Lab Exercise 4- Option 1
Eliza’s “Burn” is a depiction of her sorrow and pain after finding out Alexander’s affair with Maria Reynold’s, James Reynold’s wife. Eliza burns all the letters that Hamilton wrote with an aim of erasing him out of her life. She takes out her anger on Hamilton’s letters that they may never be found in the future. Burning his letters also mean the destruction of Hamilton’s legacy in writing which could have salvaged him during this time that everyone was looking down upon him. She sings, “I am burning the memories, burning the letters that might have redeemed you.” Her self-effacing trait also makes her want to clear her names from books of history. She says that, “I am erasing myself from the narrative, let the future historians wonder how Eliza reacted when you broke her heart.”
She terms Alexander’s writing as ‘senseless’ and ‘paranoid’ which is something she would have never said about him when she was helplessly in love with him. This is meant to instill the pain that she is currently feeling. She is angry that Hamilton is willing to give away the unity of his family for the sake of maintaining his legacy. Her is anger toward’s Hamilton’s infidelity also makes her feel betrayed by the world at large. She feels that no one deserves to know her story, and therefore burns the letters that would have given more information about her.
The theme of the song “The Reynolds Pamphlet” is mainly infidelity. It is used in “Burn” to demonstrate the consequences of unfaithfulness, that is, pain, anger, separation, and most importantly, loss of trust. Along with this, Hamilton’s efforts to build a legacy go down the drain. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison sing that he is no longer going to be president, one less thing of their worry list. Hamilton’s ambitions to greatness are deemed by his lust.