Edgar+Huntly+Relationship

**Relationship to Edgar Huntly**

Antithesis **Throughout both texts of //Edgar Huntly and The Prince,//** **a recurring theme that they both share in common is Antithesis; the direct opposite of each other.** Edgar Huntly is a passive character, who goes through life in such a way that things happen to him (he follows Clithero, he sleepwalks, he is shot at, the panther is in the cave, he doesn't seek it out), not in such a way that he controls his destiny.
 * Machiavelli's idea is that one control one's life and manipulate others in a calculated fashion, irrespective of moral notions.
 * The Prince would never rescue the Indian girl if there were nothing in it for him
 * Edgar Huntly would rather be loved than feared, thus the letter to Mary Waldegrave.

**Adaptability**
 * Effect of society, interactions upon self choice and free will**
 * Society consists of humans, whom are no where near perfect, yet with this knowledge we can establish the "right", the "wrong", the "good", and the "evil."
 * Edgar Huntly's journey to discover his true self develops in his interactions with the Indians, Clithero, and Sarsefield.


 * Free Will:**
 * Machiavelli often uses the words “prowess” and “fortune” to describe two distinct ways in which a prince can come to power. “Prowess” refers to an individual’s talents, while “fortune” implies chance or luck. Part of Machiavelli’s aim in writing The Prince is to investigate how much of a prince’s success or failure is caused by his own free will and how much is determined by nature or the environment in which he lives. Machiavelli applies this question specifically to the failure of past Italian princes.
 * In Chapter XXV, Machiavelli discusses the role of fortune in determining human affairs. He attempts to compromise between free will and determinism by arguing that fortune controls half of human actions and leaves the other half to free will. However, Machiavelli also argues that through foresight, a quality that he champions throughout the book, people can shield themselves
 * Thus, Machiavelli can be described as confident in the power of human beings to shape their destinies to a degree, but equally confident that human control over events is never absolute.

Virtue Cruelty and other vices should not be pursued for their own sake, just as virtue should not be pursued for its own sake: virtues and vices should be conceived as means to an end.
 * Machiavelli defines virtues as qualities that are praised by others, such as generosity, compassion, loyalty and piety.**
 * He argues that a prince should always try to appear virtuous, but that acting virtuously for virtue’s sake can prove detrimental to the principality.
 * A prince should not necessarily avoid vices such as cruelty or dishonesty if employing them will benefit the state.
 * Every action the prince takes must be considered in light of its effect on the state, not in terms of its intrinsic moral value.


 * Edgar Huntly interacts with Clithero**
 * Edgar's interaction with Clithero is crucial to discovering loyalty to himself, adapting to Clithero's method of helping others, by standards frowned upon by society.
 * Edgar gets to know Clithero, and comes to the conclusion that he is not to blame for the murder because it **"was not intended, the deed was without crime; that, if it had been deliberately concerted, it was still a virtue, since his own life could, by no other means, be preserved."**
 * "These were the evils which his malignant destiny had made unalterable portion of Clithero, and how should may imperfect eloquence annihilate evils?"
 * Edgar begins to lose that which society has instilled in him, but adapts to Clithero's view, rather than revealing his own.