Machiavelli’s writing was done in an epigrammatic way. One of Machiavelli’s work is “ The Prince” which has inspired pop culture in the modern world. The prince is full of pieces of wisdom, and going through the quotes is enough for readers to guiding philosophy. Machiavelli inspired Frank Underwood when writing the series “House of Cards.” Just like Machiavelli, Frank Underwood is also an epigrammatic writer.
Both Underwood and Machiavelli start with a proposition that people are false, fickle, covetous, cowardly and ungrateful. Machiavelli counsels that killing a man’s father is less dangerous than taking his property because greedy and self-centered people care about their patrimony more than the care of the patriarch 1 . He also believes that it is better for the prince to be feared than loved, and impetuous than cautious. This subscribes to the notion that humans observe the universe as it is as compared to how they want it to be. Both Underworld and Machiavelli see political struggle has one that is disconnected from morality. According to their works, it is either one is prey or a hunter. The prince appears to be upright, humane, faithful, merciful and religious, but there comes a time when he has to be the opposite. An ambitious candidate for any government office ought not to appear over ambitious. Underwood is able to put on these masks in that he sings in church, even though he is is an atheist. This helps him to exploit an image that helps him in achieving his legislative and personal goals.
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In summary, Frank Underwood was inspired by Machiavelli because he is manipulative, ruthless, duplicitous and cunning which are all traits that are seen in Machiavelli 2 . Ambition, manipulation, learning to obtain information, charisma, use of sexuality as a weapon and disguising a person’s true motives are the defining characters of contemporary pop culture. Such characters are all admissdibly labeled as “Machiavellian.”
1 Machiavelli, Niccolo. "The prince, ed. WK Marriott. London: JM Dent & Sons." (1908).
Retrieved from: https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/prince-excerp.asp
2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5Ha3IWeXOo
