HISTORICAL

A historical factor shown within Hamilton is the use of costumes to reflect the time period in which
the play is set. In order for the costumes to accurately portray the clothes and fashion of the late
1700’s, which is when the play is set, research into that period was essential by Lin Manuel-Miranda
and his collaborators. Paul Tazewell was a key person in designing the costumes. (The Art of
Costume, 2020) outlines that Tazewell “he started taking reference paintings from the period to
understand what people wore and how they wore it.”, so for example, the gowns that the Schuyler
sisters wore were called l’anglaise which consisted of a bodice with a low waistline, and low neckline,
exposing more chest, with three-quarter-length sleeves, along with a voluminous skirt. Not only was
the shape important to consider, but also the fabric and during the 18th century, silk was most
common among higher-class women and men. Silk was considered a European luxury, and French
silk, in particular, had many uses in fashion and home décor (Wills, 2021). A key figure in the 18th
century was Marie Antoinette, who was the last queen of France before the French revolution. Her
fashion style inspired many women as her dresses were bold, extravagant and revolutionary with more
intricate details such as lace frill designs at the end of the sleeves, as seen in Hamilton on the Schuyler
sisters. Manuel-Miranda was also keen to combine his artistic ideas with Tazewell’s research, and so
he suggested that Hamilton’s costume should be green because “green is the color of money” and it
suits the character’s role as first secretary of the treasury (The Art of Costume, 2020). As an audience
member, it is clear in ‘The Schuyler Sisters’ song in Hamilton, that the costumes reflect the historical
time period but also allow their personalities to shine through with the colour choices. The fabric that
they wear is silk which their family would certainly been able to afford as the sister were of high class
which is confirmed by Aaron Burr when he sings “But your perfume smells like your daddy’s got
money”. The lace detail on their costumes, such as the ones on the end of Peggy and Eliza’s sleeves
also demonstrates that they would have been able to afford more stylish dresses of that historical
period because of their family's wealth. In this song, the sisters sing about history happening in New
York and that they happen to be in the “greatest city in the world” (Hamilton, 2016) and fashion was
ever-changing along with the revolution, which Paul Tazewell would have considered and used bold
colours to show this.

https://theartofcostume.com/2020/11/25/the-costumes-of-hamilton-how-an-18th-century-silhouette-
tells-a-story/
https://daily.jstor.org/eighteenth-century-spies-in-the-european-silk-industry/
https://www.disneyplus.com/en-gb/video/826379aa-6b31-40ed-9377-b9699cb676fd
A historical factor shown within Hamilton is the portrayal of King George III as a key historical
figure in the American revolution. King George III needed to cover the costs of the French and Indian
war (which required 10,000 men) that was occurring in North America, and to do this he made the
decision to tax the “13 British colonies in the continent”, which sparked disagreement and an
unwillingness to give in to the King’s demands, and Great Britain refused to stand down from their
decision. This in turn led to the event, which is now known as the American Revolution. In 1782, the
parliament “forced King George III to recognize defeat” (Learnodo-Newtonic, 2020). King George
III’s role in the American revolution has directly influenced Hamilton, and although the character’s
story has stayed true to the historical events, the portrayal has been modernized, in the form of a
break-up song for ‘You’ll be Back’. King George comes across as a jealous, passive-aggressive
boyfriend and the lyrics of the song reflect the dynamic of the relationship between North America
and Great Britain in the late 1700’s which was unhealthy, and North America was keen to cut ties and
lose their reliance on Britain. King George was desperate to keep the colonists in America under
British rule, hence the lyric “You’ll be back”, despite their wish for independence. King George
comes across as dominant and threatening but in subtly, passive-aggressive ways which the audience
find comical. (ScreenRant, 2020) For example, on the lyric “I will send a fully armed battalion to
remind you of my love”, he stares menacingly at the audience without blinking which is threatening
but juxtaposed with a series of “Da-da-da-da's” which is typical in a pop song. His body language
throughout the song is calm and composed with little movement, which contradicts the dark lyrics that
he is singing. His movements are puppet-like, as if they are being controlled by someone else which
further adds to the ominous feeling of the character. On the line “my sweet, submissive subject”, King
George refers to North America which he still views as belonging to him, as Great Britain- this
attitude is further reinforced through the way that he elongates the s’s of the words to show his
passive aggression, and also through the way that he stretches his arms out wide in front of him and
curls his fingers in. This demonstrates his desperation to keep North America to control. King George
only adjusts his stare when he says the word “love” as he tilts his head slightly to one side and has
more of a sweet but ominous tone. He also foreshadows his derangement in the line “When you’re
gone, I’ll go mad” which is a reference to what truly happened to King George III in the early 19th
century, when America already had their independence.

