This song is one of the softer sweeter songs that is sung. It's about Burr's baby being born. When I think of Aaron Burr, I think of this hard, mean person who only wants good for himself and the people he cares about, but this song shows us a different side.
In this song, he is singing to his daughter Theodosia. He's telling her that she's the reason that he is fighting this war now, he says, "Domestic life was never quite my style." I think by this he means that if he didn't feel the need to fight in the war, that she would be reason enough for him to stay at home.
I wonder if in the end when he shoots Hamilton, if he thought of his daughter? I believe that no children should have to grow up thinking that their parents didn't care for them. I think if he had thought of his daughter before pulling the trigger, there might have been a different life for him to live. I also wonder if this is a male thing? Does he feel the need to prove to Hamilton and everyone else that he is better? I think Burr made a rash decision that he had to live with for the rest of his life, and his family also had to live with the mistakes that he made as well.
If Burr had thought about his family and his daughter, then I don't think he would've made as many bad decisions as he did, especially when it came to Hamilton. You would think as someone who had a family of his own, that he would think about Hamilton and his family, and what shooting him would do to them. He should've put himself in Hamilton's shoes, and I don't think he would've made most of the decisions that he did.
I agree with you that on some level, Burr began to put his ego and his anger towards Hamilton before his own family because in the beginning, Burr was the one on top but slowly Hamilton started to rise up, and it made Burr very jealous and it made him irrational as well. He started putting everything on hold so he could catch up to Hamilton and in the end, he wanted Hamilton to be gone so he could have his power back. But I also think that the moment after he shot Hamilton, Burr felt awful about it because I think he realized then that his career and his family were not worth a man's life but by that time it was to late and he had to live with the mistake that he had made for the rest of his life.
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of your interpretations of events. I think "Dear Theodosia" is a definite turning point in the show for Burr, and looking forward a lot of his decisions are informed by being a father. This is most explicitly shown in the final duel during "The World Was Wide Enough" when Burr states that his final thought before the duel was, "This man will not make an orphan of my daughter." I like your interpretation of his regret, though; he did succeed at his goal, but at a horrible cost.
ReplyDeleteI think one of the most important aspects of "Dear Theodosia" is that Hamilton sings just as much to his son as Burr sings to his own daughter. This draws even deeper comparison into your point about their duel. Hamilton and Burr both sing "my father wasn't around" because they were both orphaned. Yet they both risk making orphans out of their children for honor.
ReplyDeleteI think that you made a very good point in saying that Burr would not have made as many bad decisions if he was actually thinking about his family, and had their best interest in mind. I also think that Burr did feel like he had to prove himself, partially in order to differentiate from Hamilton because they did have so much in common.
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