machiavel

“In the leitmotif of rivalrous brothers that seems to have fascinated Shakespeare from start to finish, the older, banished brother is usually seen as bookish and impractical while the younger is more of a machiavel.”

Shakespeare

“Indeed, Machiavelli was seen as a satanic figure who was known as 'Old Nick ', a still-used reference to the devil, and the machiavel became a stock figure on the early modern stage, a tradition which the portrayal of the King is drawing on.”

The Noble Spanish Soldier

“In its relentless potentiation of possible moves, play touches the most autonomous and the most dependent extremes of human agency - the Romantic egoist, and the most thrawn gambler; the most progressive educator through play, and the most cynical machiavel in the corridors of power.”

The Play Ethic