From Helpless To Burn To Telling The Stroy: The Evolution Of Eliza Schuyler In Hamilton

When a story begins, one never truly knows where they will end up, starting from deeply enamored head over heels love, to erasing yourself from the love story you were once so happy to be a part of. Someone who always asked their significant other to let enough just be enough, who begged her love to take a break, and even though she gave nothing but support and love, ending up getting burned. This is the story of a someone who stood strong and true, someone who should be admired. This is Eliza's story. As we approach the tenth anniversary of this groundbreaking, history making historical rap musical, as we draw closer to the date, in this tenth year celebration of Hamilton, I decided to deep dive into so many reasons why we love the songs and characters, and what narratives are behind the cast of this show. But today, let's talk about the faithful wife, the one and only Elizabeth Schuyler, also known as Eliza Hamilton.  

When she first takes the stage, we meet her and her sisters, next her and Alexander are getting married, then asking Alexander just live so he can see his child grow saying that he is more then enough, next is asking him to slow down, raising the children, wanting her husband to take a break, witnessing his political ups and downs, being cheated on, losing her son, forgiving Alexander, losing Alexander, and then ending the show, many believing her to be taking her last breath. Much like her sister and most of the cast, even when she is not on stage, she is providing supporting vocals through many of the songs. 

If that sums up anything, it shows Eliza is a huge part of the show, and adds just as much as even characters like Burr to the narrative. If Alexander is pure ambition, she is the heart of the show. She is an anthesis to Alexander, trying to get him to just be good enough, and to enjoy moments. Which then leads to an interesting change in "Its Quiet Uptown" and "Who Lives Who Dies Who Tells Your Story" where Alexander finally begins to take life slowly and prioritize family, while Eliza ends the show doing so many ambitious things. 

When we first meet her, she is with her sisters, and then is already in love after a chance encounter on a cold winters night. You see how happy and content she is from this song from "Helpless" and that keeps returning through the rest of Act 1 and even some of Act 2. She is loving and supportive but wishes to see her husband live long enough to see her point of view on things. Telling him how they don't need a legacy, or money, just love, and asking to be a part of his story. Love is very much her driving force, and her being content with just having the ones she loves around her, is a great yet sweet contrast to Alexander's constant ambition, always climbing upward to something new.

And then he just couldn't say no to this. 

I can write a whole post about Burn and trust me, I probably will. Burn is one of the most powerful moments in the show, pure heartbreak that is filled to the brim with genuine emotion. The hurt she feels that connect to that audience, the pain of Alexander cheating on her, and being full of justified rage, pain, and sorrow. In that moment instead of rushing to his side, she gives Alexander over to his ambitions, removing herself from it. Even though we will never truly know how she reacted in history, Eliza in the terms of the musical steps away in a what could only be shown as the opposite of helpless. Her husband let someone else into their bed, but as she says , she doesn't have to let the world into her heart or bed, or even let Alexander back into it. This moment full of fire burning from within, and on the stage as she destroys the letters which once won her over, the heart she gave to Alexander is now in pieces, and she leaves him not with those, but leaves with what she has left of that very heart. 

Losing her son just makes it all the more worse.

And yet she forgives him, forgiving her husband, letting go of the past, letting go of the betrayal, letting go of the Alexander handing her first born the gun that would ultimately take his life, and then use that gun one more time, losing his in the process. And yet she forgives him, she tells his story, she invites herself back into the narrative and gets her wish. She becomes a part of his story, analyzing and publishing her late husbands writing, raising funs for the Washington Monument, interviewing soldiers who fought with him, writing herself, opening the first private orphanage in New York City, and some much more. 

If the real Eliza didn't do all the legwork, and tell his story, we would not have this amazing musical. Eliza is the heart of the show, because without her and what she did, there would be no she. She drives home the simple yet powerful theme of legacy, and how you can work to preserve your legacy your whole life but part of it, is who tells your story. The people who tell your story help shape it and how it gets told, and what the tale of you tells. 

Eliza tells this story, so much it becomes her story, being someone who should be applauded for the love she gave, for the forgiveness she was willing to give, and what she accomplished. The show is named Hamilton but there is more then one at the emotional core of the narrative driving its themes home on legacy. Without the story she told, we never would have gotten this story on stage. From head over heels, to telling his story, the founding fathers will have their place history forever, but Eliza's legacy and what she did for Alexander's is second to none.