https://screenrant.com/hamilton-musical-king-george-songs-love-reason/
https://learnodo-newtonic.com/king-george-iii-american-revolution

A historical factor shown within Hamilton is the combination of modern-day music and people to
portray America’s history 300 years ago. Lin-Manuel Miranda chose to use R&B and Hip-Hop music
in order to tell the story of Alexander Hamilton, so that audiences now would be able to relate to that
historical period for America. As well as the music, the diversity of the cast was important to Manuel-
Miranda who made the conscious decision to cast mainly black and Hispanic people with the purpose
of reminding the audience that white people were not the only ones to decide America’s history in the
late 1700s, as while there were revolutions, slaves were captured and tortured (The Atlantic, no date).
Manuel-Miranda reinforced that the history of America included people of all ethnicities and that it
shouldn’t be ignored. An example of the idea that historical events have remained the same, but the
form of storytelling has changed is Lin Manuel-Miranda's performance of ‘Alexander Hamilton’ at
The White House in 2009. The White House holds much of America’s history as it was soon built
after the inauguration of George Washington and became the ‘President’s House’ (White House,
2015). Manuel-Miranda performed the first song which told the story of Hamilton’s upbringing and
immigration to New York. He uses the influence of rap music to tell it, which demonstrates this
connection that Manuel-Miranda made between key historical events in America and modern music
inspirations. An example of this racially diverse cast in the original performance in Hamilton in 2016
is black actor Leslie Odom Jr. Who played Aaron Burr and Lin Manuel-Miranda himself, who is
Puerto-Rican and playing Alexander Hamilton. Lin Manuel-Miranda was also an immigrant like
Hamilton which Miranda recognized and felt reflected his own story too of making it big in America.
There is this parallel between two different periods of history in America that Manuel-Miranda
wanted his audience to see. ‘My Shot’ is a song in Hamilton which uses rap to express Hamilton’s
ambition to be a crucial figure in America’s history. The line “Hey, yo, I’m just like my country, I’m
young, scrappy and hungry and I’m not throwing away my shot” shows Hamilton’s eagerness through
his open posture, and his fast-paced skips across stage. The Rhythm and spacing of his words being
close together and fast-paced, again demonstrates Hamilton’s ambition to be successful.

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/09/lin-manuel-miranda-hamilton/408019/
Lin-Manuel Miranda Performs at the White House Poetry Jam: (8 of 8)
https://www.history.com/topics/landmarks/white-house

SOCIAL
A social factor shown within Lin Manuel-Miranda's Hamilton is the combination of modern-day
music and people to portray America’s society 300 years ago. Lin-Manuel Miranda chose to use R&B
and Hip-Hop music in order to tell the story of Alexander Hamilton, so that audiences now would be
able to relate to that period which had such contrasting societal norms for America. As well as the
music, the diversity of the cast was important to Manuel-Miranda who made the conscious decision to
cast mainly black and Hispanic people with the purpose of reminding the audience that white people
were not the only ones to decide America’s history in the late 1700s, as while there were revolutions,
slaves were captured and tortured (The Atlantic, no date). Manuel-Miranda reinforced that America’s
society included people of all ethnicities and that it shouldn’t be ignored. An example of the idea that
historical events have remained the same, but the form of storytelling, using modern day members of
society has changed is Lin Manuel-Miranda's performance of ‘Alexander Hamilton’ at The White
House in 2009. The White House holds much of America’s history as it was soon built after the
inauguration of George Washington and became the ‘President’s House’ (White House, 2015).
Manuel-Miranda performed the first song which told the story of Hamilton’s upbringing and
immigration to New York. He uses the influence of rap music to tell it, which demonstrates this
connection that Manuel-Miranda made between key historical events in America and modern music
inspirations. An example of this racially diverse cast in the original performance in Hamilton in 2016
is black actor Leslie Odom Jr. Who played Aaron Burr and Lin Manuel-Miranda himself, who is
Puerto-Rican and playing Alexander Hamilton. Miranda stated that the story was “America then told
by America now.” (Odyssey, 2016) which reinforces the use of representation of modern-day
America’s society as opposed to using an all-white cast. Lin Manuel-Miranda was also an immigrant
like Hamilton which Miranda recognized and felt reflected his own story too of making it big in
America. There is this parallel between two different periods of history in America that Manuel-
Miranda wanted his audience to see. ‘My Shot’ is a song in Hamilton which uses rap to express
Hamilton’s ambition to be a crucial figure in America’s history. The line “Hey, yo, I’m just like my
country, I’m young, scrappy and hungry and I’m not throwing away my shot” shows Hamilton’s
eagerness through his open posture, and his fast-paced skips across stage. The Rhythm and spacing of
his words being close together and fast-paced, again demonstrates Hamilton’s ambition to be
successful.
https://www.theodysseyonline.com/hamilton-america-then-told-by-america-now
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/09/lin-manuel-miranda-hamilton/408019/
Lin-Manuel Miranda Performs at the White House Poetry Jam: (8 of 8)
https://www.history.com/topics/landmarks/white-house

