Terence Winter’s epic crime drama Boardwalk Empire (HBO, 2010–2014) occurred in Atlantic City in the 1920s during Prohibition. While bootlegging, corruption, and social unrest, the show follows political boss Enoch “Nucky” Thompson and a group of gangsters, law enforcement, immigrants, and outsiders (Jimmy Darmody, Margaret Schroeder, Chalky White, etc.) as they vie for control. Although the show takes dramatic liberties, it vividly depicts the historical era, including the rise of organized crime, the aftermath of World War I, and women’s suffrage.
A literary and cultural-critical method, “New Historicism” places a text in its larger social, political, and ideological framework. According to the theory, “literature and similar cultural products are not the records of a single mind, but the end product of a particular cultural moment,” and in order to comprehend a narrative, one must also take into account other cultural artifacts and the prevailing power structures of the time. The New Historicists stress how meanings are mutable and reflect power dynamics across cultural boundaries while acknowledging that the critic’s historical prejudices influence interpretation.
Boardwalk Empire is a New Historicist text that transports readers to Atlantic City in the 1920s, capturing its social and cultural milieu. Winter’s writing emphasizes that 1920 when the series began, was “a great time of upheaval” (the end of World War I, women’s suffrage, and the implementation of Prohibition). Nucky is depicted in that setting as the city’s strong Republican boss, in charge of gambling, vice, and bootlegging. It is based on actual historical events. The real Nucky was a dishonest county treasurer who made a fortune from gambling, brothels, and illicit alcohol.
Other characters draw attention to 1920s cultural trends. Nucky’s eventual wife, Margaret, an impoverished Irish immigrant, personifies religion, ethnicity, and women’s agency themes. The show addresses gender and class through her plot: Margaret faces poverty, supports women’s suffrage (she attends a voter registration event in an early episode), and later faces the restricted legal rights of her “illegitimate” children. It reflects historical tensions as American society was reshaped by women’s movements, organized labor, and Irish Catholics.
Racial dynamics are highlighted by Chalky, the African-American racketeer and unofficial leader of AC’s Black community. His storyline dramatizes racism during the Jim Crow era and the part played by Black voters in Republican machines, including a memorable run-in with the Ku Klux Klan in the second season.
Jimmy exemplifies the post-war disillusionment of youth; a World War I veteran divided between ambition and loyalty to Nucky; his military trauma and eventual descent into violence highlight the brutality that underpinned the gangster era. To put it briefly, the show incorporates 1920s themes of gender, race, class, and war into its plot in ways that a New Historicist would anticipate, as social and ideological “subtext” that influences and is influenced by the narrative.
However, as New Historicists stressed, Boardwalk Empire also reflects its authors’ current concerns. With its focus on underworld psychology and moral complexity, the series occasionally reads like a dramatization of the “war on organized crime” in the twenty-first century.
The conversations and predicaments of the characters frequently allude to contemporary fears: for instance, federal law enforcement agents (such as the young Eliot Ness) foreshadow later surveillance techniques through wiretaps and raids; women, like Margaret, challenge patriarchal norms in ways that resonate with contemporary feminism; and concerns about addiction and moral vice (such as guns with a champagne flavor and frequent references to drug use) can remind viewers of current discussions about substance regulation.
The show does not romanticize gangsters as much as The Godfather did; instead, it portrays them morally dubiously, which may reflect the current skepticism about authority. According to New Historicism, it is one example of how the series frames the 1920s through a lens influenced by our era’s understanding. As a result, Boardwalk Empire is a commentary on persistent problems of power and corruption and a recreation of a bygone era (a historical novel on screen).
The status is inverted in the series, which typically portrays Nucky as the dominant “alpha” among Jewish, Irish, and Italian bootleggers. Historians point out that Nucky’s real support base was smaller, as he had no cohesive gang and depended on a small but devoted Republican machine in Atlantic City.
However, Boardwalk Empire frequently captures the essence of the period accurately. Selwyn Raab notes that Nucky’s materialistic lifestyle, including his expensive cars, yachts, flappers, and suits, is historically accurate. The show accurately depicts the abrupt wealth that Prohibition brought to Atlantic City and its development into a year-round vacation destination.
