The Bullet
It’s no spoiler to say that Hamilton dies – Burr admits to being “the damn fool who shot him” in the opening number. Also: history. But what is less obvious is how Hamilton’s death literally follows him around the stage, personifying the themes of legacy, mortality and survival throughout the play. Don’t expect a grim reaper, though – ‘The Bullet’, as the role is called, is easily overlooked. When Hamilton finally falls near the show’s end, his death is represented by a woman (the role is always taken by a female actor, and by Ariana DeBose in the Broadway version) escorting an invisible bullet across the stage.
What you might not have realised, though, is how she has been lingering near him throughout the musical. The Bullet first appears in Stay Alive, as a gunshot sounds near Hamilton, and returns during Ten Dual Commandments. The Bullet is less twinned with Hamilton than a broader representation of death: we see her shake hands with the soon-to-be-deceased John Laurens. Similarly, she sends Philip to his doom after telling him where Eaker, who kills him, is.
Eliza’s gasp
Devastated enough yet? Miranda left one final suckerpunch, just to make sure everyone leaves the theatre dewy-eyed. The final number, Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story, has poignantly tied up loose ends, giving Hamilton the legacy long deprived him. But it transforms into a feminist offering: Eliza puts herself back in the narrative, and we learn that she lives another 50, wildly productive years (the orphanage!). And it is with Eliza, now in her final years, that the musical ends, telling Hamilton, “Oh, I can’t wait to see you again.” Once the company have sung that final lingering, acapella question, “who tells your story? she stands in front of the stage, and gasps.
