Journal of Popular Film and Television

ISSN: 0195-6051 (Print) 1930-6458 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjpf20

The Vice in Vice President: House of Cards and the

Morality Tradition

James R. Keller

To cite this article: James R. Keller (2015) The Vice in Vice President: House of Cards
and the Morality Tradition, Journal of Popular Film and Television, 43:3, 111-120, DOI:
10.1080/01956051.2015.1027649

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01956051.2015.1027649

Published online: 23 Sep 2015.

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 Copyright 2015 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
DOI: 10.1080/01956051.2015.1027649
Color versions of one or more of the figures in the
article can be found online at www.tandfonline.
com/vjpf.

By
James R.
Keller
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The Vice
in Vice
President:

House
House of Cards (Netflix, 2013present). Episode: Chapter 1 (season 1, episode 1,
airdate February 1, 2013). Shown: Kristen Connolly. Photo courtesy of

of
A-Pix Entertainment/Photofest.

Cards and the Morality Tradition

Abstract: The purpose of this essay is to trace within the Netflix series House of Cards a tradition that
predates Shakespeare, one that eventually evolved into the villains of the early modern stage. I refer here
to the character known as the vice of medieval morality plays.

Keywords: drama, morality, politics, television, vice

F
or those acquainted Spacey, who plays the parthave con- influenced Shakespeare and his contem-
with early modern drama, firmed the connection between House of poraries and eventually evolved into the
the character of Francis Cards and Richard III (Crouch). Under- Machiavellian villain of the early mod-
Underwood in the Netflix woods deceit, his dissembling, his intri- ern stage. The similarity is most evident
series House of Cards may cate machinations, his self-gratification, in the character known as the vice of
seem familiar, reminiscent of numer- and mostly his direct address to the au- the medieval morality plays.
ous Shakespearean villains: Richard III, dience are indicative of the early mod- The morality drama flourished in the
Iago, Aaron, Edmund, and Macbeth. In- ern stage villain. House of Cards is also fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries,
deed, several sourcesincluding Kevin part of an even earlier tradition, one that but its homiletic subject matter, its dia-

111
 112 JPF&TJournal of Popular Film and Television
Downloaded by [UNAM Ciudad Universitaria] at 14:18 11 July 2016

House of Cards (Netflix,

2013present). Shown:
Robin Wright. Photo courtesy
of A-Pix Entertainment/
Photofest.

House of Cards
(Netflix, 2013present).
Shown: Kevin Spacey.
Photo courtesy of A-Pix
Entertainment/Photofest.
 House of Cards and the Morality Tradition 113
Downloaded by [UNAM Ciudad Universitaria] at 14:18 11 July 2016

