STORY CONE ANALYSIS: Why Hamilton is Such a Strong Character

Written by Emily Pearce

Spoiler warning: the whole musical is discussed in this post and major spoilers are present

There’s no doubt that Hamilton is a successful story. It received sixteen nominations for Tony Awards and went on to win eleven of those awards. In 2016, Hamilton also received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Hundreds of thousands of people of all ages and backgrounds have listened to the music and seen it in person. When you look at it from a Story Cone perspective, you are able to see exactly why it has the ability to touch so many people from different backgrounds. Hamilton has powerful and well-written characters. The character Hamilton, in particular, fills six role functions perfectly. Those six role functions are the Primary Actor (PA), Central Viewpoint Character (CVC), Primary Norm Breaker (PNB), Initial Equilibrium Disruptor (IED), Primary Noise and Chaos Creator (PNCC), and Hero (H) of the story.

What are the Role Functions?

The Farmer System of Narrative Analysis (FSNA)—also known as the Story Cone—is a groundbreaking system of analysis that helps “code” out a story. For those familiar with the Hero’s Journey (a pattern of narrative identified by scholar Joseph Campbell), FSNA gives empirical evidence as to why that pattern resonates with so many audiences and readers—and goes further to identify all the other patterns for the different kinds and types of story available. This system of analysis has been refined over thirty-five years with empirical research, established literary theory, years of being taught in college classrooms and conference workshops, and real-world applications with authors, scriptwriters, and other creators.

This system has revealed specific role functions that are inherent in story. When you analyze a story based on this system, you are able to clearly see why the story will succeed or fail.

The role functions in the Story Cone are:

Primary Actor (PA)—The character whose story is being told (usually indicated in the title); the primary mover and shaker in the story’s action and the one who makes the decisions to move the story forward.

Central Viewpoint Character (CVC)—The person through whose eyes we see the story.

Primary Norm Breaker (PNB)—The primary struggler in the story’s action who actively fights against the System.

PNB Ally—The character(s) who are allied with the PNB.

Initial Equilibrium Disruptor (IED)—The being or force that shatters the existing equilibrium and starts the forward flow of the central action.

Primary Noise and Chaos Creator (PNCC)—The character(s) who are primarily responsible for the introduction of noise and/or chaos into the story’s action.

Safe Character (SC)—The character(s) who supports and understands the System but still aids the PNB, though this character does not fight on behalf of the PNB, unless at the last moment in self-sacrifice or converting into a PNB Ally.

System Character (SYC)—The character who embodies the System, which is the body, group, or force that controls the world of the story as the action begins. The System establishes and enforces the rules that govern, or are supposed to govern, the world of the story.

SYS Ally—The character(s) who are allied with the System.

Hero (H)—The character who saves the day at the moment of climax. There are several types of Hero, including: Traditional, Comic, Antihero, Rogue, Romantic, Tragic, Transcendental, or No Hero.

How Hamilton Fulfills the Six Role Functions Perfectly

IED. Hamilton is the Initial Equilibrium Disrupter of his own story. The song “Alexander Hamilton” explains Hamilton’s backstory and his IED. Hamilton and his mother were abandoned by his father in the middle of the Caribbean, but he worked hard and was put in charge of a trading charter (at age fourteen). When a “hurricane came, and devastation reigned,” he began writing, and people were so moved by his writing that they “took up a collection just to send him to the mainland.” Hamilton arriving in New York (after the death of his mother and cousin) is when the main story starts, just as the first song ends with his name, “Alexander Hamilton,” and the play begins. Even in his backstory, Hamilton is the one starting the action (aside from being abandoned by his father). It’s always Hamilton choosing things that lead him to the next step. Even if you don’t understand the specifics, “Alexander Hamilton” is all about Hamilton, and you get the sense that his arrival is starting the story out.

The second song, “Aaron Burr, Sir,” starts the main story action and reiterates the IED and emphasizes the fact that it is Alexander Hamilton himself starting his own action. In this song, Hamilton approaches Aaron Burr (sir) to ask for advice. Interestingly enough, the story starts in this song with Hamilton approaching the character who will kill him in the end. Burr gives him the advice to “talk less, smile more,” but Hamilton rejects his advice, saying, “If you stand for nothing, Burr, what’ll you fall for?” This speech gets him noticed by Hercules Mulligan, Marquis de Lafayette, and John Laurens. Hamilton’s main story line is put into motion with these actions, and he continues to get noticed until he gains the status he attains in his life as George Washington’s right-hand man. “Hurricane” further clarifies the IED and shows Hamilton as being active in starting his story.

