Hamilton Musical Book Essay

Evidently, it is arguable that Hamilton’s musical is justified for their treatment of the American historical era.

Basically, Hamilton is an American musical and book by Lin-Manuel Miranda, which talks about the history of America. It is inspired by the career and life of Alexander Hamilton, who took part in the American Revolution War.

Hamilton also played a key role in shaping policies, structuring the government and the establishing constitution of the new America after the war. He uses his experiences in the war to tell the American history and how it changed over time. The musical show starts with narration from Aaron Burr who was Hamilton’s friend, a legal partner and a critic. “The first narration explores different subjects that affect everyday life and how the characters deal with it” (Cassandra 1). The musical aspect is justified in its treatment of the American era and does everything to ensure that the audience understands the context.

In addition, it shows the military and political actions before and after the American Revolution and how Hamilton responded to the changes. Alongside his friends, he plays crucial roles in both sides of the divide and his actions often land him in trouble with Washington and Burr. His friends draw him close to Eliza and Angelica who play important roles in his personal life. The American Revolution is won by the end of Act One and Hamilton marries Eliza. Evidently, “Hamilton was hard working and intelligent, but his marriage to a wealthy clan contributed greatly to his success” (Foster and Locke 76). The music and the casting make the story easy to find, but mostly for the elite and white people. Slavery was widely discussed in America and the focus of most historians.

There is a big message in the musical precept that historians do not believe. The writer causes one to consider who should tell the story and how they are preserved over time. Hamilton has three main female characters: Eliza Hamilton, Angelica Schuyler, and Maria Reynolds. Maria is the mistress of Hamilton and Angelica is his sister-in-law. Eliza gets into the scene when she is annoyed by the distance between her and the action of history and separates herself from her husband’s legacy. Angelica competes with Eliza from Hamilton’s affection and sings in most parts of the musical. Hamilton speaks about the American history and legacies. It speaks about men eager to build their country and leave a mark of their presence for future generations. The reversal of historical agency exists together and women are at the forefront of the show. Women are often forgotten in such events and considered irrelevant but this musical shows the role of women in shaping history. The musical is free to manipulate history to fit its purpose and it makes use of that freedom.

Hamilton represented the society similar to how Coquette novel did and this can be understood based on marriage scandals on both sides. He is attracted to his sister-in-law and when she arrived in New York, he found a room for her; paid for servants to attend to her while Eliza was in Albany giving birth to her fifth child. Although Hamilton was attracted to Angelica from the onset, he decided to marry Eliza. Hamilton and Angelica are having an affair and Eliza remains in the dark. There is no doubt that Hamilton is also having an affair with Maria Reynolds, a married woman. Maria went to Hamilton, claiming that her husband abused her and she needed a place to stay. He seeks comfort from Hamilton who at first, only wants to help. it seems Maria knew Hamilton’s history with women and wanted to test how far he could go. The affair between Hamilton and Maria disgraced him and his family and ruined his political career. Many people argu8e that Maria and her husband planned for her to seduce Hamilton and destroy his political ambitions. Later, Maria’s husband confronts Hamilton as a wronged husband who wants compensation. He wants Hamilton to give him a top government position since he is the Treasury Secretary. “Hamilton refuses to give him the job but pays for his silence and when he could no longer meet his demands, Reynolds told his rivals about the affair” (Fulton 1). The 1790s was marred by accusations and tarnishing of names in the political arena and Hamilton was one of the writers who did a good job in highlighting inconsistencies in stories. He assumed a high moral position in journalistic exchanges with his rivals. Jefferson and James Madison were Hamilton’s political allies before they turned on him following his affair with Maria. To end speculations and discussions about the affair, he wrote a document acknowledging it and this brought shame to his family. While the affair destroyed his political life, it brought him closer to his wife and children. The musical seems to justify how marriage should be and what happens when one does contrary to societal expectations. When Alexander Hamilton cheated on his wife that was the end of his long-term political career and despite having a clean record all along, it was quickly forgotten. Societal expectations of how marriage should be are central in Hamilton Musical and morality that needs to be upheld.

The Coquette is a novel about Eliza Wharton; a young, beautiful and flirtatious woman was recently freed from an engagement with a man she did not love. She captures the attention of two men: Sanford and Mr. Boyer. Boyer is a respected man in the society and soon to be a priest. He wants to marry Eliza while Sanford just wants to flirt with her. Although he likes her, Sanford is a wealthy man who only wants to marry from his social class. She is attracted to Sanford despite being warned about his reputation. Eliza accepts Boyer halfhearted and the relationship ends when he finds her speaking to Sanford one night. Soon after, Boyer marries another woman and Eliza regrets leaving him. Soon after, Sanford also marries and returns home. “The marriage scandal in the novel is similar to Hamilton Musical because they outline societal expectations in a marriage” (Chernow 23). When Boyer finds Eliza and Sanford speaking one night, he becomes angry and calls off their engagement. Similarly, Hamilton’s political career is ruined when his affair with Maria becomes public. No one wants anything to do with him, except his wife who stands by him at the time. Coquette and Hamilton Musical represent societal expectations of a marriage.

Overall, Hamilton musical is justified in its treatment and representation of the American history. This stance was supported by Coquette, a novel which also highlights how the society views marriage and morality. In the musical, Hamilton’s political career is ruined when his affair with Maria is made public. In the novel, Eliza dies because she fails to live up to societal expectations of getting married.

Work Cited
Cassandra, Good. “Historians Take on Hamilton, Historian of American politics, gender & culture.” Cassandra Good, 2016. https://cassandragood.wordpress.com/2016/06/12/historians-take-on-hamilton/
Chernow, Ron. Alexander Hamilton. Head of Zeus Ltd, 2016.
Foster, Hannah Webster, and Jane Ermina Locke. The Coquette: Or, the History of Eliza Wharton. A Novel: Founded on Fact. WP Fetridge, 2005.
Fulton, Rayes. “Hamilton as a model for women’s History.” Nursing CLIO, 2016. https://nursingclio.org/2016/05/24/back-in-the-narrative-hamilton-as-a-model-for-womens-history/