House of Cards (Netflix,

2013present). Shown:
Kate Mara. Photo courtesy
of A-Pix Entertainment/
Photofest.
 114 JPF&TJournal of Popular Film and Television
lectical structure, its dramaturgical prac-
tices, and its stock characters have had a
lasting impact on Western culture, and
some of these conventions are still fa-
miliar to twenty-first-century audiences,
although few may be aware of their
origins. The most recognizable of these
literary and dramaturgical conventions
is the psychomachia, which dramatized
the temptation of humanity by the em-
bodiments of iniquity, urging humanity
to embrace the wicked and forsake the
good (Spivack 152, 170). This narrative
pattern is familiar to contemporary audi-
ences in the oft-comic representation of
the individual torn between the contrary
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influences of the good and bad angels.
Also recognizable to the contemporary
audience is the figure of the morality
Vice, the embodiment of human iniq-
uity, whose puckish, malignant and of-
ten comical machinations propelled the
action of the drama. The Vice was the
prime mover of the psychomachia in-
trigue plot, and his infectious humor as
well as his unconscionable and devious
maneuvering enchanted and won the ap-
plause of the audience, this in spite of
his self-serving sociopathic tendencies
(Mares 1114). He is the embodiment
of the dramatic forces directing the ac-
tion and controlling the response of the
audience (Happ, The Vice 17).
That feature of Francis Underwood
(House of Cards protagonist played by
Kevin Spacey) most frequently cited
as a contemporary homage to Shake-
speares Richard III is his conspiratorial
direct address to his audience, whom he
makes complicit in his scheming. How-
ever, over fifty years ago, Bernard Spiv-
ack, in Shakespeare and the Allegory of
Evil, argued that these villainous quali-
That feature of Francis Underwood most
frequently cited as a contemporary homage to
Shakespeares Richard III is his conspiratorial
direct address to his audience, whom he makes
complicit in his scheming.
ties often identified as Machiavellian
were in fact derived from the morality
tradition. The Vice faces his audience
and announces his intention to manipu-
late, mislead, and destroy the embodi-
ment of humanity and then brags about
his subsequent success. He mocks the
foolishness of humanity and reveals his
satisfaction with the effects of his de-
ceit (Spivack 148, 167; Happ, The
Vice 27). The character Riot in the
morality play Youth boasts of his escape
from the gallows and his nimble extor-
tion of an aristocratic youth:
I came lately from Newgate
Verily, Sir, the rope brake,
And so I fell to the ground . . .
By the way I met a courtiers lad
And twenty nobles of gold in his purse
I had. (qtd. in Cushman 136)
Ambidexter in the morality play King
Cambyses gloats about his decep-
tions: Marry, sir, I told him a notable
lie/Thereby you may be used to see I
play with each; Hypocrisy of Conflict
of Conscience brags, Such chopping
cheer as we have made, the like has not
been seen; Courage, the Vice in Tide,
boasts of his dissimulation: Now you
may see how courage can work/And
how he can encourage both to good and
to bad (qtd. in Cushman 14); and Titiv-
illus in Mankind proudly crows about
the success of his spiteful enterprises:
Farewell, everyone, for I have done
my game/For I have brought Mankind
to mischief and to shame (qtd. in Spiv-
ack 125). This theatrical practice can be
seen in Shakespearean drama. Iago, for
example, boasts of his ease in deceiving
Roderigo:
Thus do I ever make my fool my
purse;
For I my own gained knowledge
should profane
If I would time expend with such a
snipe
But for sport and profit.
(Oth. 1.3.38487)
The Vices commentary operates in a
fashion similar to that of the Chorus
in classical drama. He predicts events,
he expresses satisfaction with his suc-
cesses, he announces arrivals and de-
partures, and he reveals events that have
occurred offstage (Cushman 14042).
Frank Underwoods asides and so-
liloquies make his character unusual
among television protagonists, and
although they are too plentiful to enu-
merate, we can sample a few. In many
of his monologues, Underwood articu-
lates his ruthless professional practices
and techniques. In the opening scene of
Chapter 1, he witnesses a hit-and-run
on a neighbors dog and dispassionately
dispatches the suffering animal, ratio-
nalizing, I have no patience for useless
things. Moments like this require some-
one who will act to do the unpleasant
thing, the necessary thing. He articu-
lates a similar ruthlessness in his assess-
ment of hypocrisy among politicians:
Love of family. Most politicians are
permanently chained to that slogan
family values. But when you cozy up
to hookers and I find out, I will make
that hypocrisy hurt. He introduces and
assesses the other characters, identify-
ing their strengths and weaknesses. In
Chapter 1, he introduces President Gar-
rett Walker (Michael Gill), whom he
admits to disliking but whom he will
serve since he offers access to power (I
can smell which way the wind is blow-
ing); Vice President Jim Matthews
(Dan Ziskie), whom he predicts will be
put out to pasture and whom he por-
trays as a doddering fool content with
merely the symbols of office; and then
himself, the lowest majority whip,
who, according to his prediction, will be
advancing in Walkers administration.
His monologue concludes with a broad
Welcome to Washington, implying
that the persons, relations, and intrigues
implicit in his overviews are native to
and typical of the environment.
Underwoods asides also divulge his
intentions to manipulate others. Having
 House of Cards and the Morality Tradition 115

full of false humility that wins President

In many of his monologues, Underwood
articulates his ruthless professional practices
and techniques.
been passed over for the promised posi-
tion of Secretary of State by President
Walker and his Chief of Staff, Linda
Vasquez (Sakina Jaffrey), Frank Under-
wood vows to destroy their appointee
Michael Kern (Kevin Kilner):
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In the morality tradition, it is the
function of the Vice to illustrate his
name (Spivack 134), which is fre-
quently allegorical, suggesting some
disruptive or antisocial character trait.
The Vice is rarely named after a par-
ticular deadly sin (Cushman 63) but has
Walkers trust and earns Frank the presi-
dency. There is an element of the Vice
that is metadramatic, for he is the meta-
phorical author and director of the ac-
tion; he is the playmaker whose histri-
onic deceits and beguilements create the
action of the play (Spivack 191). Thus,
with this symbol of traditional author-
ship (the Underwood typewriter), Frank
scripts and composes his own success or
writes his place in history. Franks title
in the first season of the showmajor-
ity whipis reminiscent of the dag-
ger of lath (a wooden pitchfork) with
which the Vice would chase and torment
the other characters, and while it is hard

