Thursday, January 12, 2017

Macbeth-Hamilton Connection

I noticed an interesting connection between the musical Hamilton and Shakespeare's Macbeth! In the lyrics to the song "Take a Break," in Hamilton, there is a whole stanza in which Hamilton compares himself to Macbeth.

"“Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day”
I trust you’ll understand the reference to
Another Scottish tragedy without my having to name the play
They think me Macbeth, and ambition is my follyI’m a polymath, a pain in the ass, a massive pain
Madison is Banquo, Jefferson’s Macduff
And Birnam Wood is Congress on its way to Dunsinane.."

Then later on in the song, a character quotes Lady Macbeth, saying "Screw your courage to the sticking place." 
If you haven't listened to this song from Hamilton (or any of the soundtrack, really) I'd highly suggest it, as it makes some cool connections.
Posted by at

5 comments:

  1. AnonymousJanuary 13, 2017 at 12:35 PM

    I never noticed this in the soundtrack before but it's such a cool connection!! it's so amazing that Shakespeare wrote his works hundreds of years ago, but there are connections to modern culture anywhere you look.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJanuary 23, 2017 at 10:30 AM

    I love this soundtrack and the musical! I agree with Ali, it's really interesting that even though Macbeth was written many years ago, modern culture still integrates it into the world today. I think it's really cool that Lin Manuel Miranda was able to make all of these comparisons between characters in Macbeth and historical U.S. figures.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJanuary 24, 2017 at 11:23 AM

    This is a great connection! I think that perhaps the song 'Satisfied' could loosely apply to Lady Macbeth (with Hamilton representing power, I suppose).

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownApril 22, 2017 at 1:00 PM

    This gives a very detailed analysis of the Hamilton - Macbeth reference.

    Make sure to read the comments where there are allusions drawn between Angelica and Lady Macbeth- screw your courage to the sticking place.

    They Think Me Macbeth - urcool91 - Hamilton - Miranda [Archive of Our Own]
    https://archiveofourown.org/works/6698326

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownApril 22, 2017 at 1:00 PM

    This gives a very detailed analysis of the Hamilton - Macbeth reference.

    Make sure to read the comments where there are allusions drawn between Angelica and Lady Macbeth- screw your courage to the sticking place.

    They Think Me Macbeth - urcool91 - Hamilton - Miranda [Archive of Our Own]
    https://archiveofourown.org/works/6698326

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)