Hamilton Blog

 Emma Straus  

Blog Post  

21st Century Literature and Time  

November 2022 

 

 

The musical, Hamilton, is exceptionally interesting to discuss and dissect in our own present-day political climate. The musical revolves around founding father, Alexander Hamilton, someone who was alive in the 1700s. Yet, here we are, a college literature class in 2022, discussing the musical in relation to time.  

Keeping to the theme of time, it is interesting how stories from the past still intersect with our present. But it is also important to point out the theme of history repeating itself. Of course, Hamilton touches on themes relating to human rights, racism, sexism, and also focuses on a period of huge societal change. Many of the lines in Hamilton speak to many of the repeated themes we have seen in our own lives and political climate. Focusing on the lines “...immigrants, we get the job done...” and “...we’ll never be free until we end slavery...” These point to the anti-colonialism themes as well. But looking at lines such as these in our present day, we are attuned to the way these themes have shown up in recent years.  

The Black Lives Matter protests thundered through the media, calling for change and began a new shift in what would be a mass period of change and social reform. There is certainly still more work to be done, but movements like this mirror the social reform many of the founding fathers were after. But, all of this being said, it’s important to note that the musical includes that familiar romanticized vision of how societies are supposed to function that complements the idea of overcoming systemic prejudices, including racism and sexism. But, looking deeper, it also shows how marginalized communities continue to be hidden or limited.  

The musical has iconic lines such as, “No one else was in the room where it happened...” that illuminates the inequality of the time. But though many inspiring lines such as these, interestingly, there are parts of the musical that contribute to certain inequalities. For example, there are forty-six songs, and the women characters only sing fourteen. While the cast is full of activists and prominent anti-racists, it's important to note that in American history, there was a significant amount of slave ownership between the founding fathers especially. Where the musical celebrates diverse casting and does tackle many social issues, it's important to keep these things in mind. From our standpoint in 2022, it’s easier for audiences to pick out certain instances like this. Regardless, the musical does tackle issues from a time that many consider ‘long ago’, but for today’s audiences, these issues have come up in recent years calling for another wave of reform.  

 

 

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