@article{article_493489, title={An Evaluation of the Evil Characters in Shakespeare’s Four Principle Tragedies in terms of Machiavellian Principles}, journal={Gaziantep Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi}, volume={18}, pages={1037–1049}, year={2019}, DOI={10.21547/jss.493489}, author={Ayyıldız, Nilay Erdem}, keywords={Machiavelli,The Prince,Machiavelli tarzı karakter,Shakespeare trajedisi,kötü karakterler.}, abstract={<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:justify;"> <span lang="en-gb" style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:’Times New Roman’, serif;" xml:lang="en-gb">Deriving from Italian political philosopher Niccolò
Machiavelli, the term ‘Machiavellian’
refers to a ruler type, whose features are described in Machiavelli’s
work <i>The Prince </i> (1513). The character
type is constructed in the Elizabethan and Jacobean revenge tragedy for evil
characters. The study asserts that some Shakespearean tragedies also includes
Machiavellian characters. William Shakespeare’s <i>Othello </i>, <i>King Lear </i>, <i>Hamlet </i> and <i>Macbeth </i> are regarded as his “four principle tragedies” (Hazlitt,
2009, p. 21) The study aims at examining Iago in <i>Othello </i>, Edmund, Regan, and Goneril in <i>King Lear </i>, King Claudius in <i>Hamlet </i>,
the Macbeth couple in <i>Macbeth </i> in
terms of Machiavellian principles and discuss to what extent they are
Machiavellian within the context of the plays. The study takes Machiavelli’s <i>The Prince </i> as a guide to seeking the
Machiavellian features in the characters in question. It reveals that some characters such as Iago and Edmund embrace the
Machiavellian principles due to their high intelligence by combining them with the
capability of responding to unexpected developments and manipulating truths for
their own benefits. On the other hand, the other examined characters, such as
Regan, Goneril, Claudius, and the Macbeth couple fail in the way of
Machiavellianism even though they are also evil in nature. The study asserts that Shakespeare dissents from Machiavelli by showing that an evil ruler, who
is a successful Machiavellian or not, fails sooner or later by leading to a
social chaos in monarchy. </span> </p> <p> </p>}, number={3}, publisher={Gaziantep Üniversitesi}