It also contains actual figures and events, frequently out of chronological order. For example, infamous mob figures such as Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, and Arnold Rothstein appear in the story, and Boardwalk gestures at actual gang leader conferences (although Nucky’s 1929 meeting that contributed to the formation of the Mafia is left out). A historian, Nelson Johnson, recalls that the authors often asked, “Could this be happening at this time of American history?” and aimed for “historically accurate fiction” to assess the writers’ plausibility.
According to New Historicist theory, the blendings of invention and fact have meaning in and of themselves. The show’s creative license means its preferences, which sometimes offer strict accounts in acceptance of ubiquitous themes like individualism, patriotism, and desire. For example, despite being fictional, Chalky displays the issues Black Americans encountered beneath Jim Crow laws and their meetings with the political structure.
Another fictional character that adds emotional depth to the depiction of World War I veterans is Richard Harrow, the disfigured war sniper. Boardwalk Empire creates a narrative “truth” that speaks as much about the 1920s as it does about modern storytelling desires by fusing real and fictional characters. The show observes how history turns into legend in the way, which is a key component of New Historicism’s realization that current issues always mediate the past.
The political intrigue of Boardwalk Empire reflects Thomas Hobbes’ conception of power and social order. According to Hobbes, the Atlantic City in 1920 was a “state of nature,” with conflicting factions vying for power and living in continual fear of violence. In the domain, Nucky serves as the de facto ruler. Despite not being a monarch, he is an unchallenged political leader with tremendous influence over the economy and law enforcement. He receives bribes and obedience from citizens and criminals for stability and safety.
Like Hobbes’ Leviathan, Nucky upholds a social compact in which he permits the city’s thugs to profit as long as they give him their share and do not overthrow him. He reacts with brutal force if they rebel. Hobbes’s contention that “everyone fears and mistrusts everyone else, and there can be no justice” is demonstrated in several scenes. Hobbes’s “war of every man against every man” is echoed by the chaos and bloodshed that characterize Boardwalk‘s streets during power struggles (such as turf wars between the Irish and Italian gangs).
According to Hobbes, the only way out of such anarchy is to submit to a sovereign with the “right of nature” to take any action required to maintain peace. The absolute authority is personified in the series by Nucky. He forbids violence in his city unless specifically directed by him, and he engages in acts (such as bribery and murder) that he defends as upholding law and order.
For instance, Nucky exercises what Hobbes would refer to as “the right to everything” reserved for a ruler when Jimmy questions his authority, and Nucky ultimately has him killed. People (other gangsters) follow Nucky out of fear that disobedience will result in death, not because it is morally right. Hobbes’s assertion that subjects must submit to the sovereign to prevent a return to the terrifying state of nature is reflected in it.
Jimmy first appears prepared to establish a more equal, honor-bound system. However, his failure to usurp Nucky is further evidence of Hobbes’s thesis that ambitious men die without a clear sovereign. Despite not being officially under Nucky’s control, Chalky honors his rule and even assists in enforcing Nucky’s rulings in his neighborhood. He accepts Nucky’s social contract, whereby Chalky cedes political protection and the benefits of Nucky’s patronage (such as control over local businesses and voting blocs) in exchange for submitting to Nucky’s authority over criminal matters.
Outsiders like Ness and the FBI, added later, function as external, sovereign-like forces in the meantime. The stakes are raised when they start applying federal pressure to Atlantic City. Hobbes’ theory that conflict is inevitable when there are several claimants to sovereignty is mirrored in their attempts to impose a new, even higher sovereign (the US government).
All things considered, Hobbes’ conflict between liberty and order is dramatized in Boardwalk Empire. Hobbes would view the characters’ predominance of violence and self-interest as proof that, in anarchic society, human nature “closes all to contend, for Honour, Profit, and Security.” Rough stability, no matter how corrupt, only arises when someone like Nucky assumes the role of the unaccountable sovereign, imposing peace through force.
According to the show, if a gangster kingpin can provide safety, people will accept him as sovereign even with tyranny. According to Hobbesian theory, Nucky’s Atlantic City is akin to Leviathan’s state: citizens pay taxes and follow his laws, sometimes unwritten, to sleep at night rather than fear an early death on the street.