I almost pity him. He didnt choose to

be put on my platter. When I carve him
up and feed him to the dogs, only then
will he confront that brutal inescapable
truth, My God, all I ever amounted to
was chitlins.
When two junior congressmen vote
against an important bill that Under-
wood sponsored, he vows to punish
them:
There may be a way to turn Lindas bad
luck into my good fortune, but first I
must deal with treason in the ranks, the
two renegades who voted against the
bill. I have zero tolerance for betrayal,
which they will soon indelibly learn.
He learns shortly thereafter that he has
been betrayed by his own wife: Rebel-
lion on all frontsClaire, Zoey, Russo
I must not lose my resolve. I will march
forward if I have to do so alone. The ef-
fect of the protagonists direct address is
to generate an intimacy with the politic
villain and a complicity of the audience
in the culture of self-interest, deceit, ma-
nipulation, and corruption that has be-
come a pervasive part of our democratic
processes. We have come to expect
and accept that a measure of ruthless
pragmatism is requisite to survival, to
gaining and maintaining high public
office. Franks revelations are reminis-
cent of Peter Happs characterization
of the Vice as amazingly honest with
the audience about himself and his pur-
poses and . . . constantly asking for the
audiences understanding and admira-
tion of his skillful plotting (The Vice
27). The Vice is a braggart who proudly
flaunts his criminal dossier in order to
advertise and celebrate his cunning.
names such as Mischief or Riot or to believe that a program of such sub-
Subtle Shift or Desire or Politic tlety would employ an unsophisticated
Persuasion. However, the most com- play on words, it is difficult to ignore
mon name among the Vices of medieval the Vice in Vice President, Franks title
drama is Iniquity (Mares 11). The in the second season. Indeed, the revela-
names in House of Cards are not heavy- tion of Claires affair with the photogra-
handed enough to qualify as allegory, pher Adam Galloway (Ben Daniels) is
yet they do in some cases suggest quali- represented in the press with the head-
ties of the character, particularly in the line The Vice in Vice President.
case of Frank Underwood and his wife, The Vice of the morality drama is
Claire (Robin Wright). The name Un- the soul of fraud; his artistry in deceit
derwood may suggest underhanded is a source of admiration and pleasure
or undermine, both terms implying for the audience, his dissimulations and
deceit or dissimulation. If we add to machinations often the impetus driving
that the names Frank, which suggests the plot of the drama (Spivack 132). The
bluntness or truthfulness, and Claire, Vices greatest skill of all is his ability
which implies clarity and openness, to improvise (Happ, The Vice 24).
then the full name in each case creates Certainly, Frank Underwoods schem-
a paradoxical mixture of veracity and ing and maneuvering forms the story-
duplicity, not unlike truthful deceit line of each of the first two seasons of
or clear dissimulation. At the conclu- the Netflix series. Disappointed at the
sion of the second season, we find an- Presidents refusal to name him Secre-
other potential metaphorical implication tary of State, Underwood embarks upon
of the name Underwood when Frank a campaign of fraud and deceit, all the
uses his fathers old Underwood type- while maintaining a pretense of loy-
writer to compose the deceitful letter alty and good will to those he plans to
The Vice of the morality drama is the soul
of fraud; his artistry in deceit is a source of
admiration and pleasure for the audience, his
dissimulations and machinations often the
impetus driving the plot
 116 JPF&TJournal of Popular Film and Television
destroy. His deceits are legion, and he
must be very nimble to juggle all of the
lies and pretenses. He undermines the
nomination of Michael Kern for Secre-
tary of State by falsely linking him to
an anti-Israeli article written when Kern
was in college. He deceives, browbeats,
and manipulates Martin Spinella (Al
Sapienza), a lobbyist for the Teachers
Union, into accepting an inadmissible
education reform bill so that he (Frank)
can win political clout and influence
with the President. He sows mistrust
and dissent between the President and
the Vice President, Jim Matthews, in or-
der to get the latter to abandon the VP
position and pursue the governorship
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of Pennsylvania. He uses, abuses, and
ultimately murders a junior congress-
man, Peter Russo (Corey Stoll), and an
ambitious young reporter, Zoe Barnes
(Kate Mara), in order to orchestrate his
complicated and circuitous drive for the
vice presidency, which he achieves at
the conclusion of the first season. In the
second, he embarks on a strategy to dis-
credit and destroy the President so that
