wow you guys, the time has come for my very first written-by-me Hamilton post.
Disclaimer for the Hamilton fans who tend to start ship wars: take a breath, I am not attacking you—believe it or not, my life doesn’t revolve around spite for people I disagree with.
With that out of the way, here’s a dose of Hamilton analysis ft. Hamburr from your local overthinker.
It’s safe to say that a good chunk of the characters in this musical are referred to by most people by their last names: Hamilton, Burr, Lafayette, Laurens, Washington, Jefferson, Madison, etc., because that was the norm back then. We really only see exceptions with close relationships/family relationships.
Let’s focus on Hamilton for the time being. He’s generally addressed with his last name, or occasionally his full name, with the exceptions who refer to him as Alexander being: his dear friends, Laurens, Lafayette, and Hercules, the two women who fell in love with him, Angelica and Eliza, and…Burr?
Burr is lumped in with the small contingent of people who are close enough to Hamilton to call him by his first name, or are on a first name basis, if you will.
Burr tends to refer to Hamilton as just that, Hamilton, when he’s providing the narration/storytelling, when he’s talking about him (i.e. in Wait For It: “Hamilton faces an endless uphill climb”, in A Winter’s Ball: “Washington hires Hamilton right on sight”, in Your Obedient Servant: “how does Hamilton”, etc.).
But when Burr is speaking to him, he calls him Alexander (i.e. in Farmer Refuted: “Alexander, please”, in The Story of Tonight Reprise: “congrats again, Alexander, smile more”, in their back and forth conversation in songs such as Ten Duel Commandments and Non-Stop, in We Know: “Alexander, rumors only grow”, etc.)
The only exception to this is the beginning of Non-Stop; “co-counsel, Hamilton, sit down”, (which was in a professional courtroom setting), and vice versa, in The World Was Wide Enough; “when Alexander aimed at the sky” (and I know for a fact there’s some kind lf meaning behind that, I just cannot for the life of me figure it out—expect a post when I do, folks).
All in all, what I’m trying to say here is, Burr obviously considers himself close enough to refer to Hamilton as Alexander, and is included in a group of people (Lafayette, Hercules, Laurens, Angelica, and Eliza) who do the same—a group where at least two (or three, depending on if you count Laurens or not) of the people within were very much in love with Hamilton.
Summary: Jefferson is not sure how exactly how to ask Alex if he remembers his past life without seeming insane.
“Are you seriously just gonna walk out of here without asking me?”
Thomas froze, a hand on the edge of a bookcase. Outside, the busy, rainy, city day crashed around them and was completely oblivious to the legends tiptoeing around each other. Inside, the quiet of the library forced both Thomas and Alex to keep their voices down. It was the only way to have a conversation without yelling at each other, they’d found.
Slowly, Thomas turned back. He raised a single eyebrow. “Ask… what?”
Alex snorted, shrugged obnoxiously, and leaned back in his chair so that only the two back legs touched the floor. “Nevermind, man. I’d… well, I assumed you actually had a purpose for meeting with me here.”
“Besides the school project.”
“Uh, yeah.”
Thomas rolled his eyes and walked back up to the table. “Look, kid. I don’t like you. I don’t want to spend any more time with you than is positively necessary.”
Alex stuck his tongue out (such maturity) and thumped his front chair legs down suddenly. “I’m not a kid, and we’re the same age.”
Thomas glared at him. Alexander Hollins.
Formerly, Alexander Hamilton.
Formerly, his sworn political rival.
Formerly, a royal pain in the backside.
No, scratch that. Continually, a royal pain in the backside.
the hamilton characters are the combination of the actor’s appearance, the viewer’s interpretation, and the subtle historic references in the musical. they are characters open to whomever’s interpretation, and are flexible beings that have base features. historic context does not need to be applied, though it can be.
we are not idolizing historic figures.
they were terrible people. we know that the real thomas jefferson, james madison, and george washington owned slaves. we know that alexander hamilton cheated on his wife and wasn’t very sorry about it.
in the musical, there are historical inaccuracies that build up the plot, they’re not the same character. philip hamilton didn’t die because his opponent shot him at seven, the election of 1800 was before his death, and eliza had already forgiven alexander before it even happened.
Stop talking and start doing: My Fallout Shelter for my Tumblr blog 