Hamilton makes it clear to all at a subconscious level that Hamilton is the IED of the story, because in every story movement or episode, he is the one to start his own action. For example, he proposes the need for the Federalist Papers, and he chooses to stay at home and ends up having an affair with Maria Reynolds.

One interesting thing to note with the IED of the story is that Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote “Alexander Hamilton” in a similar way that Romeo and Juliet begins—he warns the audience that Hamilton will die when Aaron Burr says, “And me? I’m the damn fool that shot him.” This further prepares the audience for the tragic story they are about to be immersed in.

PA. As can be easily gathered by what we know about Hamilton’s character by studying him as the IED, he is also clearly the Primary Actor of the story. Hamilton is passionate and hardworking, and he is not afraid to be proactive in his goals.

He constantly pushes the story forward as he fights with Samuel Seabury, becomes Washington’s aide-de-camp, marries Eliza Schuyler, helps Laurens with his duel, fights with Washington and ends up getting sent home, decides to go back to help Washington with the battle of Yorktown, helps take down the British by figuring out how to trap them (which leads to them winning the war), gets a job as a lawyer, and ends up writing fifty-one of the Federalist Papers. And that’s just the first act.

In the second act, he chooses to stay at home, have an affair with Maria Reynolds, publish the letters proving his affair, tell his son what to do in a duel, and eventually duel Burr.

Even on a metafictional level, Hamilton is the Primary Actor. In the song “My Shot,” Hamilton says, “Enter me,” and the chorus sings, “He says in parenthesis.” This is referencing the way plays are written, with one key difference. Typically, a stage direction would say, [Enter Hamilton], but Hamilton takes control of even that and announces his own entrance into the story.

This is who the story is about. Every action Hamilton makes pushes the story forward and changes the story around him.

CVC. There are several scenes in which we get Hamilton’s thoughts directly. Usually, the lighting will turn blue and he thinks out loud to himself. This occurs most notably in “Hurricane,” where the whole song is conveying his thoughts of how to get out of the situation he has gotten into. It’s also present in other songs such as “My Shot” when he asks himself, “Oh, am I talkin’ too loud?/ Sometimes I get overexcited, shoot off at the mouth.” You also follow Hamilton’s story as it revolves around him, feeling his emotions as he feels them.

Notably, Aaron Burr is another major character in the role of CVC. He narrates Hamilton’s story throughout the play, as well as his own story. Burr’s character is a very strong secondary story, fulfilling many Role Functions, and his story, along with several other characters who also have completed stories within the musical, adds depth to the musical as a whole.

PNB. Hamilton is an excellent example of a Primary Norm Breaker. His character is such that he can’t help breaking the norm, no matter what System he is up against. Hamilton, of course, fights in the Revolutionary War against King George III (the main System Character for Act One)—a major act of norm breaking to take down a major System—and Hamilton is instrumental in that System’s defeat. But from the beginning, when someone advocates for King George and tries to stop people from participating in the revolution, Hamilton immediately argues with him, despite Burr saying to, “Let him be.” Hamilton later says to Burr, “I’d rather be divisive than indecisive.” He would rather break the norm and cause ripples in the status quo than stand by and do nothing. Hamilton keeps this philosophy throughout his life.

“Meet Me Inside” portrays a disagreement between Hamilton and Washington. This is an interesting case of norm breaking, because Hamilton is trying to help Washington, the System Character. Lee took Washington’s name and raked it through the mud, and Hamilton wanted revenge. But Washington responds, “My name’s been through a lot, I can take it,” and reprimands Hamilton for going behind his back. Washington did not want fighting among his men, but Hamilton went along and encouraged Laurens to do the duel anyway. Washington also repeatedly calls Hamilton “son,” and every time he does, Hamilton fights back, ending with an aggravated shout, “Call me son one more time.”

Hamilton’s norm breaking takes another form when he cheats on Eliza with Maria Reynolds. Being unfaithful to your spouse is absolutely norm breaking against normative society—especially given the fact that he gets the permission of Maria’s husband to continue with the affair. The ensemble represents the System (and perhaps Hamilton’s own conscience) shouting to him, “Go! Go! Go!” and “No! No! Say no to this!” But Hamilton doesn’t listen, and he continues his affair with Maria.

“The Election of 1800” proves to be another powerful moment of norm breaking for Hamilton. In this scene, “the people” or his “fellow Federalists” ask who he supports in the election—Jefferson or Burr. He could stay silent, but Hamilton, despite all he has learned and the ways he has changed, would still rather be “divisive than indecisive.” Burr, the main System Character for the end of Act Two, seems like he would be who Hamilton would go for. Hamilton had multiple times wanted Burr’s help with his own goals, after all, and Hamilton and Jefferson famously hated each other. Hamilton confronts Burr, disgusted by the fact that Burr is openly campaigning—even though Burr is doing that because he learned from Hamilton that the way to be successful is to chase what you want. But Hamilton, ever the norm breaker, tells the people that he would vote for Jefferson. This decision shocks everyone, including Jefferson, as he sings with Madison, later joined by the ensemble, “Well, I’ll be damned.” But it seems in this instance, Hamilton’s norm breaking has pushed against Burr’s System of patience and hesitation too far—which leads to the fact that Hamilton is also his own Primary Noise and Chaos Creator.

