Expanded political thought: Shakespeare, Hobbes, Machiavelli and Montaigne

Abstract

Taking as a reference the play The Tempest (1611) by William Shakespeare, the essay addresses the theoretica relationships established between Nicolas Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, Montaigne and Shakespeare. It can be said that The Tempest stages Machiavelli, giving sensitive expression to concepts such as New Principality, Fortune and Virtú and power and freedom. In relation to Hobbes, Shakespeare elucidates in an exemplary excerpt the origin of the leviathan, indicating the details of the physical violence and the moral order exercised by the sovereign (by nature and by institution). Being the last play written by William Shakespeare, this author became aware of Montaigne's texts and brings from them notions such as a new world and the desire for utopia, having sought out European poles at the time. In turn, the idea of “freedom” is constituted in the play as a clue to articulate all the other political concepts that permeate Shakespeare’s text. Thus, it can be said that in this playwright there is a systematized political thought based not only on the astute analyzes of the political situations of his time, but, mainly, on the articulation of notions originating from the political philosophy produced in his time. Ultimately, Shakespeare stages not only Machiavelli, but also brings Hobbes and Montaigne to the political scene.