In addition to dramatizing events from the 1920s, Boardwalk Empire asks us to draw comparisons with current problems. The war on drugs is the clearest example. The first federal “crusade” against vice was Prohibition, which banned alcohol nationwide. Similar to contemporary drug laws, it sparked organized crime, corruption, and violence by establishing a sizable black market.
Legal experts point out that the current drug war could be compared to the criticisms made of Prohibition (“sumptuary legislation gone awry”). Indeed, Harp notes that “Prohibition increased alcohol’s potency and decreased its quality, resulting in a spike in […] violence” and that the “same criticisms” are frequently directed at drug prohibition.
However, the reactions have been different: the war on drugs continues despite even higher social costs, while Prohibition was eventually repealed following widespread outcry. By highlighting the unintended consequences of Prohibition, such as bribed police officers, covert distilling, and lethal rivalries, Boardwalk Empire quietly criticizes the law. By doing it, it reflects contemporary mistrust of top-down drug prohibitions. It can seem like a commentary on current discussions surrounding drug legalization when characters in the show question the morality or usefulness of prohibition laws.
Early forms of state surveillance and the growth of law enforcement are also discussed in the series. According to historian Brian Hochman, “wiretapping did not become a common law enforcement tool until Prohibition.” Federal Prohibition agents and the newly formed FBI use harsh tactics (phone taps, undercover raids) against smugglers in Boardwalk Empire.
The exaggerated strategies for crime control foreshadow later scandals (such as FBI wiretaps and NSA surveillance). The show suggests that ordinary liberties may be undermined when the state is granted additional authority to enforce moral laws—an extremely pertinent theme in the modern world. Dragnets in the 1920s could be compared to discussions about digital surveillance in the fight against terrorism and drugs in the 21st century.
Lastly, there are definite contemporary parallels to the political corruption portrayed in Boardwalk Empire. As an example of a corrupt political machine, Nucky himself juggles his roles as a crime lord and elected official. It speaks to the “machine politics” of the time and is reminiscent of current scandals in which public officials conspire with criminal organizations. In fact, Raab’s history mentions that business executives gladly supported Johnson’s conversion of Atlantic City into a speakeasy haven, demonstrating a close partnership between illegality and profit.
The show’s stories reflect current debates about political corruption, including bribery, patronage, and election fraud. For instance, the subplot in one episode concerning rigged elections reflects actual historical discussions (as well as contemporary concerns) regarding electoral integrity. In this way, Boardwalk Empire reminds viewers that the desire for power and the temptation to break the law for financial gain are enduring problems through the lens of the 1920s.
So what is Boardwalk Empire showing after the smoky jazz clubs and old-fashioned suits? It produces a spectral mirror that mirrors our moment via the mist of the past, delivering more than simply a peek into history. It indicates to us in which disorder and rule coexist and where every action of charge could be a shelter for more threatening brutality.
In addition to being a tale of passion, Nucky’s rise is a menacing echo of Hobbes’ Leviathan, a demon that is both critical and frightening. As we observe the horror grow, one query stays like mist in the night: In our years of hidden realms and moving sovereignties, who has the height and at what price?
References
- Alexander, M. (2010). The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. The New Press.
- Gallagher, C., & Greenblatt, S. (2000). Practicing New Historicism. University of Chicago Press.
- Greenblatt, S. (1980). Renaissance Self-Fashioning: From More to Shakespeare. University of Chicago Press.
- Hari, J. (2015). Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs. Bloomsbury.
- Hobbes, T. (1651/1996). Leviathan (R. Tuck, Ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- Hochman, B. (2022). The Listeners: A History of Wiretapping in the United States. Harvard University Press.
- Johnson, N. (2002). Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City. Plexus Publishing.
- Okrent, D. (2010). Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition. Scribner.
- Sorell, T. (1986). Hobbes. Routledge.
- Theoharis, A. G. (2004). The FBI & American Democracy: A Brief Critical History. University Press of Kansas.
- Winter, T. (Creator). (2010–2014). Boardwalk Empire [TV series]. HBO.
