Abstract
Since debuting in 2016, Hamilton has generated much scholarship on such topics as race relations and public memory. However, this article uses concepts of communication ethics and hypertextuality to situate the retelling of America’s past for America’s present. Connecting Hamilton to communication ethics proves paramount because it helps to situate the moral ground under which the characters stand, thereby serving as the epicenter for the show’s ultimate message. Viewers are brought into a hypertextual world of two historical moments, America ‘then’ and America ‘now,’ and consider the juxtaposition of past and current ideas, tradition, culture and narrative commitments that all result in an ethical climax as the main character, Alexander Hamilton champion’s an ethic of, “I am my brother’s keeper.”
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Neu, J.
(2022).
An Ethical Revelation of the American Revolution: An Analysis of Communication Ethics and Hypertextuality in the Musical Hamilton.
Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal, 45(1).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.56816/2471-0032.1141
