Unfortunately, these lyrics are then followed by: “Look around, look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now” after the song’s melody returns us to Jefferson’s famous words. I’m’a compel him to include women in the sequel! By way of example, consider Angelica Schuyler’s crowd-pleasing revisionary recitation of the Declaration of Independence in the song, “The Schuyler Sisters”: Alexander Hamilton (Lin-Manuel Miranda) and Eliza Schuyler (Philippa Soo) are wed during the song “Helpless.” Photo by Joan Marcus.Įven the show’s most overtly feminist interventions fall short of satisfying. (To pass, two women need to speak to each other about something other than a man). I’m not even sure Hamilton passes the Bechdel test, the bare minimum for feminine representation in popular culture. The female characters simply do not get enough stage time and, when they do appear onstage, their desires, fears, hopes, plans, and narratives exist only in relation to Alexander, the man at the center of Miranda’s musical. I am startled when I come across critics who speak in unqualified terms of Hamilton’s feminist merits. Hamilton ’s (More Than Questionable) Feminism But, politically speaking, how different is Hamilton really? More to the point, what is the function of difference within Hamilton? Is Hamilton as revolutionary as so many seem to suggest it is? I don’t think so for a number of reasons. In another HowlRound piece, Jonathan Mandell identified the musical’s groundbreaking character through its difference: different history, different casting, and a different American musical in general. Even a critic at the conservative-leaning Wall Street Journal called Hamilton revolutionary. More specifically, from The New York Times to the oval office, many have lauded the piece for its apparently progressive positions: some have commented on Hamilton’s feminist interventions, while others have raved about the racial diversity of its cast. Since opening on Broadway earlier this year, Lin-Manuel Miranda has received seemingly unlimited praise for his hip-hop infused mega-musical Hamilton, which tells the story of the eponymous American founding father.