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[series]: House, M.D.
[character]: Lisa Cuddy
[character history / background]: Wiki knows all
[character abilities]: Cuddy is a doctor specializing in Endocrinology. As the Dean of Medicine, she is also a capable administrator.
[character personality]:
Cuddy is a hard-ass. As the Dean of Medicine --- more importantly, as House's boss --- she's learned to not take shit from anybody. She isn't intimidated by House's genius; she forces him to fight for his unconventional tests and treatments. But unlike other administrators House has worked for, she respects his brilliance at the same time. She's willing to put up with his bullshit, to do all the work required to keep him in line, because she knows that he's the best.
Of course, there are other reasons she puts up with him. They've been friends for many years. They met at the University of Michigan, and when House had the infarction in his leg that eventually crippled him, Cuddy was his attending doctor. She feels some amount of guilt for his disability, as she was the one to suggest an alternative to amputating his leg, an attempt which failed. But mostly? She knows he's the best diagnostician in the world; he's worth the effort. She's not the kind of shy away from a challenge.
Cuddy's apparently ruthless practicality masks a strong idealistic streak. House describes her best when he says: "You see the world as it is and as it could be. What you don't see is what everybody else sees -- the great gaping chasm in between." She's a hard-ass because of her idealism, because she cannot accept that she can't make the world the way it should be.
This can lead to an excess of guilt when she fails (such as when her handman gets sick and they have to amputate his hand because she didn't diagnose in time), but it's also the fuel for her ambition. She graduated second in her class from med school; she is the first female Dean of Medicine and the second youngest. She aims high and is willing to put in the work to do it. She's also willing to play dirty. She will lie to and manipulate House without a second thought if that's what it takes to get him to do something. And it's not just House. When Dr. Foreman hints that he might want to step down from his temporary position as House's boss, she tantalizes him with the idea of making it permanent, just to get him to stay. He later realizes that she has no intention of permanently promoting him above House; she was just doing what needed to be done. You don't get to be the second youngest Dean of Medicine without knowing how to play a little dirty.
But hard work and success has its price. The further up she climbs, the farther she gets from the medicine she loves. And it has a personal cost as well. She desperately wants a family, but she's very much single. It gets to the point where she even contemplates having Dr. Wilson father her child. She attempts in-vitro fertilization three times, all of which fail. Twice it doesn't take, and once it miscarries. This is her most vulnerable point. She's sacrificed so much to be a successful career woman, and she's terrified of missing out on what else life has to offer. But this is the one area in her life where hard work doesn't seem to be helping.
[point in timeline you're picking your character from]: Season 2, episode 22, after Cuddy goes out on a "date" with Wilson
[character]: Lisa Cuddy
[character history / background]: Wiki knows all
[character abilities]: Cuddy is a doctor specializing in Endocrinology. As the Dean of Medicine, she is also a capable administrator.
[character personality]:
Cuddy is a hard-ass. As the Dean of Medicine --- more importantly, as House's boss --- she's learned to not take shit from anybody. She isn't intimidated by House's genius; she forces him to fight for his unconventional tests and treatments. But unlike other administrators House has worked for, she respects his brilliance at the same time. She's willing to put up with his bullshit, to do all the work required to keep him in line, because she knows that he's the best.
Of course, there are other reasons she puts up with him. They've been friends for many years. They met at the University of Michigan, and when House had the infarction in his leg that eventually crippled him, Cuddy was his attending doctor. She feels some amount of guilt for his disability, as she was the one to suggest an alternative to amputating his leg, an attempt which failed. But mostly? She knows he's the best diagnostician in the world; he's worth the effort. She's not the kind of shy away from a challenge.
Cuddy's apparently ruthless practicality masks a strong idealistic streak. House describes her best when he says: "You see the world as it is and as it could be. What you don't see is what everybody else sees -- the great gaping chasm in between." She's a hard-ass because of her idealism, because she cannot accept that she can't make the world the way it should be.
This can lead to an excess of guilt when she fails (such as when her handman gets sick and they have to amputate his hand because she didn't diagnose in time), but it's also the fuel for her ambition. She graduated second in her class from med school; she is the first female Dean of Medicine and the second youngest. She aims high and is willing to put in the work to do it. She's also willing to play dirty. She will lie to and manipulate House without a second thought if that's what it takes to get him to do something. And it's not just House. When Dr. Foreman hints that he might want to step down from his temporary position as House's boss, she tantalizes him with the idea of making it permanent, just to get him to stay. He later realizes that she has no intention of permanently promoting him above House; she was just doing what needed to be done. You don't get to be the second youngest Dean of Medicine without knowing how to play a little dirty.
But hard work and success has its price. The further up she climbs, the farther she gets from the medicine she loves. And it has a personal cost as well. She desperately wants a family, but she's very much single. It gets to the point where she even contemplates having Dr. Wilson father her child. She attempts in-vitro fertilization three times, all of which fail. Twice it doesn't take, and once it miscarries. This is her most vulnerable point. She's sacrificed so much to be a successful career woman, and she's terrified of missing out on what else life has to offer. But this is the one area in her life where hard work doesn't seem to be helping.
[point in timeline you're picking your character from]: Season 2, episode 22, after Cuddy goes out on a "date" with Wilson