A social factor shown within Hamilton is the attitudes to sex, in particular sex scandals in the 1700’s
compared to nowadays. In 1791-1792, Alexander Hamilton was involved in

INFLUENCE FROM OTHERS

An external influence shown within Hamilton is Lin Manuel-Miranda's collaboration with Paul
Tazewell as costume designer to reflect the time period in which the play is set. In order for the
costumes to accurately portray the clothes and fashion of the late 1700’s, which is when the play is
set, research into that period was essential by Lin Manuel-Miranda and his collaborators. Paul
Tazewell was a key person in designing the costumes. (The Art of Costume, 2020) outlines that
Tazewell “he started taking reference paintings from the period to understand what people wore and
how they wore it.”, so for example, the gowns that the Schuyler sisters wore were called l’anglaise
which consisted of a bodice with a low waistline, and low neckline, exposing more chest, with three-
quarter-length sleeves, along with a voluminous skirt. Not only was the shape important to consider,
but also the fabric and during the 18th century, silk was most common among higher-class women
and men. Silk was considered a European luxury, and French silk, in particular, had many uses in
fashion and home décor (Wills, 2021). Manuel-Miranda was also keen to combine his artistic ideas
with Tazewell’s research, and so he suggested that Hamilton’s costume should be green because
“green is the color of money” and it suits the character’s role as first secretary of the treasury (The Art
of Costume, 2020). As an audience member, it is clear in ‘The Schuyler Sisters’ song in Hamilton,
that the costumes reflect the historical time period but also allow their personalities to shine through
with the colour choices. The fabric that they wear is silk which their family would certainly been able
to afford as the sister were of high class which is confirmed by Aaron Burr when he sings “But your
perfume smells like your daddy’s got money”. The lace detail on their costumes, such as the ones on
the end of Peggy and Eliza’s sleeves also demonstrates that they would have been able to afford more
stylish dresses of that historical period because of their family's wealth. In this song, the sisters sing
about history happening in New York and that they happen to be in the “greatest city in the world”
(Hamilton, 2016) and fashion was ever-changing along with the revolution, which Paul Tazewell
would have considered and used bold colours to show this.

An external factor shown within Hamilton is Lin Manuel-Miranda's research that allowed him to put
his creative intentions to live on the stage. “It all began with picking up Ron Chernow’s “incredible
biography” on the historic American figure.” Miranda shares that he had a limited knowledge on
Alexander Hamilton before he read the biography, but what Ron Chernow wrote about Hamilton
inspired Miranda and already put visions into his mind as a musical version of telling the story of the
first US Secretary of the Treasury.1 This inspiration led to several years of composing music that
would become a hit musical on Broadway, culturally impacting all generations with the unique
directorial and musical choices that Miranda made. For example, the opening song in Hamilton
describes how Alexander Hamilton got to New York as an immigrant born in the Carribean island of
Nevis which Manuel-Miranda would have read about in the book. Miranda took the historical facts
and told them in the form of rapping and using other key characters to foreshadow what occurs later
on in the musical. For example, members of the revolutionary war singing “We fought with him”,
Hamilton’s son singing “Me, I died for him”, and Aaron Burr singing “Me, I’m the damn fool that
shot him”. Miranda turned one art form into another by visually presenting these facts. He
demonstrated the split of Hamilton’s father from the family by using an actor to break away from the
mother's arms and dramatically walk off the stage. To demonstrate Hamilton’s mother dying, a
physical theatre lift was used where the mother was lifted on her side by part of the ensemble and was
then spun at a slow pace and gently placed down to resemble her death. To portray the death of
Hamilton’s cousin on the line “Moved in with the cousin, the cousin committed suicide”, an actor
stands on a chair, centre stage and gestures the pulling of a noose around his neck and used tension in
his body to show the sudden death. These performances highlight how Miranda interpreted the
description of Alexander Hamilton’s life in a biography and created a visual performance for
1
audiences, in particular younger generations, who benefit more from learning through stage and
screen.

