ruler who rules using fear and repression, in fact Machievalo mentions that doing that is the only thing he achieves. is to create a weak reign easy to overthrow, and recommends being more pragmatic.

!! The 2021 animated series:
* AudienceAlienatingPremise:
* FunnyAneurysmMoment: The jokes about Prince Philip's poor health and old age become a lot unfunnier after the Duke died in April 2021 from natural causes at the age of 99. In fact, this got the show delayed.
* TaintedByThePreview:
* TheWoobie: Camilla Parker Bowles is often blasted by Elizabeth for virtually no reason.

* FairForItsDay: In Machiavelli's own opinion, anything else would be hopelessly idealistic.

* FairForItsDay: With the state of Italy (and most of the rest of [[strike:Europe]] the world for that matter) anything else would be hopelessly idealistic.

** While the above theory has become popular, given the details elaborated on inside of it, there is another that Machiavelli genuinely believed this is how one should approach a principality in it's most efficient way possible. While he was a firm believer that republics were better, he was also a believer that principalities could turn into republics & wasn't as anti-principality as some would lead people to believe.

* MagnificentBastard: What you should become if you take this book as your guide.
** So much so that the adjective "Machiavellian" is used to describe the highest quality of Magnificent Bastardry.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: One theory holds that [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18787_6-books-everyone-including-your-english-teacher-got-wrong.html Machiavelli was actually a satirist]]. This is not a crackpot theory held solely by humorists; ''The Prince'' is the only work of Machiavelli's that overtly argues for despotism, in contrast with his others, which deal with the administration of republics. Several scholars and [[{{Creator/JeanJacquesRousseau}} Rousseau]] agree; Rousseau writes, "Machiavelli's ''The Prince'' is the book of republicans... The court of Rome[[labelnote:note]]This refers to the Roman Curia, the court or cabinet which aids the Pope in administrative matters[[/labelnote]] has sternly prohibited his book. I can well believe it; it is the court he most clearly depicts."

** There are also those who push forward the view that, at root, Machiavelli was a realist -- he might have regarded a republic as the ideal form of government, but at the same time he desired a strong, unified Italy first, and believed that a republic would be unable to provide the focus on such a long-term goal that a state under a single prince could. Once Italy was united and relatively free from manipulation by outside powers to keep it divided, ''then'' the Italians could work out the transition from principality to republic.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: One theory holds that [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18787_6-books-everyone-including-your-english-teacher-got-wrong.html Machiavelli was actually a satirist]]. This is not a crackpot theory held solely by humorists; ''The Prince'' is the only work of Machiavelli's that overtly argues for despotism, in contrast with his others, which deal with the administration of republics. Several scholars and [[{{Creator/JeanJacquesRousseau}} Rousseau]] agree; Rousseau writes, "Machiavelli's ''The Prince'' is the book of republicans....The court of Rome has sternly prohibited his book. I can well believe it; it is the court he most clearly depicts."

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: One theory holds that [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18787_6-books-everyone-including-your-english-teacher-got-wrong.html Machiavelli was actually a satirist]]. This is not a crackpot theory held solely by humorists; ''The Prince'' is the only work of Machiavelli's that overtly argues for despotism, in contrast with his others, which deal with the administration of republics. Several scholars and [[JeanJacquesRousseau Rousseau]] agree; Rousseau writes, "Machiavelli's ''The Prince'' is the book of republicans....The court of Rome has sternly prohibited his book. I can well believe it; it is the court he most clearly depicts."

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: One theory holds that [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18787_6-books-everyone-including-your-english-teacher-got-wrong.html Machiavelli was actually a satirist]]. This is not a crackpot theory held solely by humorists; ''The Prince'' is the only work of Machiavelli's that overtly argues for despotism, in contrast with his others, which deal with the administration of republics. Several scholars and [[RousseauWasRight Rousseau]] agree; Rousseau writes, "Machiavelli's ''The Prince'' is the book of republicans....The court of Rome has sternly prohibited his book. I can well believe it; it is the court he most clearly depicts."

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: One theory holds that [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18787_6-books-everyone-including-your-english-teacher-got-wrong.html Machiavelli was actually a satirist]]. This is not a crackpot theory held solely by humorists; ''The Prince'' is the only work of Machiavelli's that overtly argues for despotism, in contrast with his others, which deal with the administration of republics. Several scholars and [[RousseauWasRight Rousseau]] agree; Rousseau writes, "Machiavelli's ''The Prince'' is the book of republicans....The court of Rome has sternly prohibited his book. I can well believe it; it is the court he most clearly depicts."

* LawfulEvil or LawfulNeutral

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: One theory holds that [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18787_6-books-everyone-including-your-english-teacher-got-wrong.html Machiavelli was actually a satirist]]. This is not a crackpot theory held solely by humorists; ''The Prince'' is the only work of Machiavelli's that overtly argues for despotism, in contrast with his others, which deal with the administration of republics. Several scholars and [[RousseauWasRight Rousseau]] agree; Rousseau writes, "Machiavelli's ThePrince is the book of republicans....The court of Rome has sternly prohibited his book. I can well believe it; it is the court he most clearly depicts."

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: One theory holds that [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18787_6-books-everyone-including-your-english-teacher-got-wrong.html Machiavelli was actually a satirist]]. This is not a crackpot theory held solely by humorists; ''The Prince'' is the only work of Machiavelli's canon that overtly argues for despotism, in contrast with his others, which deal with the administration of republics. Several scholars and [[RousseauWasRight Rousseau's]] agree; Rousseau writes, "Machiavelli's ThePrince is the book of republicans....The court of Rome has sternly prohibited his book. I can well believe it; it is the court he most clearly depicts."

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: One theory holds that [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18787_6-books-everyone-including-your-english-teacher-got-wrong.html Machiavelli was actually a satirist]]. This is not a crackpot theory held solely by humorists; The Prince is the only work of Machiavelli's canon that overtly argues for despotism, in contrast with his others, which deal with republics. Several scholars and [[RousseauWasRight Rousseau's]] agree; Rousseau writes, "Machiavelli's ThePrince is the book of republicans....The court of Rome has sternly prohibited his book. I can well believe it; it is the court he most clearly depicts."

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: There are those -- mostly [[PrincipiaDiscordia Discordians]] and the fine folks at ''[[http://www.cracked.com/article_18787_6-books-everyone-including-your-english-teacher-got-wrong.html Cracked]]'' -- who claim that Machiavelli was actually a satirist.
** This is not a crack-pot theory held solely by humorists. The fact that ''the Prince'' is a very peculiar work in its own right, and the only one in Machiavelli's canon that appears (at face value) to be in favor of despotism, says quite a lot. Several professional historians agree, including Ian Johnson and Mary Deitz.
** Also, ''The Prince'' was published posthumously against Machiavelli's wishes--it was originally just sent to a couple of his pro-republic friends, who presumably had a a bit of a laugh.

* YourMilageMayVary: Just look at the back and forth on the previous entries. Is it a work condoning utter cruelty and despotism, a pragmatic guide to ruling a country in the face of anarchy, or a satire of both? Whichever you choose, someone will disagree with you.