Realpolitik in Renaissance and Early Modern British Literature

A special issue of Literature (ISSN 2410-9789).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2024) | Viewed by 3096

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
College of Arts and Sciences, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA
Interests: Shakespeare and psychoanalytic theory; Shakespeare and Renaissance; early modern literature; feminist studies

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This collection of essays will offer innovative readings of British literature of the Renaissance and early modern period that reflect the influence of realpolitik, especially as embodied in Machiavelli’s writings, and The Prince in particular. While some scholars have suggested that Machiavelli’s writings would not have been accessible enough to have had much of an impression on early modern British writers, others have argued that his influence was widespread and some British writers would have recognized Machiavelli as a serious political philosopher. It is to this latter view that essayists should focus their attention. The upheaval in governmental power structures in early modern England resulted in literary representations of the overthrow of the traditional concept of the divine monarchical system by a more secular approach, one based on political realism and best articulated by the controversial writings of Machiavelli, especially The Prince. Essays should not concentrate on the stock depictions of Machiavellian figures as immoral, sinister megalomaniacs, but, rather, on a more appreciative portrayal of practitioners of secular statecraft, reflecting an underlying laudatory view of Machiavelli as a progenitor of modern political theory that depicts the realities of governing and embodies sagacious advice about wielding power. Essays can focus on one literary work or several texts.

Topics of interest for this volume may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • the depiction of major Machiavellian tenets;
  • the contrasting of the traditional concept of the divine right of kings with the secular view of power;
  • the portrayal of women as astute Machiavels;
  • the concealment of secret plotting through literal and figurative disguises, with the characters who are most adept at dissembling being the most challenging to detect as political strategists;
  • the appearance of Machiavellian strategies in literary works that are not overtly political in nature;
  • the subversiveness of literary texts that explore early modern politics;
  • the literary depiction of conspiracies and planned invasions, like those occurring in early modern England.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 400-600 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Guest Editor (email) or to the Literature Editorial Office (literature@mdpi.com). Abstracts will be reviewed by the guest editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Carolyn Brown
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • statecraft
  • political realism
  • realpolitik
  • Niccolò Machiavelli
  • The Prince
  • the divine right of kings
  • secular politics
  • dissimulation
  • early modern political theory
  • female machiavels

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 234 KiB  
Article
Machiavelli’s Counsel in Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure
by Simona Laghi
Literature 2025, 5(2), 9; https://doi.org/10.3390/literature5020009 (registering DOI) - 27 Apr 2025
Viewed by 84
Abstract
The circulation of Il Principe in the British Isles increased significantly in 1584, thanks to the editor John Wolfe. His aim was to spread Machiavelli’s works not only in England but also across Europe and Italy, where the book had been included in [...] Read more.
The circulation of Il Principe in the British Isles increased significantly in 1584, thanks to the editor John Wolfe. His aim was to spread Machiavelli’s works not only in England but also across Europe and Italy, where the book had been included in the Index Librorum Prohibitorum since 1557. Machiavelli’s advice to rulers on how to acquire and maintain power, ensuring peace and stability, attracted a diverse readership, from members of the royal court to reformers, philosophers, legal scholars, and even playwrights like Shakespeare. This paper, departing from the influence of The Prince in England, focuses on how the ambiguous figure of the principe nuovo served as a model for discussing diverse forms of government and political theories. It will be shown that Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure enters the political debate by representing Duke Vincentio as the embodiment of a tyrannical Machiavellian prince, offering an indirect criticism of the rule of King James I of England and VI of Scotland. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Realpolitik in Renaissance and Early Modern British Literature)
15 pages, 278 KiB  
Article
Effectual Truth and the Machiavellian Enterprise
by Dustin Gish
Literature 2025, 5(1), 6; https://doi.org/10.3390/literature5010006 - 11 Mar 2025
Viewed by 491
Abstract
The political philosophy of Niccolò Machiavelli has often been reduced to the statement that ‘the end justifies the means’ and understood as an expression of realpolitik as a result of his pragmatic, even ruthless, counsel to would-be princes, or political leaders. However, a [...] Read more.
The political philosophy of Niccolò Machiavelli has often been reduced to the statement that ‘the end justifies the means’ and understood as an expression of realpolitik as a result of his pragmatic, even ruthless, counsel to would-be princes, or political leaders. However, a more nuanced understanding of Machiavelli’s reflections on human nature in his writings, especially The Prince, reveals that there is a philosophic core within his approach to political success, the acquisition and maintenance of state. But while there is no doubt that Machiavelli openly rejected the idealism of certain ancient and medieval thinkers, whose imagined republics only ever existed in theory, and instead candidly advised princes to seek and wield power, his work reflects not only a profound engagement with the harsh realities of a political landscape dominated by practical necessity but also a project of far-reaching scope. With the concept of “effectual truth” as his guide, Machiavelli proposes radical means to overcome fortuna with virtù and establish the foundations of power in order to bring about that conquest. The fulfillment of his mission and mandate to those who follow his lead represents the Machiavellian enterprise. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Realpolitik in Renaissance and Early Modern British Literature)
12 pages, 215 KiB  
Article
The Machiavellian Spectacle in Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure
by Andrew Moore
Literature 2025, 5(1), 2; https://doi.org/10.3390/literature5010002 - 31 Dec 2024
Viewed by 887
Abstract
In Measure for Measure Shakespeare addresses a question that is both straightforward and hard to answer: how do we make people obey the law? Over the course of the play, this simple question gives way to a complex set of problems about human [...] Read more.
In Measure for Measure Shakespeare addresses a question that is both straightforward and hard to answer: how do we make people obey the law? Over the course of the play, this simple question gives way to a complex set of problems about human will, political legitimacy, and the origins of sovereign power. Measure for Measure is concerned with illicit activity and ineffective government. But in this comedy—this “problem play”—Shakespeare is especially interested in the political mechanism by which authority and obedience are restored. How is a delinquent population, used to license, brought under control? Shakespeare examines one strategy in this play, one he has seemingly adapted from the Florentine political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli. Multiple critics have recognized that the story of Duke Vincentio and his deviant deputy, Lord Angelo, bear a striking resemblance to the story Machiavelli tells about Cesare Borgia and Remirro de Orco in Chapter 7 of The Prince. Here, I build upon these analyses to offer a new account of Shakespeare’s relationship to Machiavelli and political realism more generally. The Cesare story provides Shakespeare with an opportunity to explore how spectacle and theatricality can be used—not only to subdue an unruly population but to legitimate sovereign authority. However, Shakespeare delves deeper than Machiavelli into the mechanism whereby political authority is reestablished, first by considering the psychological conditions of the Duke’s subjects (both before and during his spectacular display of power), and second, by emphasizing the need for individual citizens to will sovereign authority into being. As we will see, in Shakespeare’s Vienna, order can only be restored once the delinquent people beg to be governed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Realpolitik in Renaissance and Early Modern British Literature)
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