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Hamilton: The Revolution By Lin-Manuel Miranda And Jeremy Mccarter

1669 Words7 Pages

Emily Little Dr. Boots-Marshall Exposition and Argumentation–Blueberries May 8, 2024 How Hamilton’s Obsession with His Legacy Destroys Him How does the want or need for ‘a legacy’ affect us? In Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter’s libretto, Hamilton: The Revolution, they explore how Hamilton’s obsession with trying to control the narrative destroyed himself and his so sought after legacy. In the book, Jeremy McCarter goes through the songs and backstory of Hamilton, a musical. In the musical, Lin-Manuel Miranda goes through Hamilton’s life: He starts Hamilton’s life when he reaches New York in 1772, and in act one, goes through the Revolutionary War, examining Hamilton’s important role in victory. Act One ends with Hamilton’s first-born …show more content…

“Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story?” is a song that puts Eliza back in the narrative and displays the theme of legacy beautifully. This shows us how Hamilton’s efforts to control the narrative and his life were ultimately pointless. Eliza writes his narrative, and leaving his legacy is what puts him in history books for good. Hamilton failed to realize in his life that others would leave his legacy, not him. His legacy is controlled only by others. The ‘Hamilton: The Revolution’ shows us what happens when a man is obsessed with his legacy and will do anything to protect it. Miranda shows us this in the very beginning, with his initial refusal to be secretary. His efforts to control his political narrative destroyed him through social repercussions that he did not see. Ultimately, his realization that others control his narrative comes when he faces a bullet. Miranda focuses on how an obsession with a legacy can destroy you, and what that obsession does to the people around you. That is how obsession destroys you, you are willing to destroy everything around you for the ‘prize’ of a legacy. This matters because if you only care about your legacy and you are willing to destroy others, then history will not remember you

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