Hamilton the Musical is a musical that has defied the standard stereotypes of various ethnic groups by putting them in a position of power. There are many stereotypes of people of color that have existed for hundreds of years. The main stereotype is Sambo. This is the stereotype of a simple minded, docile African American. These people were not seen to be in a position of power. This musical tells the story of Alexander Hamilton - one of the founding fathers of the United States of America- who was an immigrant from the Caribbean. It is important to note that the creator of the musical is Lin Manuel Miranda. Miranda plays Alexander Hamilton and he is Latino. This tale takes place in the late 1700s and the early 1800s. Now, if history class has taught me anything about this time period, it’s that the men in this story were …show more content…
This musical goes against all three of those statements. The people that are all caucasian in historical reality are reimagined as people of color in this musical. “Hamilton” deals with a wide array of issues that were present in both the 1700s and the 2000s including immigration. This non traditional telling of Alexander Hamilton is “about America then told by America now.”
Hamilton the Musical presents problems in today’s society through subtext and allusion. Hamilton has arrived at the most convenient of times - the Syrian Immigration Crisis. Immigration has, and will continue to have, a great impact on our society and politics in the United States. Throughout the show, Alexander Hamilton reminds the audience that he is an immigrant. He and Marquis de Lafayette proclaim, “Immigrants, we get the job done,” proudly in the first act. The purpose of these many references to immigrants is to show how much they have helped shape our country over the past few hundred years. The true brilliance of
As history is commonly viewed as dull and boring, Miranda changes this perception through the integration of popular music styles, rap and hip-hop, into the musical. While all of the facts are historically accurate, the audience is exposed to the debates through articulated rap battles and charged emotions are expressed through songs. The songs are also accompanied by choreography, which is a writing idea that is taken and exaggerated to an emotional state that is physicalized. Through these methods, the public gets an easier understanding of motives behind certain actions, such as Aaron Burr shooting Alexander Hamilton at a duel, as well as an clearer comprehension on what happened in history. Through rap and the hip hop style, music is used to keep history current, and provide stories the audience hasn’t heard before. In effect, Hamilton has inspired kids who weren’t good at history to look at a different perspective of the characters. In the musical there is no protagonist nor antagonist. Instead, all of the characters are portrayed as flawed, especially Hamilton, as he not only owned slaves, but was the center of the first political sex scandal in the United States. This allows the audience to know the characters on a realistic level, and acknowledge the fact that although Hamilton is one of the nation’s greatest founding fathers, he is also a man capable of
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton divulges the human need to have a purpose and the transformative journey in obtaining it. The musical follows one of America’s founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton, from the time he was a young boy to the successful creator of the national banking system. Hamilton encounters many challenges, both environmental and internal, in his lifetime, while also acquiring long-time foe, Aaron Burr, in America. Alexander Hamilton’s character develops as a hard-working, honest man that transforms into a conniving individual in order to pass his legislation and scale up the political totem pole. Aaron Burr’s jealousy of Hamilton’s progress instigates a transformation in his quietest character.
The musical “Hamilton” is the most sought after musical in years. It is the first seen rap musical and it has received the most ‘Tony’ awards and nominations in Broadway history. Hamilton premiered off Broadway in 2015 and soon moved to Broadway to stun the world with it’s incredible everything, from plot to casting. For best albums, Hamilton was second ranked in Billboard magazine and has got endless supply of recognition for the ingenious play written by the phenomenal Lin Manual Miranda. Hamilton is currently the most popular sensation on Broadway because of the music with its creative lyrics and hidden messages, it’s stellar performance and the perspectives it gives us on the people that founded our county. (on the people that shaped our past and developed our future).
America has long been considered a great, powerful country. From its beginning, the United States had the potential to be something revolutionary. The idea of a democracy was, in the 1700’s, strange. While many men are regarded as key elements in the birth of America, one man stands out, despite his sometimes being overshadowed by fellow Founding Fathers. Alexander Hamilton was an immigrant, soldier, and the first Secretary of the United States Treasury, among his other contributions to America. He had dreams for his adopted country and was highly determined to see them to fruition and create a new, remarkable nation. Alexander Hamilton embodies the characteristics of an epic hero because he was a great warrior, he was capable of great deeds of strength and courage, and he is a national hero.
There are many characteristics that could impact one’s life in a negative way causing them to lose everything in life such as selfishness, messiness, untrustworthiness, self-righteousness, or ego. In the award-winning musical, Hamilton: The Revolution, by Lin-Manuel-Miranda, the character of protagonist, Alexander Hamilton may be described in many ways. However, one character trait stands out among the rest. The main character trait of Alexander Hamilton, self-righteousness, shaped everything about his life: how he grew up, how he dominated in debates, and even how he fell from grace. Hamilton always stuck by his ideals, not caring whether it affected other people. These traits led him to lose and gain
Before the Revolutionary War had occurred, many people were coming to the new colonies to start a new life; one of the people was Alexander Hamilton. He had come to the colonies after impressing people in the Caribbean and who then sent him to America to get a better education (“Alexander Hamilton”). Hamilton was an important figure in American history, but very few today remember who he was and what he did. Alexander Hamilton took a stand against traditional government by writing against and battling the British, fighting for the new U.S. Treasury, and arguing for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.
