The Prince and Its Relation to Measure for Measure

While the connection between Machiavelli and Marlowe is distinctly articulated in the preface to the latter's Jew of Malta, the parallels between Machiavelli's Prince and Shakespeare's Measure for Measure are less explicitly expressed, but certainly no less significant. One must, of course, be cautious in suggesting that Shakespeare was familiar with Machiavelli's Prince in its original form - it is most likely that he read one of the numerous English or French paraphrases that were …

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