Machiavelli’s Prince: A lion and a fox
Machiavelli believed that a successful Prince should appear to display the characteristics exhibited by both a ‘lion’ and a ‘fox’ because a combination of the characteristics from these paradigms is seen by Machiavelli as the most effective way for a ruler to acquire and maintain power. Acquiring and maintaining power has been described Machiavelli as “the only real concern of the political ruler” and therefore can be typified as the essential characteristic for a ‘successful Prince’.
The image of the lion that Machiavelli aims to convey can predominantly be seen as the representation of the qualities of strength and respect, which is what the lion was linked to in his time. The most obvious physical trait representative of a lion would be the willingness to be ‘war wise’. Machiavelli describes how a Prince should have no hesitation or even thought against waging war, and that he must also take great care in learning the ‘art’ and detail of war, ranging from “its institutions and its disciplines” (The Prince: Ch. 14, Para. 1). He goes on to emphasise how important this is to being a successful prince as it not only maintains those who were born into power, but can also be an effective method for those wishing to rise into power, thus satisfying the aforementioned definition of a successful prince. Furthermore, neglect of the art of war is said to be the first way to lose power, further underlying the importance of this concept.
Another trait of a Machiavellian lion is to possess the image of bravery expected of a successful Prince. This is important in Machiavelli’s view as he explains that power cannot be maintained unless such an image is conveyed as otherwise a Prince would be unable to command the respect of those under his domain, not least those in the military force (The Prince: Ch. 20). Moreover, a successful Prince must back his abilities and not let the fear of criticism from appearing too cruel hinder decision making, as this undermines the image of bravery.
Following on from this, the final fundamental trait of a Machiavellian lion is the notion that it is preferable “for a leader to be feared as opposed to being loved, when one of the two is to be lacked” (The Prince: Ch. 17, Para. 3–4); the same way the lion in the animal kingdom is usually depicted as the one animal all the others fear the most. Machiavelli argues this as he believes that men, due to their fickle and self-centred natures, are less hesitant to challenge a leader who is loved, as love is held together by a chain of obligation which is broken easily by a man’s self-interest, in contrast to fear being held together by a dread of punishment, which is inherent within a Machiavellian lion and is less likely to be challenged. Nevertheless, Machiavelli does explicate and develop this idea further with a combination of fox traits, as explained subsequently.
Meanwhile, the image of the fox that Machiavelli generates is one of careful canniness and deception. The first trait of a fox to consider is the idea that a successful Prince should be prepared to be flexible when it comes to keeping his word (The Prince: Ch. 18). Machiavelli expresses that whilst the nobility of Princes that keep their word is in no doubt, his experience shows that successful Princes who maintained their power for a lengthy period of time cared little for keeping their word and ultimately surpassed the achievements of those Princes more predisposed by honesty. Nonetheless, Machiavelli makes a further distinction, saying that a successful Prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break promises, thus allowing him to disguise this nature well as not to appear as a hypocrite.
A Machiavellian fox also has the ability to be observant and selective of the people surrounding him. Machiavelli explains that a successful Prince making good laws cannot exist without a good army and, whilst a good army may initially appear to fall under the qualities of a lion, fox like qualities must be applied when dealing with the different types of soldiers an army has, both in The Prince: Ch. 12 and The Discourses: Bk. 2, Ch. 20. Machiavelli specifically refers to the mercenary soldiers, fighting only for money, who are disloyal and relying on them would lead to ruin. A Prince embodying a fox would be able to proactively spot such soldiers and remove them before they become a major problem in times of war. Following on from this, successful Princes must have the nous to avoid flatterers (The Prince: Ch. 23) whilst also being able to take on board advice. This fox like quality of selective discretion to be able to take on good advice is the mark of a wise and therefore successful Prince, as Machiavelli asserts that good, carefully selected advice will translate into successfully maintaining power.
The underpinning aspect of the Machiavellian fox is the prudent way of handling the influence of fortune (The Prince: Ch. 25). Whilst Machiavelli acknowledges that fortune is out of a Prince’s control, he affirms that a successful Prince must proactively adjust to the time and circumstances, despite the natural course of action being to stay on the course that past successes were built upon; directly contrasting with previous Christian approaches on how to approach and deal with fortune. This embodies the spirit of the fox in the sense that one must anticipate and plan ahead, as even if the same men follow a similar plan, the mere change in fortune, and the potential non-anticipation of this can easily overthrow the unsuspecting Prince.
Whilst so far the qualities of a lion and fox that make a successful Prince have been discussed independently, the crucial and predominant view that Machiavelli intends is that successful Princes combine aspects of both the lion and fox (Kocis, 1998: 119). This becomes most explicitly apparent in Chapter 18 of The Prince, where Machiavelli describes that “It is therefore necessary to be a fox in order to recognise the traps and a lion in order to frighten the wolves”. This is because “a lion cannot defend itself from traps and the fox cannot protect itself from wolves”. The essence of this is that lion and the fox individually both naturally and inherently have their own weaknesses and that the way cover such weaknesses is to adopt the qualities of the other respective animal. However, this point does not invalidate the distinct qualities of a lion/fox taken independently as conditions for a successful Prince; rather, it means that they become necessary conditions for the success of a Prince, as opposed to sufficient conditions.
With this in mind, it is logical to revisit Machiavelli’s aforementioned pronouncement that it is better for a leader to be feared than loved, given the straight choice between them. We can now take the analysis of this further and show how this can be developed and related to the combination of both lion and fox qualities. A successful Prince should therefore portray an image of fear on the outside, acting like a lion, despite actually performing generous actions that would ordinarily make him appear more generous and less feared to citizens in reality, acting like a fox. As a result, the successful Prince covers the weaknesses of both the lion quality, namely the vulnerability to self-centred men, and of the fox, specifically the avoidance of increased greed from citizens that stem from a generous leader (The Prince: Ch. 16), and can therefore more effectively maintain power.
Generally, when combining lion and fox characteristics, a successful prince appears to act like a lion but actually acts like a fox. This is best exemplified when revisiting whether a Prince should be flexible when keeping his word. Even when having legitimate reasons to go against previous promises, Machiavelli in The Prince (Ch. 18, para. 3) adds that “it is necessary to know to disguise this nature well and therefore be a great hypocrite and liar”. This notion of a “great hypocrite” can be shown as a Prince appearing to act like a lion in that he appears truthful yet in reality he is being deceitful, like a fox.
Article first written October 2016
