Reading/Listening:
Hamilton Disc 2, tracks 1-12 ("What I'd Miss" - "We Know")
FINAL PAPER #1 DUE
Study Questions:
1. "Winning is easy, governing is harder," George Washington asserts shortly after Jefferson and Hamilton have their first cabinet rap battle. In many ways, Act II is all about the difficulties of governing, of putting your ideas in motion. How does Hamilton's Jefferson live up to the aspirations of the enlightenment? How does he fail these ideals, either through inaction or because of his political needs? Similarly, how does Miranda's Hamilton live up to the ideals? How does he let them down?
2. Hamilton relies on double casting. The same actor that plays Lafayette in Act I, plays Jefferson (Daveed Diggs) in Act II. Similarly, there is double casting for the parts of Hercules Mulligan/James Madison (Okieriete Onaodowan), John Laurents/Philip Hamilton (Anthony Ramos), and Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds (Jasmine Cephas Jones). Why do you think Miranda double cast these rolls the way that he did? What does it mean for the same actor to transform from Lafayette to Jefferson, from Mulligan to Madison, and Laurents to Hamilton's son?
