| This project traces the Machiavellian themes found in Robert Penn Warren’s classic American political novel All the King’s Men. Through a comparison of Machiavelli’s Mandragola with his political works, I argue that for Machiavelli politics serves as a framework for life. Warren, however, believes a purely political life like Machiavelli seems to prescribe—one concerned primarily with the acquisition and maintenance of power for its own sake—becomes destructive, both of the individual and the regime. |
