Is Alexander Hamilton a Mary Sue?

This summer, Disney+ released the filmed stage production of Hamilton and I, like everyone else, watched it. I enjoyed seeing the show for the first time, after only hearing the music. It was interesting to see the characters acting out their parts, and it was also interesting to see creative writing tropes at work, like character foils and a clear theme of legacy.

However, there was one trope that stood out to me as something worth debating, and it led me to this question:

Is Alexander Hamilton a Mary Sue?

Of course not! Blasphemy! Slander! A Mary Sue is a trope indicative of bad writing, and Hamilton is certainly not that!

 Oh, I agree. The musical is very well-written. But when looking at its very smart, capable, well-connected main character that every other character seems to obsess over both positively and negatively, I kept wondering if the main character were named Alexandra Hamilton, if we'd already see tons of tweets, blog posts, and YouTube videos calling her a Mary Sue.

So what is a Mary Sue? A Mary Sue is a character, often appearing in fan fiction, that is an author's idealized self-insert character. This character is the best at everything. They are smarter, stronger, more talented, etc. than everyone else. If they appear in fan fiction, they outshine the actual heroes and characters of the story they're inserted into. Everyone in the story is obsessed with this character: the heroes adore her and the villains either want her dead or want to own her themselves. The Mary Sue is perfect. She can do no wrong, and anyone who opposes her is evil or extremely foolish.

(I say "her," as the trope began with a female character, but a Mary Sue can be a him, as well.)

I really like this video's definition of a Mary Sue. By this definition, a Mary Sue is a character that warps the story around them.

Why do I like this definition? Because it allows for characters who are popular with other characters as well as characters who are overpowered. A Mary Sue is always overpowered, but an overpowered character is not always a Mary Sue.

For the purpose of this post, I'm going to treat the play Hamilton as a work of creative writing, not a straight biography of a historical figure. Why? Because it's not a biography, and it uses those writing tropes I mentioned earlier. The Mary Sue is just one more trope to explore.

And explore I shall.

How does this apply to Hamilton? Let's break it down. Most people can agree that a Mary Sue is a character that is:

1. Overpowered in some way

2. A character that warps the plot and story around him/her

3. Too perfect to be real

4. Obsessed over by the other characters, again, unrealistically

5. (Optional) A self-insert character in fan fiction

As I watched Hamilton, I started to see some of these traits appear, or at least it seemed that way. Let's go through this list. Is Hamilton a Mary Sue? I will make the case for yea, and for nay.

1. Overpowered in some way

YEA

Alexander Hamilton is a Mary Sue. He's depicted as extremely smart ("top-notch brain" - "Helpless") and is vital, in story, to winning the Battle of Yorktown ("No one has more resilience or matches my practical tactical brilliance" - "Guns and Ships").

Hamilton is also lauded for writing 51 of the Federalist Papers, which sounds so very Mary Sue. Going so much farther than his co-writers? Well, of course he would! He's so freaking talented, why wouldn't he greatly outshine everyone?

Is there nothing he can't do? We are told also that Hamilton has "a marksman's ability" ("The World Was Wide Enough") in aiming and firing a gun. He also is "reliable with the ladies" ("A Winter's Ball") to the tune of two sisters falling in love with him on sight during the same night. We can imagine that mean's he's attractive.

So, mental, physical, and romantic prowess above and beyond that of the other characters. Need I say more?

NAY

Hamilton is not overpowered. While exceptional, he remains realistic in his abilities. The Revolutionary War brought out amazing talented people, and Hamilton is no exception. Were he truly overpowered, he'd be the one leading the army, the one becoming president, and he'd have far more admirers. We also see parts of this play where he fails: he fails to protect his reputation, his marriage, and his son. He was not smart enough to find a better way out of his problem.

Talented, yes. Powerful in the context of the story, sure. But not overly so. Besides, a powerful character is not necessarily a Mary Sue. Sherlock Holmes is brilliant but no Sue.

2. A character that warps the the plot/story around him/her

NAY

Not everything in this play is about Hamilton. The Revolutionary War does not revolve around him (see what I did there?), and King George III doesn't act and react based on Hamilton. Sure, he's the main character, and therefore would be in a position central to the story. But a Mary Sue warps a story. A Mary Sue makes everything about them: every action, reaction, and character is pulled out of proportion by the Sue. They then do things that are not in character just to accommodate the Sue.

Do we see this in Hamilton? No, we don't. Characters remain in character throughout. Therefore, not a Sue.

YEA

Sure, a lot of the play is about the war. But from whose perspective? And who takes center stage, literally, in this production? And is it realistic to do so?

From the first song of the play, this one seems to also apply to Alexander Hamilton. The very first song is about Hamilton, which works well as an introduction to the character, but it also establishes something very interesting about this play: Hamilton is at the center. Every character is introduced by how they relate to Hamilton, not who they are on their own. Lafayette, Mulligan, and Laurens are his friends. The women love him. Burr is the one who shot him. You see?

And do the other characters act in character? Is it realistic for multiple women to fall for Hamilton on sight? Does that happen in real life? And what about Washington taking Hamilton's side in a cabinet debate apparently simply because he prefers Hamilton in general? Is that realistic, too? Perhaps the characters remain in character, but that character is already established to be such that glorifies Hamilton and everything he does. Even antagonists just exist to show how awesome Hamilton is.

