When people talk about Hamilton, they talk about its record-breaking and award-winning songs, the amazing choreography, and the mesmerizing story. But underneath the songs and dances, there’s a much deeper story: a story of unfading grief and guilt.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, the writer of Hamilton, isn’t just telling a story of an orphan who rises to success. He’s telling the story of a man driven to workaholism by guilt and grief.
The musical starts with a song that provides an overview of Alexander Hamilton’s life. He seems to have every disadvantage against him; he had been abandoned by everyone supposed to look out for him. He was from a tiny island in the Caribbean, grew up poor, and had an absent father. When he was 12, his mother died next to him. His cousin, who took care of him after being orphaned, committed suicide.
Hamilton constantly brings up the theme of how “lucky [they] are to be alive right now”. No one knows this better than Hamilton. He had come close to death so many times, and many of his loved ones had died. At this point, he was wondering why he was alive.
Survivor’s Guilt is the irrational feeling of guilt that some people experience when they survive an event that killed others. This is the driving force of Hamilton’s ambition. By the time he is 19, he has survived more tragedy than some people experience in an entire lifetime. While he didn’t know why he survived that long, he knew that he wasn’t going to waste the opportunity granted to him.
This is repeated throughout the show, using the phrase, “not throwing away my shot”. Hamilton had been given another chance at life, and he was going to achieve all he could with it.
In addition to Survivor’s Guilt, Hamilton also suffered from Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD). PGD is numbness, ignoring emotion, and disbelief of a loved one’s death.
After the war, John Laurens dies. When Hamilton hears of his best friend’s death, he says nothing but, “I have so much work to do”. This then leads to the song “Non-Stop”, where we see Hamilton throwing himself into his work and ignoring his family and relationships. While he had ambition before, Lauren’s death turns it into full-on workaholism.
The musical constantly uses repetition to send its core messages. The ideas of not throwing away his shot, being lucky to be alive, and writing like he’s running out of time are symptoms of his guilt and grief.
Miranda uses the language of his music to reflect Hamilton’s inner turmoil. The speed, rhythm, and overlapping melodies all contribute to the main themes of the play.
Many people in the world today try to deal with their grief and trauma by throwing themselves towards work, school, or success, just like Hamilton did. This musical reminds us that while ambition is good, it should never be used as a coping mechanism for grief and unearned guilt. Hamilton also shows the dangers of defining ourselves by our success and achievements. People need to face grief, not run from it.
Overall, Hamilton deals with how people deal with grief, loss, and guilt. Through Hamilton’s rise and fall, we see how unhealed hearts can become self-destructive.
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