It’s sometimes said that the mark of something becoming a true pop culture phenomenon is when it becomes its own meme generator. It’s absolutely unsurprising that Hamilton, the most successful and popular musical in recent memory, would become the source of endless memes. Most of these, naturally enough, are enormously funny, precisely because, though the musical does have its more somber and sad moments (particularly in the second act), for the most part it is very humorous and isn’t afraid to poke fun at its central character.
At the same time, many of these memes also manage to identify precisely those aspects of the play that make it so enduringly popular.
Hamilton’s Inevitable Demise
The one thing that almost anyone is guaranteed to know about Alexander Hamilton is that he was killed in a famous duel with Aaron Burr. As the play points out, however, this wasn’t inevitable, though it was foreseeable for those who knew the many times that they managed to spat and spar with one another.
Even on the eve of the duel, however, it was still possible for Hamilton to back out. As this meme points out, however, Hamilton, ever aware of his own honor and dignity, saw no other options. Credit to meme.me.inside for the meme.
It’s...Complicated
There’s something truly hilarious about this particular meme, in part because it’s so adaptable to so many situations. There are many ways in which this play is actually pretty simple in terms of its narrative. However, that being said, there’s no doubt that there is so much going on in the play in terms of performance, emotions, and music that it can, indeed, make a person sound a little crazy when trying to explain it to someone who hasn’t seen it.
He’s Very Popular
Part of what makes this musical so endlessly appealing is the man himself. Though there have been several great actors who have played the role of Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda is, arguably, the best so far. As this meme rightly points out, it is the irritating charisma is this character, and the man chosen to play him, that has made this musical such a tremendous success and the man such an icon (and that made him such a fascinating character in the play itself).
Shooting Oneself in the Foot
The second act of the play is where everything starts to go wrong for Hamilton. The bitter irony of it is that so much of what happens is his own fault, such as when he goes out of his way to clear his political name by exposing his personal affairs, including his notorious affair with Maria Reynolds.
As this meme cleverly points out, this isn’t something that Hamilton had to do; his own arrogance and conceit simply made him blind to the inevitable consequences.
Everyone Knows Someone Like This
Even in its darkest moments, this musical manages to find some humor. Just as Hamilton and Burr are gearing up for their fatal and fateful confrontation, Hamilton delineates every time that Burr has angered or irritated him.
Though of course it doesn’t go into detail, this amusing little meme shows just what such an entry on that list would look like (and it manages to sound just like something that Hamilton would take as a great affront).
Everything’s Better With Mulan
The great thing about this particular meme is that it manages to bring together two enormously popular (and funny) popular culture phenomena, Hamilton and Mulan. Like the titular hero of the Disney film, Hamilton has a tendency to say things without fully thinking through the consequences.
As this meme points out, that extends to insulting all Virginians even though, of course, the man who is his pathway to power, George Washington, is himself from Virginia.
Poor Peggy
Poor Peggy Schuyler. She’s one of the rather understated characters in the musical. It’s not really hard to understand why. After all, it’s hard not to be overshadowed when your two elder sisters are towering figures like Eliza and Angelica Schuyler.
The amusing thing about this meme is that it points out how often Peggy tries to insert herself into a song, even when there really isn’t a place for her in it (and even though she doesn’t even get her own musical motif).
What’s He Thinking?
This is one of those memes that has become somewhat ubiquitous. It’s understandable, though, since it so neatly plays on the dynamic of a wife wondering what, exactly, her husband is thinking about (and whether it’s her).
In this case, the viewer gets to see patient, loyal Eliza wondering about her beloved Alexander who is, to absolutely no one’s surprise, musing about his legacy and his place in the creation of the republic (the words, incidentally, are from near the end of the play, when Alexander is dying).
The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name
Historians have long suspected that there was more than mere friendship between Alexander Hamilton and John Laurens. The play sort of tiptoes around this issue, though there are indications that the love between the two men was something deep, true, and meaningful. This meme brings it all out into the open, and even though Laurens is reprimanded by Washington for saying the quiet part out loud, he also isn’t afraid to reclaim a bit of his own agency and his right to speak.
What A Nerd
From the moment that he appears on-stage, Hamilton is a bit of a brat. More than that, he’s also a nerd, exactly the kind of person that, as this meme makes clear, would tattle on his classmates in middle school. While these traits in a regular person would make him absolutely intolerable, the genius of the play is that it makes the audience love and cheer for Alexander Hamilton, even when there are times that they also want to strangle him.