he can assume his place, which he does
in the final episode.
Underwoods talent lies in his abil-
ity to identify and exploit the desires
and weaknesses of his colleagues; thus,
even those familiar with his ambition
and his penchant for deceit often can-
not avoid being used and destroyed by
him. Majority Leader David Rasmus-
sen (Michael Siberry) refuses to suc-
cumb to Underwoods temptation to
unseat Speaker of the House Bob Birch
(Larry Pine), but in spite of (or perhaps
because of) this disinclination, he be-
comes the scapegoat for Franks decep-
tions, is falsely exposed as the source
of the insurrection against the Speaker,
and is forced to step down as Majority
Leader. When Underwood approaches
Jackie Sharp (Molly Parker), a young
congresswoman, to urge her to become
Majority Whip, she immediately sus-
pects she is being used, but he wins her
cooperation with flattery, telling her that
her military experience gives her the
killer instinct requisite to the job. He
then immediately tempts her to betray
her own political mentor. He prevails in
his effort to convince Secretary of State
Catherine Durant (Jayne Atkinson) to
One of the disarming qualities of the Vice in the
manipulation of his adversaries is his feigned
humility
undermine the President by offering
political asylum to Xander Feng (Terry
Chen), the Chinese national who can
offer evidence exposing the administra-
tions knowledge of money laundering.
He accomplishes this by offering her
a more substantial position in his own
administration. President Walker rec-
ognizes that Frank has set him up and
exiles him from the Oval Office, yet
Frank manages to win back his trust by
confessing that he is deceitful: Because
I am a liar, sir, because I lack scruples,
and some may even say compassion,
but thats just the image I present to the
world because it elicits fear and respect.
. . .
One of the disarming qualities of the
Vice in the manipulation of his adver-
saries is his feigned humility, a quality
that Bernard Spivack refers to as the
weeping of the Vice (Spivack 16163),
which is always insincere . . . a part of
his showmanship (Happ, The Vice
21), and his subsequent laughter ex-
poses his lamentation as fraud (Spivack
161). Envy of Impatient Poverty reveals
the subtle manipulation of emotion:
This is a heavy departing
I can in no wise forebear weeping
Yet kiss me ere ye go
For sorrow my heart will break in two.
Is he gone, then have at laughing
A sir is not this a jolly game
That conscience does not know my
name. (qtd. in Spivack 162)
Similarly, Mosca from Ben Jonsons
Volpone, the progeny of the Vice char-
acter in early modern drama, actually
feigns tears to assuage the angry ac-
cusations of an antagonist, and Shake-
speares Iago is an equally good actor
when he pretends to lament the fall of
Cassio, the man he has betrayed: Hon-
est Iago, that looks dead with grieving
(Oth. 2.3.17778). Frank Underwood
also understands the power of false hu-
mility. When he labors to appease the
anger of a dead teenagers parents, who
blame him for the tragic accident, he of-
fers to resign his congressional seat in
order to win their sympathy. After they
decline his specious offer, he elaborates
on his feigned submission:
What you have to understand about my
people is that they are a noble people.
Humility is their form of pride. It is
their strength; it is their weakness,
and if you can humble yourself before
them, they will do anything for you.
However, Underwood is so far from
tears over the premature death of a
young woman that following his murder
of the reporter Zoe Barnes, he instructs
his audience not to mourn for her: For
those of us climbing to the top of the
food chain, there can be no mercy. He
once again uses feigned humility in his
most crucial and artful maneuver as he
wins back the trust of President Walker
whose impeachment and resignation
results largely from the Underwoods
intrigues. Claire Underwood encour-
ages her husband to seduce him [the
President]. Give him your heart. Cut
it out and put it in his fucking hands.
Thus, Frank composes a letter to Walker
in which he evokes sympathy by telling
of his fathers suicide attempt; he pro-
tests that he has not been self-serving,
but only ever served the interests of the
President; he includes a separate letter
which includes a false admission of his
guilt in the money-laundering scheme
that has jeopardized the presidency, and
he invites the President to use it to save
himself, while pleading for readmission
to Walkers good graces. The ploy is
successful; he wins back the Presidents
trust, and he uses the reprieve to ensure
the Presidents destruction and his own
ascendency to the Oval Office.
The Vices weeping dovetails nicely
with his contempt for piety. Pride, for
example, upbraids the protagonist of
Youth for his religious conversion: . . .
Downloaded by [UNAM Ciudad Universitaria] at 14:18 11 July 2016

