Shakespeare’s use of the Machiavellian stereotype.

The villains of Shakespeare are the most vivid and original in English drama, yet they are not entirely products of his imagination. With this sort of character, as with his plots and other characters, Shakespeare worked within viable dramatic traditions which were strong enough to provide a base and an inspiration for his genius, yet not so rigid as to limit it. One of the strongest of these traditions was that of the Machiavel. The works of Machiavelli were readily available to the Elizabethans. Although the ‘Discourses’ was not published in English translation until 1636 and ‘The Prince’ until 1640, at least four different manuscript translations of the ‘Discourses’ and three of ‘The Prince’ were made in the Elizabethan period