Analysis Of House Of Cards: Modern Macbeth

'House of Cards': Modern Macbeth.

‘House of Cards’, a Netflix masterpiece, is an American political drama web television series produced by Beau Willimon and is based on the novel by Michael Dobbs. Willimon never failed to impress the audience with the complex layers of drama which grows further with each season. ‘House of Cards’ primarily focuses on the political life at Washington with a tangential touch upon topic of daily drama: marriage life; gender rules; sexual relationships and affairs; betrayal; and the thrill. Kevin Spacey, as Frank Underwood, the star of the show and a megalomaniac, takes very route to attempt to satiate his bottomless bowel of desire for power and dominance. These attempts ranges from very moral, sometime even magnanimous

The creators of the show clearly express their obsession with the aesthetic; that is the art and beauty with in the show. Most of the important political agreement or talks are often held while reflecting on art. Mrs. Underwood’s appearance is carefully manicured, with her wardrobe not only being the subject of frequent dialogue but also real-life fashion listicles. House of cards preoccupation with aesthetics also manifests itself with the show’s frequent contribute to theater, and more specifically, William Shakespeare. Frank Underwood usually uses soliloquies and asides, a theatrical device used heavily by Shakespeare, wherein a character’s inner thought are explicated to the audience. Frank’s breaking of the fourth reminds us of many incidents in

As a matter of fact, Kevin Spacey once said in an interview with The Baltimore Sun, “The great thing about the original series and Michael Dobson’s book is that they were based on Shakespeare” (Tribunedigital-baltimoresun- Feb 2014). This web-series can be considered as one of the best rework of ‘Tragedy of Macbeth’. However, it serves more than a mere classic adaptation; the popularity of ‘house of cards’ can be connected to our increasing cynicism about the current state of the American politics. ‘House of Cards’ reveals to us a system where raw power wins every time. The question that drives ‘House of Cads’ is: Is politics nothing but pure spectacle or does it have more into it? In the cynical world of ‘House of Cards’, characters are constantly maintaining an image, both public and private. As discussed earlier most of the show’s plot and characters are inspired by Shakespeare’s Macbeth, This significant reference to theater throughout the show points to the more fundamental concept that appearance derives politics: Politics is theater. Commentators bemoan the fact that politics has become theater, with catchphrases replacing real political arguments. However, German philosopher Hannah Arendt expands on this and says: “the realm of appearance is the realm of politics”; and “Appearance is reality” (240). This argument is greatly illustrated through this show and Macbeth’s