ENGL383
‘ Headfirst , into the abyss !’ Exploring the use of Metaphor in Lin-Manuel Miranda ’ s Hamilton ( 2015 )
Third year student AMY HOLBROOK explores the figurative language and metaphorical expression used by Lin-Manuel Miranda in his hugely successful musical , Hamilton ( 2015 ) as part of the English ‘ Language and Literature ’ module . By approaching the lyrics as something new to read as well as listen to , Amy focuses on understanding how the subject matter is presented to the audience without any prior knowledge required in an entertaining and easily digestible fashion .
ENGLISH
Introduction Hamilton is a sung-through hip hop musical written by Lin Manuel Miranda that premiered on Broadway in 2015 before reaching international audiences in the years that followed , most recently with a stage recording on the streaming service Disney + in 2020 . Using Ron Chernow ’ s detailed biography of American founding father Alexander Hamilton as the main inspiration , Miranda tells the story of Hamilton ’ s adult life in the latter half of the 18th century , interweaving pivotal moments in American history . Most pertinent to this essay , and part of the reason why Hamilton is so successful at being accessible , is that it is written with an incredible amount of figurative language and metaphorical expression . This essay will explore the use of conceptual metaphor and metaphorical expression in detail and consider why Miranda has chosen to construct the musical in this way , and the effect the lyrics have on the audience . McNulty ( 2015 ) suggests that ‘ By relating the hopes and setbacks , squabbles and seductions , triumphs and tragedies , of these 18th century American rebels in a score that allows the past to speak in the musical language of the rebellious present ’ ( McNulty 2015 ) and this definitely strikes as a strong reason for the language used . From the small amounts of literary criticism that are available for Hamilton , it is suggested that much like the titular character Miranda initially starred as , he and Hamilton draw parallels and write every second they are alive as the lyrics to ‘ Non Stop ’ would suggest . As a result , there is a lot of content packed into over 20,000
41