1
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/28/hamilton-creator-lin-manuel-miranda-on-the-making-of-the-
musical.html

CULTURAL FACTORS
A cultural factor shown within Hamilton is Lin Manuel-Miranda's research that allowed him to put his
creative intentions to live on the stage. “It all began with picking up Ron Chernow’s “incredible
biography” on the historic American figure.” Miranda shares that he had a limited knowledge on
Alexander Hamilton before he read the biography, but what he read about inspired him and already
put visions into his mind as a musical version of telling the story of the first US Secretary of the
Treasury.2 This art form led to several years of composing music that would become a hit musical on
Broadway, culturally impacting all generations with the unique directorial and musical choices that
Miranda made. For example, the opening song in Hamilton describes how Alexander Hamilton got to
New York as an immigrant born in the Carribean island of Nevis which Manuel-Miranda would have
read about in the book. Miranda took the historical facts and told them in the form of rapping and
using other key characters to foreshadow what occurs later on in the musical. For example, members
of the revolutionary war singing “We fought with him”, Hamilton’s son singing “Me, I died for him”,
and Aaron Burr singing “Me, I’m the damn fool that shot him”. Miranda turned one art form into
another by visually presenting these facts. He demonstrated the split of Hamilton’s father from the
family by using an actor to break away from the mother's arms and dramatically walk off the stage.
To demonstrate Hamilton’s mother dying, a physical theatre lift was used where the mother was lifted
on her side by part of the ensemble and was then spun at a slow pace and gently placed down to
resemble her death. To portray the death of Hamilton’s cousin on the line “Moved in with the cousin,
the cousin committed suicide”, an actor stands on a chair, centre stage and gestures the pulling of a
noose around his neck and used tension in his body to show the sudden death. These performances
highlight how Miranda interpreted the description of Alexander Hamilton’s life in a biography and
created a visual performance for audiences, in particular younger generations, who benefit more from
learning through stage and screen.

2
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/28/hamilton-creator-lin-manuel-miranda-on-the-making-of-the-
musical.html
A cultural factor shown within Hamilton is the influence of modern music introduced by Lin
Manuel-Miranda to tell the story of Alexander Hamilton. Lin Manuel-Miranda grew up in upper
Manhattan, surrounded by Hip-hop and musical theatre influences, in particular from his father who
was a lover of Broadway.3 Hip-hop is a combination of many different music styles such as rapping
and reggae predominantly have black origin and emerged in 1970s New York 4 as a ‘new’ genre of
music. It gained popularity over the years and became hugely popular in late 90s and early 2000s New
York which would have undoubtedly influenced Lin Manuel-Miranda as he would have been familiar
by the way that it is constructed and performed. We see this musical genre in Hamilton, combined

4
with freestyle rapping and musical theatre, which demonstrates that Miranda felt that his familiarity
with the genre as a way of storytelling suited the story of Alexander Hamilton.
3 https://www.looper.com/484584/how-lin-manuel-miranda-changed-the-game-in-hip-hop-from-
hamilton-to-vivo/
4 https://www.redbull.com/in-en/history-of-hip-hop

Immigration lin Manuel mirand

GEOGRAPHICAL
A geographical factor shown within Hamilton is the portrayal of King George III as a key figure in
the American revolution, despite having colonised many countries and still needing control over
America at the time. King George III needed to cover the costs of the French and Indian war (which
required 10,000 men) that was occurring in North America, and to do this he made the decision to tax
the “13 British colonies in the continent”, which sparked disagreement and an unwillingness to give in
to the King’s demands, and Great Britain refused to stand down from their decision. This in turn led
to the event, which is now known as the American Revolution. In 1782, the parliament “forced King
George III to recognize defeat” (Learnodo-Newtonic, 2020). King George III’s role in the American
revolution has directly influenced Hamilton, and although the character’s story has stayed true to the
historical events, the portrayal has been modernized, in the form of a break-up song for ‘You’ll be
Back’. King George comes across as a jealous, passive-aggressive boyfriend and the lyrics of the song
reflect the dynamic of the relationship between North America and Great Britain in the late 1700’s
which was unhealthy, and North America was keen to cut ties and lose their reliance on Britain. King
George was desperate to keep the colonists in America under British rule, hence the lyric “You’ll be
back”, despite their wish for independence. King George comes across as dominant and threatening
but in subtly, passive-aggressive ways which the audience find comical. (ScreenRant, 2020) For
example, on the lyric “I will send a fully armed battalion to remind you of my love”, he stares
menacingly at the audience without blinking which is threatening but juxtaposed with a series of “Da-
da-da-da's” which is typical in a pop song. His body language throughout the song is calm and
composed with little movement, which contradicts the dark lyrics that he is singing. His movements
are puppet-like, as if they are being controlled by someone else which further adds to the ominous
feeling of the character. On the line “my sweet, submissive subject”, King George refers to North
America which he still views as belonging to him, as Great Britain- this attitude is further reinforced
through the way that he elongates the s’s of the words to show his passive aggression, and also
through the way that he stretches his arms out wide in front of him and curls his fingers in. This
demonstrates his desperation to keep North America to control. King George only adjusts his stare
when he says the word “love” as he tilts his head slightly to one side and has more of a sweet but
ominous tone. He also foreshadows his derangement in the line “When you’re gone, I’ll go mad”
which is a reference to what truly happened to King George III in the early 19th century, when
America already had their independence. In the song ‘What Comes Next’ which has the same melody
as the first King George song but with lyrics that reflect his attitude after America has gained their
independence, so to demonstrate that he still wants America despite them being “all alone, across the
sea” he applies the same passive-aggressive tone of voice.

