"Am I politic, am I subtle, am I a Machiavel?'

Santi di Tinto's portrait of Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527). 

My title quote is from Shakespeare's "Merry Wives of Windsor."  Once you've noted the Bard's charming use of  "a Machiavel" as a singular personal noun, let the meaning of the adjectives "politic" and "subtle" sink in.

The line encapsulates the basic dilemmas surrounding "The Prince":  Is Niccolò's position statesmanlike or malevolent?  Does he depict affairs as they really are, or as they should be?  Is he at heart a republican or a monarchist?  Is he really "subtle," or is he ruthless?

Questions such as these make this first modern treatise of political philosophy fascinating.  We'll talk more on Monday.

P.S. Note well Niccolò's sixteenth-century political smile in portrait.  Would it fly in the twenty-first century?