House of Cards (Netflix, 2013present). Episode: Chapter 25 (season 2, episode 12, airdate February 14, 2014). Shown: Kevin Spacey.
Photo courtesy of A-Pix Entertainment/Photofest.

Make you holy ere you be old . . ./Thou you sharpen the blade, hold it at just the thers early demise. He offers the tale as
wert a stark fool to leave mirth. When right angle. . . . Chapter 3 of House a commiseration, a sign that he under-
the titular character of Lusty Juventus of Cards most directly features Under- stands and shares their pain, yet in so-
attempts to defend Christianity against woods irreverent exploitation of piety. liloquy, he reveals that he felt only con-
irreverence, Hypocrisy mocks him: When he travels to his home district to tempt for his father and certainly did not
Well said, master doctor, well said/ console the parents of a dead teenager, mourn his death. Underwood exploits
By the mass, we must have you into the he delivers a eulogy at the local church religion to deflect the parents anger.
pulpit (qtd. in Cushman 93). Infidelity, where he relates a fraudulent story of Twice he prays with them for strength
in the morality play Mary Magdalene, his own crisis of faith following his fa- and guidance, yet in a subsequent epi-
protests: Never attend you to law nor
prophecy/They were invented to make
fools afraid . . ./God? tush, when was
God to any man seen? (qtd. in Cush-
man 99). Frank Underwood displays
[F]ollowing his murder of the reporter Zoe
a similar skepticism and contempt for
religious devotion, cynically adapting
Barnes, [Underwood] instructs his audience not
it to his advantage. When he manipu-
lates Donald Blythe (Reed Birney) into
to mourn for her: For those of us climbing to
taking responsibility for the scandalous
early draft of the education reform bill,
the top of the food chain, there can be
he comments on the foolishness of the
pious: What a martyr craves more than
no mercy.
anything else is a sword to fall on. So