And is that realistic? I say no. He's a Mary Sue.

3. Too perfect to be real

NAY

Hamilton comes across as rather perfect, right? Oh, except there's that one little thing:

The Reynolds Pamphlet.

Oh no, I didn't forget about that. I couldn't. Not when "Burn" is such a beautiful song.

This part of the play is what complicates Hamilton as a Mary Sue. A Mary Sue is perfect. He would never do anything as stupid as cheat on his wife. Therefore, Hamilton cannot be a textbook Mary Sue. Along with that, we are assured Hamilton is "abrasive" and "talks too much" ("Nonstop").

Even worse, Hamilton cheats on his wife and then publishes a pamphlet clearing his name of misusing funds by confessing to the affair. In the play, we are NOT supposed to sympathize with this. We're NOT supposed to think it's fine or good, just because Hamilton did it. We also see negative outcomes of this choice. This is not in keeping with the Mary Sue persona.

The obvious proof of Hamilton not being a Sue is that he's a likable character. Sues are so perfect they're boring. Hamilton is certainly not that.

YEA

Sure, Hamilton has flaws. He's abrasive and verbose. But those are like a character being described as "clumsy." Not real flaws, since we never really see them negatively impact Hamilton's character or story. 

So let's focus on that Reynolds Pamphlet incident, because that's the most powerful case against "Mary Sue-hood."

Even this is complicated. While we're not supposed to agree with this choice, Hamilton is forgiven of it, eventually. We also see that Hamilton himself is the author of this mistake: he commits it, and he's the one who reveals it and causes his own downfall.

So while I'll concede this point as showing that Hamilton isn't "too perfect," it only strengthens the argument for "overpowered": the only person capable of harming or defeating Hamilton is Hamilton. Even at the end, in his duel, we're told Hamilton has "a marksman's ability" while Burr is "a terrible shot" ("The World Was Wide Enough"), implying that Burr won through luck and because Hamilton pointed his gun at the sky.

A bit of a throwback, but characteristics of a Sue interweave with each other: a perfect character is perfect at everything, even ruining their own lives, right?

4. The center of everyone's thoughts and actions

YEA

This is best evidence for "Mary Sue-hood" we have for Alexander Hamilton. Every character in this play revolves around Hamilton. Every woman in the play loves him: Eliza marries him, but Angelica sings a great song about how much she loves him and wishes she could be with him, after falling in love with him in only minutes. Maria Reynolds seduces him.

Moving on, the play has Lafayette, Mulligan, and Laurens befriend and admire Hamilton from the moment they meet him, and Washington specifically calls for him to be his "right-hand man."

Jefferson and Madison seem to be constantly thinking about how to defeat Hamilton, making moves based on what he's doing and how to counter him or use him to their advantage. But the most clear image of how Hamilton is the center of the universe for this play is how Burr interacts with him. Burr sings a song about his own life and philosophy ("Wait For It") and it ends about Hamilton, not about Burr. Burr's rising ambition was inspired by Hamilton, and at the end, Burr's life is defined by his obsession with Hamilton ("It's him or me, the world will never be the same!", "Now I'm the villain in your history" - "The World Was Wide Enough").

 

Every character makes decisions revolving around Hamilton. He amazes and impresses other heroes, and even the antagonists are obsessed with him. It's interesting to see King George III even read the Reynolds Pamphlet, like even across the sea, the other characters are fascinated with what Hamilton is doing.

NAY

Okay, that is a good point. But Hamilton is the main character; the play is about him! Is Luke Skywalker a Mary Sue just because Obi-Wan and Yoda train him, and Vader wants him to join the Dark Side? No! A main character is central to the plot. That's why they're the main character.

And in this play, King George doesn't actually care about Hamilton. And while Maria Reynolds seduces him, we have no real proof she loves him like Eliza and Angelica are shown to. There is nuance here; the characters don't all fall at Hamilton's feet. The characters that are bound up with him are also not flat; Jefferson and Madison work with him at times. 

5: A self-insert character in fan fiction

NAY 

Hamilton is a historical figure, and not a character dreamed up by his author. Therefore he can't be a self-insert character by definition.

YEA

True. But I'd like to present for your consideration:

- Hamilton is arguably fan fiction of American history

and 

- Lin-Manuel Miranda, the writer of the the play, also played Alexander Hamilton on stage.

Not really an indication of self-insert, but makes you think, doesn't it? 

END DEBATE

So, what's the verdict?

Not saying. Make your own call.

But what's the point?

Like I said, I think if Hamilton was female, there'd be a lot of screaming that "she's a Mary Sue." A female character that is smart, a good fighter, and loved by all the men? One that every character is constantly thinking about? MARY SUE IT IS!

That assessment would ignore the other points: that she's likable and in fact fallible. Sues aren't like that.

When you call a character a Mary Sue, why do you form that conclusion? Is the character a Sue or just talented? Does the character warp the plot or are they simply active in it? Do other characters obsess over them or are they just important to story and character development?

And here's a question worth considering: if the "yea" argument convinced you, and you think Hamilton is a Mary Sue but still consider the play good writing, might it be time to examine this trope? A trope can be used poorly or it can be used well. Can the Mary Sue be used well? Is this proof that it can?

I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Last, my book THE EXPLORER'S CODE hits stores next Tuesday. You can preorder it now. 

I also have a new video out. Here it is!