https://screenrant.com/hamilton-musical-king-george-songs-love-reason/
https://learnodo-newtonic.com/king-george-iii-american-revolution
POLITICAL
A political factor shown within Hamilton is the Lin Manuel-Miranda's political portrayal of Aaron
Burr and Hamilton’s political rivalry. In the year of 1790, there was a compromise over dinner
between Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison in order to find a middle-ground
for all their political ideologies, that supposedly shaped the future of America. Hamilton pushed for
the location of the Potomac River to be the capital which is now Washington D.C., and Madison
pushed for the federal taxation plan.5 Politically, Hamilton and Burr had opposing views as Hamilton
had a strong belief that America needed a new constitution where the central government had more
power rather than the states being autonomous which is what Burr believed in, as he was democratic
republican. The compromise dinner did not involve Burr which would have further threatened Burr
and Hamilton’s relationship. This political jealousy that Burr has influenced Lin Manuel-Miranda's
form of story-telling that occasion in the song ‘The Room Where It Happens’ through Aaron Burr’s
body language and characterisation. On the line “I wanna be in the room where it happens”, he
maintains eye contact with the audience in which they see a flash of jealousy and danger across his
face as he furrows his brows looking confused as to why he has been left out of the compromise. The
sudden switch to fast-paced movement, for example, when he gestures to the audience as if he is
reaching out to grab something and dramatically runs back to the table, is a way of demonstrating his
desperation to be part of the compromise and his anger knowing that he doesn’t know what was
discussed. This is also reinforced through his tone of voice which increases in volume and gets more
aggressive, especially on the line “But we don’t get a say in what they trade away” where he
pronounces the s’s more vigorously. This portrayal shows that Aaron Burr grew sour after a political
compromise was made with his peers which excluded him and impacted the dynamic relationship
between him and Hamilton.

3 https://news.yahoo.com/secret-meaning-behind-lyrics-room-144900200.html
https://screenrant.com/hamilton-musical-room-where-happens-burr-song-meanings/

TECHNOLOGICAL
A technological factor shown in Hamilton is the influence of lighting designers such as Howell
Binkley and David Korins to tell the story through lighting choices. An article outlines that “the
lighting was called upon to set the mood, location and time of day for many scenes” 6. The lighting
choices included keeping the lighting rig, maintaining the lights exposed and visible which is an
unusual decision, but it was felt that it would add to the disjointed design elements, creating a whole
different world for the audience to immerse themselves in. To broadcast the emotions of the
characters and the tension and conflicts between other characters, lighting designers utilised colour of
l and type of lighting to convey this. For example, in ‘Hurricane’ a dark blue colour is projected
across the whole stage to portray the negative emotions from past and present that are swimming in
Hamilton’s mind which is supported by the type of lighting which allows shadows to be cast across
stage to further demonstrate the storm of thoughts in his mind. This is then resolved and then switches
into a sharp white light when Hamilton reaches a conclusion to “save his legacy” which is “The
Reynolds Pamphlet”7. Another example of the lighting effectively storytelling is the use of a dim red
5

7
spotlight around Maria Reynolds which matches her red dress. This signifies danger and threat to
Hamilton, and through the combination of the red lighting and red costume colour, this gives the
audience a sense of what Maria represents to the story.

4 https://pro.harman.com/insights/entertainment/touring/helping-hamilton-shine-on-broadway-and-
beyond/
5 https://www.disneyplus.com/en-gb/video/826379aa-6b31-40ed-9377-b9699cb676fd