Pip and Alexander Hamilton

       Though they initially seem to have little in common, Pip from Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations and Alexander Hamilton from the Broadway musical Hamilton actually have very similar stories.  Both men rapidly rise in society, destroy relationships with family and friends in order to change society’s perception of them, and eventually fail to maintain the perception that they worked so hard to create. 

      Both of these characters were orphaned at a young age.  Pip’s parents died soon after he was born, and he went to live with his sister and her husband.   As he grows up, Pip begins to see his own life as inferior to that of Estella and Miss Havisham.  He begins to notice his “coarse hands” and “common boots” (Dickens 8.92).  However, through the generosity of a man Pip barely knows, he is able to suddenly move up in society and become a new man when he is given his expectations.

       Hamilton’s father left when he was a young boy and his mother died soon after.  As an orphan in the Caribbean, Hamilton began reading every book he could find.  This enabled him to see “his future drip, dripping down the drain” (Miranda “Alexander”).  It was only through the kindness of near strangers that he was able to come to America and improve his own expectations.  Hamilton overcomes his humble beginnings arrives in the colonies because “in New York you can be a new man” (Miranda “Alexander”). 

       Pip gives up his relationship with Joe in order to maintain his appearance as a gentleman.  He is ashamed of his relatives and upbringing, and stops seeing Joe because he does not want the people in his new society to be aware of his humble upbringing

      Hamilton writes and publishes a document titled “The Reynolds Pamphlet” that details his lengthy affair with a local woman.  He believes that “this is the only way [he] can protect [his] legacy” (Miranda “Hurricane”).  The publication of this document destroys Hamilton’s marriage and his close relationship with his wife’s family.  Throughout this ordeal Hamilton thinks only of himself and how his life will be written down in history.  He gives no thought to how this will affect his wife’s life.  She says that “in clearing your name you have ruined our lives… you are paranoid in every paragraph how they perceive you. You, you, you…” (Miranda “Burn”).  Hamilton is so obsessed with his own image that he brings so much pain into his wife’s life in order to clear his own name. 

      Pip eventually loses his expectations and, therefore, loses the façade that he worked so hard to maintain.  All of the difficulties he went through to maintain appearances did not help him at all in the end. 

      Hamilton has less time to make an impact on society than he thought he would.  Eventually, “America forgot him” (Miranda “Alexander”).  He was reduced to a single paragraph in a history textbook, and his efforts to create a legacy for himself amounted to nothing. 

This is "Alexander Hamilton," the first song in the musical.

Sources:

Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. New York: Barnes & Noble Classics, 2003. Print.

Miranda, Lin-Manuel. “Alexander Hamilton.” Hamilton, 2015. CD.

Miranda, Lin-Manuel. “Burn.” Hamilton, 2015. CD.

Miranda, Lin-Manuel. “Hurricane.” Hamilton, 2015. CD.