117
 118 JPF&TJournal of Popular Film and Television
sode, his security guard admits that, af-
ter many years of service, he has never
seen Frank Underwood pray. In Chapter
12, Frank speaks of a former professor
who asked him if he believed in heaven:
I said, no, then he asked if I had no
faith in God. I said, you have it wrong.
Its God who has no faith in us. In a
particularly Shakespearean moment in
Chapter 13, Frank addresses God in a
mockery of prayer including an avowal
of his contempt for religion and his
self-reliance:
Every time Ive spoken to you youve
never spoken back. Although given
our mutual disdain, I cant blame
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you for the silent treatment
There is no solace above or below,
only us, small, solitary, striving,
battling one another. I pray to
myself for myself.
Underwoods pretense to religion in the
absence of any faith suggests that in
power politics, religion is just another
cynical mask calculated to dupe and
control a credulous and superstitious
electorate.
It is the role of the Vice to create
dissension and debate where formerly
there was unity and affection (Spivack
176), but this practice is not limited to
the interaction between characters. The
Vice provokes crises of conscience as
well. Peter Happ observes that Vices
may be manifestations of inner ten-
sions which are psychological as well
as moral (Theatricality 2). In the first
season, Frank Underwoods sociopathic
activities and his serene indifference to
the instability that he creates are con-
trasted with the inner turmoil that he
evokes in others. His vigorous work-
outs on his rowing machine suggest his
Underwoods pretense to religion in the
absence of any faith suggests that in power
politics, religion is just another cynical mask
calculated to dupe and control a credulous and
superstitious electorate.
single-mindedness and steady deter-
mination to obtain the ambitious goals
he has set for himself, specifically the
vice presidency. The casualties that he
creates counted in lives and careers are
not near his conscience. However, those
individuals who come into contact with
him are gripped by moral quandaries.
Peter Russos involvement with Under-
wood destroys his life and career, and
he is subject to a great deal of mental
anguish in advance of his demise. Un-
derwood forces him to betray his con-
stituency by prohibiting his opposition
to the closing of a shipyard in Philadel-
phia and later sets him up in a fraudulent
campaign for the governorship of Penn-
sylvania. The junior congressmans an-
guish is only extinguished by his death.
Similarly, Zoe Barnes, journalist at the
Washington Herald, allows herself to be
used by Frank both sexually and profes-
sionally in order to advance her career.
She experiences several moral dilem-
mas, first when she tries to break off the
sexual relationship with Underwood and
finds out the professional consequences
and later when she tries to uncover
the role that Underwood played in the
death of Peter Russo, an inquiry which
ultimately gets her killed. Many of the
people used by the politician are tossed
aside when they become too difficult.
The temptations continue into the sec-
ond season, but there the results are not
fatal. Underwood compels Jackie Sharp
to betray her friend and political mentor
in order to gain the position of Majority
Whip, and he convinces Catherine Du-
rant, Secretary of State, to betray Presi-
dent Walker. In each of these cases, the
target is subject to a moral dilemma but
is ultimately overcome by Underwoods
appeal to naked ambition.
Claire Underwood also engages in
rigorous self-analysis when she is forced
to sacrifice her professional goals in the
Clean Water Initiative to her husbands
political ambitions. She experiences
compunction when she fires much of her
staff, and when she betrays her husband
for her own interests, the confrontation
results in her temporary abandonment of
the marriage in favor of a liaison with
the photographer Adam Galloway. For
her, however, the moral dilemma does
not weaken her, but causes her to be-
come increasingly more callous and
hardened in her ambitions, and in the
second season, her goals are more com-
patible with those of her husband with
whom she resumes a powerful alliance.
The moral dilemmas of the first sea-
son of House of Cards evolve into the
more traditional plot of the morality play
in the second season in which a broader
struggle for the soul of the nation is
waged. The word psychomachia, the
title of a narrative by Prudentius written
in the fourth century, refers to an inter-
nal struggle and specifically the strug-
gle for the soul of man by the personi-
fied forces of good and evil (Bevington
117). This idea originally manifested
in medieval drama as a mock combat
between the forces of vice and virtue
vying for control of humanity. How-
ever, the problems of staging warfare
with limited resources necessitated the
development of the psychomachia in-
trigue plot in which the embodiment of
mischiefthe Vicetempted the rep-
resentation of humanity to reject virtue
in favor of wickedness (Spivack 152).
The result was the traditional image of
mankind beset by the good and the bad
angel. Subsequently, a similar structure
was adopted in the early modern history
play where the King or Queen is torn be-
tween the virtuous and the wicked coun-
sellors vying for the soul of the monarch
and, by extension, the kingdom, and
this more-evolved format seems to be
the one operative in the second season
of House of Cards. Having obtained the
vice presidency at the end of season one,
Frank Underwood becomes engaged in
a pitched battle (metaphorically speak-
ing) with the Presidents primary busi-
ness advisor, billionaire Raymond
Tusk (Gerald McRaney). The standoff
 House of Cards and the Morality Tradition 119

