Who Is Hamilton A Hero

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There are many ways to interpret a story like Hamilton. Alexander Hamilton makes for a dynamic lead full of contradictions. In the play, he is a hero. He is forgiven when he makes mistakes, and his ambition is admirable. Eventually Hamilton dies, but even his opponents speak well of him in the closing song of the play. Hamilton is a tragic hero because he is described as such, redeemed, and killed tragically as the result of his flaws. This logic is consistent for the duration of the play. From the beginning, Hamilton is made to be a hero. In the first line of the musical, Burr questions how Hamilton could “grow up to be a hero and a scholar.” Additionally, his upbringing paints him as a loveable underdog. When he was a child, the community …show more content…
This minimizes any of his negative characteristics that might’ve canceled out his heroism in the story. For example, in the song It’s Quiet Uptown, the chorus sings about everything unimaginable that Eliza and Hamilton are going through following their son Philip’s death. One of these unimaginable things is forgiveness. Similarly, even when Hamilton cheats on Eliza, the blame is placed on Maria. Hamilton says he “doesn’t know how to say no” to her. She clearly seduces him in the story, possibly because she will profit from the extortion. Hamilton does have enemies, however. Ultimately, despite his virtues, Hamilton’s flaws overwhelmed him. His role as a tragic hero is cemented when he dies dramatically at the hands of Aaron Burr. Burr had always said that to succeed, Hamilton should “talk less and smile more.” In the song Aaron Burr, Sir, Burr even says, “Fools who run their mouths off wind up dead.” Maybe if Hamilton had taken this advice and played less into his hubris, he wouldn’t have been caught in a duel with his adversary. Surely, his death seems like a direct result of his fault. To conclude the story, though, various historical figures commend Hamilton’s