Sorry, guys, I just couldn’t resist a reference to Hamilton.
Those of you familiar with Lin Manuel Miranda’s musical know that Shakespeare influenced the Miranda (who alludes to Macbeth several times). One example:
“My dearest, Angelica
“Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day”
I trust you’ll understand the reference to
Another Scottish tragedy without my having to name the play”
So I found an article (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/lin-manuel-miranda-bard-era/5437/) comparing Miranda and Shakespeare after Miranda tweeted this:
*Lady rolls down her car window at 181st street*
"congrats on HAMLET!"
Me: "I WISH I wrote Hamlet!"
Lady: "Yay HAMLET!"
*drives away*#myday
The article describes how Shakespeare “took the language of the people and elevated it to iambic pentameter…in Lin Manuel’s case he elevated it to hip-hop and rap.”
Here’s another quote: “Like Shakespeare, [Lin-Manuel Miranda] understood that this kind of historical sweep has to focus on the experience of an individual and work outward from there,” Dr. Shapiro said.
Aaaand another: “During the Elizabethan Age, Shakespeare’s target audience was as diverse as the population. Playgoers ranged from groundlings, who stood in the Globe to watch performances, to Queen Elizabeth.
Lin-Manuel Miranda and his team have also purposely appealed to a fan base as diverse as our nation, and the cast reflects today’s diverse America.”
Okay, one more! The article also says that Miranda and Shakespeare both explore history and make history accessible to their audiences.
And if anyone wants to check it out, here’s another article I found that actually references the first one: http://www.thewinedarksea.com/2016/11/05/hamilton-another-hamlet/.
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1 comment:
This is actually a really interesting comparison! Something else I'd like to point out is that both Shakespeare and Lin-Manuel Miranda were/are clearly very talented with words and wordplay, and it shows through their characters. Hamilton was an extremely prolific writer who could often talk and write circles around others, and likewise Hamlet frequently talks in puns and his words sometimes go right others' heads (like Polonius').
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