One of the most controversial aspects of Hamilton is also one of the most essential aspects which achieve’s Brecht’s alienation goal– the casting. Hamilton is known for its diverse casting in which the only featured character who has been played by a white actor is King George III (which has its own controversy of how the only white person in the musical plays the villain). The effect of having people of color play the founding fathers and other
Alexander Hamilton, recognized as one of the Founding Fathers of our country, had a great impact on the wars and political issues of his time. He presented himself as a well respected man and proved himself worthy of the tasks he was given. He impressed many people and played a substantial part in influencing where America stands today. Although his early childhood circumstances were difficult, putting him at a disadvantage, Alexander proved himself capable of achieving success all on his own, without the need of others’ assistance or provision. His efforts ultimately played a significant role in the founding of America.
Hamilton has created a revolution. Hamilton: An American Musical is a musical created by Lin-Manuel Miranda. The musical is based on a book written by Ron Chernow about Alexander Hamilton’s life. The story narrates the founding of the United States. The show is being called a revolution due to its language. Lin-Manuel Miranda is being called this generation’s Shakespeare. They both use modern language to reach their audience. In this case, the language is Rap and Hip Hop. Most broadways show reach fame, Lin-Manuel Miranda manages to capture the attention of not only broadway fans but also captures the attention of non-broadway fans.
Not only does it call out the issues of immigration and politics through its words, but it also brings out the issue of race through its casting. The characters are all white people, but none of them are played by white people. Not only does the show sharpen awareness of current controversial topics, but also of the knowledge of the founding of our country. During the American Revolution, the men fighting and planning were going through some really tough times, and it is hard to think of people in the 1700’s as being more than old men with white hair, but as Miranda says in Hamilton, “Congress writes, “George, attack the British forces,” I shoot back, “we have resorted to eating our horses.” With the awareness of history having been the present at one point, we also realize that these were real people with real feelings and flaws, as Miranda demonstrates with Alexander Hamilton’s murderer regretting his decision, confessing: “I should have known the world was wide enough for both Hamilton and me.” As Tom Teodorczuk sees it, a lot of Hamilton’s success comes from “contemporary relevance rather than celebrity currency,” which proves that the content is good enough that it does not need celebrities in order to get audiences. Through this show, topics that were relevant in the 1700s are shown to be theoretically the same as issues we face today, and that is pretty
Throughout time, art has changed the way people perceive history. Lin Manuel-Miranda’s Hamilton has had a strong influence how people view one of the Founding Fathers and the era he lived in. Before Lin Manuel-Miranda took on the task of producing a musical for Hamilton, people had an idea of who the Founding Fathers were and what they stood for. However, Manuel’s take on Hamilton wanted to present American history in which people of diverse cultures and women share the same spotlight with the Founding Fathers. In the musical, Manuel thought it was important for Hispanics and African-Americans to play as the Founding Fathers, so it reminds the audience American history is not composed of one race. Although critics, like Nichols, believe "superficial diversity” of the play’s casting results in a failure to
Oftentimes people have a difficult time connecting with history. They do not see the relevance between something hundreds of years ago and today’s issues. The Broadway musical Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda does a great job of bridging that gap. Many of the issues that were faced in the time period of Alexander Hamilton are also faced in the world today. An example of this is politicians riding the fence on important issues. A main character in the play is criticized greatly for doing this just as people are currently. In Miranda’s Hamilton, characters are faced with issues and are asked to take a stand just as political leaders are today.
Easily one of the most sought after artists of this age, Lin-Manuel Miranda has made a name out of himself as a creative genius. After already writing In the Heights, Miranda’s first musical to win the Tony of Best Musical, and cowriting music for another Broadway musical, Bring it On!, he shook the world by writing the hit musical Hamilton: book, music and lyrics by Mr. Miranda, in addition to him originating the role of Alexander Hamilton. From that point on, Miranda’s career skyrocketed. Coming from humble backgrounds, Miranda uses his platform on social media to discuss topics like racial and gender inequality, as well for fighting for help for his family’s home of Puerto Rico in financial and physical distress after Hurricane Maria.
People worldwide are praising a man who doesn’t deserve it. Despite being considered one of America’s most influential founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton’s character could never compete with his political status. Alexander Hamilton has been made into an inspiration that he doesn’t deserve to be, being portrayed as the exact opposite of what he stood for in a recent resurgence of praise for him sparked in particular by the world-renowned musical Hamilton. Although he may be receiving this praise, his character is undeniably horrid due to many flaws in his character including the encouragement of anti-immigration laws and his desire for powerful landowners to get complete power in government over the
The play “Hamilton” by Lin-Manuel Miranda brings the founding fathers back to life-with a lot of hip-hop. It all started when Miranda, a writer, composer, and performer, was asked to perform at the White House centered on “the American experience.” The White House expected him to perform something based on his own Latin- American experience, but Miranda had something else in mind. Few months’ prior, Miranda was on vacation with his girlfriend when he started to read a biography on Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow. Miranda was seized by the story of Hamilton. He was instantly inspired to create a work chronicling Hamilton’s life. He started to see Hamilton’s relentlessness, ambition, intelligence, and stubbornness through his own