between Underwood and Tusk, unlike

that of a traditional morality play, is not
necessarily a conflict between a clear
The moral dilemmas of the first season of
representative of good and a clear em-
bodiment of evil. The struggle is waged
House of Cards evolve into the more traditional
for the allegiances of and dominion over
the President. Neither of the combatants
plot of the morality play in the second season
is particularly virtuous, and each in his
turn claims the moral high ground. Each
in which a broader struggle for the soul of the
embodies ambition, one purely political
and the other financial. At least initially,
nation is waged.
Tusk may be more virtuous insofar as
he does not plot the destruction of the
President or the usurpation of the presi-
dential office, as Underwood does. Dur- revels in his accomplishment: Hes in ambitious goals and his open hostilities
ing one of their many confrontations, the darkness now, and Im the only bea- with Raymond Tusk, the reward of his
Tusk asks Frank if he is intentionally con of light. Now we gently guide him labor being control of the President and
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trying to destroy the President. The toward the rocks. his office. It signifies a covert civil war
irony of the question lies in the fact The war motif that is a part of the psy- within the Democratic administration of
that it is Tusks own actions that will chomachia tradition does have an appli- the show.
ultimately bring the President down, cation to House of Cards. The second Frank Underwoods behavior devi-
but only because Underwood has or- season begins with Underwood attend- ates from that of the Vice insofar as
chestrated the catastrophe. In another ing a Civil War reenactment of a battle he is more motivated by personal gain
confrontation, Underwood reminds his in which one of his Confederate ances- than by a sheer delight in mayhem and
adversary that he may have all the tors was killed. Subsequently, he can be the destruction of others. Moreover, he
money, but he (Frank) has all of the seen building a Civil War diorama in does not possess the notorious mirth of
men with guns. Underwood progres- his home, working meticulously on the the Vice who is often heard laughing at
sively alienates the President from his figures. Most of the season, the activity the outcome of his machinations. Un-
chief advisors, particularly those who seems inconsequential until the culmi- derwood is sanguinary enough, but he
wish him wellLinda Vasquez, Chief nation of his scheme against the Presi- seems quite grave in the pursuit of his
of Staff; Tricia Walker (Joanna Go- dent, whereupon he refers to the model ambitions. Here he brushes up against
ing), the First Lady; Catherine Durant, as a project that he has been working on the Machiavellian villain whose in-
the Secretary of State; Raymond Tusk, for a long time and invites one of his trigues are generally more focused on
etc.until Walker has no one to rely on coconspirators to help him complete it. the realization of some personal goal,
except Underwood himself, the single The tableau then becomes a metaphor such as an elevation in rank and stature.
person most determined to destroy him. for his single-minded obsession with his Both House of Cards and the morality
There are repeated efforts of Tusk to win
back the Presidents trust and affection,
but Underwood intervenes: Two min-
utes with the President and Tusk may be
back in his good graces. I need to dis-
rupt the nuptials and prevent a second
marriage. Even after the President rec-
ognizes that Underwood has betrayed
him, he is ironically forced to work with
his Vice President to avoid impeach-
ment or, if convicted of a crime, obtain
a presidential pardon. Frank recognizes
Walkers vulnerability and like the Vice

House of Cards (Netflix,

2013present). Episode:
Chapter 8 (season 1,
episode 8, airdate
February 1, 2013). Shown
from left: Kevin Spacey,
Robin Wright, Michael Kelly.
Photo courtesy of A-Pix
Entertainment/Photofest.
 120 JPF&TJournal of Popular Film and Television
The audience winks at the villainous audacity of
the aspiring politician, secretly admiring him for
his winning attitude and his ability to get what
he wants at all costs.
Vice reveal the popularity and charisma
of villainy and evil. Even at his most de-
spicable, Frank Underwood retains the
sympathy and support of the audience.
Perhaps the program is commenting on
Downloaded by [UNAM Ciudad Universitaria] at 14:18 11 July 2016
the low expectation of the American
audience to discover virtue in its public
officials. The audience winks at the vil-
lainous audacity of the aspiring politi-
cian, secretly admiring him for his win-
ning attitude and his ability to get what
he wants at all costs. The program ex-
poses the world of real politics where
to do harm is often laudable, to do good
sometimes accounted dangerous folly
(Macbeth IV.ii.7578).
Underwoods success in the battle
over the presidency suggests the tri-
umph of ambition, fraud, subtlety, and
subterfuge. The invocation of medieval
dramatic villains in a contemporary
story of political ambition and intrigue
allows the audience to both admire and
abhor the spectacle of American poli-
tics, to remain simultaneously horrified
by its callous disregard for the interests
of the country and amused and enter-
tained by the maniacal and efficient pur-
suit of self-interest. Underwood evokes
the early modern politician who evolved
from the Vice, one so proficient in his
inimical craft that he can put the mur-
derous Machiavel to school (Henry VI
III.ii.193).
Works Cited
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lowe: Growth of Structure in the Popular
Drama of Tudor England. Cambridge,
MA: Harvard UP, 1962. Print.
Crouch, Ian. Richard IIIs House of Cards.
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Cushman, L. W. The Devil and the Vice in
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. The Vice and the Popular The-
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James R. Keller is Chair of English and
Theatre, and Professor of English, at East-
ern Kentucky University. He is a teacher and
scholar of early modern literature. He has
published extensively in the areas of early
modern literature, queer studies, film, and
television.