Mach the Nice

[Caius Marcius]

No: HPFGUIDX 22655

> Susanna wrote:
> > there is one verse in the hat's song that 
> > says that Slytherins "will use any means to
> > achieve their ends". (snip) This touch of 
> > macchiavellism without any scruples certainly
> > is a main characteristic of the Slytherins 
> > and I can't think of any argument to defend it

Alas, everyone from Shakespeare to the contemporary social 
psychologist feels free to caricature and trash the greatest and 
subtlest political philosopher in Western history.  "He pretended to 
instruct Princes, but in reality it was the people he instructed." 
wrote JJ Rousseau.  I haven't the occasion right now to launch a 
lengthier defense of Machiavelli, but I would refer you to James 
Burnham's classic 1942 study, "The Machiavellians: Defenders of 
Liberty", as well as Sebastian De Grazia's Pulitzer Prize-winning 
biography "Machiavelli in Hell," which makes its subject as lovable 
as JKR makes the Weasley family.

And remember: Mach was also a playwright - his finest comedy was 
titled Mandragora!  

  - CMC