PNCC. Hamilton is constantly creating noise and chaos, both for himself and for the people around him.

From the very beginning, he admits to Burr that he “punched the bursar” and gets carried away when talking about his ideas (“Oh, am I talkin’ too loud?”). He constantly gets carried away in his pursuit for something more, something better, and that causes him to get into trouble. Hamilton’s PNCC behavior all comes down to his tragic flaw: “He will never be satisfied.” This phrasing and description of Hamilton is repeated several times, as well as the explanation of him being “young, scrappy, and hungry”—always hungry for more, never satisfied.

When Washington urges him to go home to his family, he is reluctant to go because he wants to finish the war. He’s not satisfied with what he has done, and his reluctance causes tension in his relationship with Washington. After the war is over, he still wants more—he wants to get his plans through Congress and fears losing his job. But in pursuing satisfaction of this goal, he ends up neglecting his family, ultimately pushing Eliza, Angelica, and his son away.

It’s Hamilton’s weakness that brings him to his relationship with Maria. He’s never satisfied and can never get enough of anything—of work, of writing, of his dreams, and of his relationships. So when Maria comes to him and offers him something more, he can’t resist. He doesn’t know “how to say no to this.” And this act goes on to cause perhaps the most detrimental amount of noise and chaos in Hamilton’s life, as it leads him to try to clear his name with the Reynolds Pamphlet, which destroys any chances of his ever becoming president and ultimately leads to his son’s death.

As mentioned earlier, his choice in the “Election of 1800” leads to Hamilton’s duel with Burr. Hamilton doesn’t back down at all when exchanging letters with Burr in “Your Obedient Servant,” saying, “I can’t apologize because it’s true.” Despite the fact that he has grown in moral reasoning and is willing to tell Burr, “your grievance is legitimate,” he won’t back down on his beliefs, and he agrees to duel with Burr. But at the last second, Hamilton decides to throw away his shot and aim his gun at the sky instead of at Burr, and Hamilton is killed.

Hero. Hamilton is the Hero of the story—a Tragic Hero. As mentioned earlier, Tragic Heroes are allowed one tragic flaw, and Hamilton’s weakness is that he is never satisfied. Hamilton begins as a high moral reasoner. One of Hamilton’s goals from the beginning is to create a great country that is safe for everyone—a place where everyone can be free— and he is willing to do what it takes to accomplish that goal, always striving for something better. That is a noble goal. But through the death of his son and his reconciliation with his faith and with his wife, Hamilton grows in moral reasoning to a stage six according to Lawrence Kohlberg’s stages of moral development and believes in universal ethical principles (a big reason why he couldn’t throw his vote to Burr).

Hamilton has several Hero moments throughout the story. He marries Eliza Schuyler. He figures out how to trap the soldiers in Yorktown, and this allows them to win the war and defeat the British. He “writes himself out” of a political scandal (even though this destroys his family for a time, it still helps him achieve his goal at the time). And in “It’s Quiet Uptown,” he lets go of not being satisfied.

Hamilton’s Hero moment for the main story line occurs when he decides to throw away his shot and not shoot Aaron Burr. In a powerful inner monologue taking place in the moment before his death, Hamilton states, “Burr, my first friend, my enemy/ Maybe the last face I ever see/ If I throw away my shot, is this how you’ll remember me?/ What if this bullet is my legacy? . . . America, you great unfinished symphony, you sent for me/ You let me make a difference/ A place where even orphan immigrants/ Can leave their fingerprints and rise up.” It’s this and the promise of seeing his loved ones “on the other side” that lead him to decide to throw away his shot, and “He aims his pistol at the sky.” Hamilton, who through his whole life refuses to throw away his shot, aims his gun at the sky instead of taking another life. And he is killed, but that is his Hero moment, and he leaves behind an incredible legacy.

Conclusion

As you study this musical and its lyrics carefully, you will be able to better understand what makes well-written and powerful characters.

Hamilton is a story to last for the ages and will no doubt become a classic. The way that Lin-Manuel Miranda perfectly wrote characters to fulfill Role Functions is incredible. Hamilton has changed the way history is taught in schools, changed the way people think of theatre, and inspired countless people.

Credits: Lyrics and story by Lin-Manuel Miranda

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