Ambition and Transformation

The show’s two central characters, protagonist Alexander Hamilton and antagonist Aaron Burr, are each driven by ambition; take action, over the course of the narrative, to realize their respective ambitions; and, by the end of the play, are transformed as a result of both their actions and the ambition that drove them. As the main story begins, Hamilton and Burr are both what might be described, in contemporary language, as disadvantaged: they are both orphans, and they are both poor. At the same time, they are desperately driven to improve both their own circumstances and those of the country in which they live. In short, they want more than what they have, which is arguably a textbook definition of ambition. Over the course of the play, as they each become engaged in the military, intellectual, and political battles that drive the American Revolution...