For a musical that relies heavily on the power of words, one of the most moving Hamilton moments comes — surprisingly — when nothing is said at all. At the end of the series (now available to play in the Disney+), the full cast performs the movement of “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your History” and Alexander Hamilton’s wife Eliza (played by Phillipa Soo) final delivery of the monologue. The loved Schulyer sister explains how she dedicated her life to Alexander’s legacy: she raised funds for the Monument to Washington, which she founded an orphanage, and she compiled of Alexander’s letters and writings to his biography.
“Because what you are seeing is Hamilton, because what you are seeing is the sky, because what you are seeing is the world now. I think those are all valid, and all the righteous.”
Eliza delivers her emotional line of separation, “I can’t wait to see you again. It is only a matter of time” before Alejandro takes her hand. What happens next leaves some fans confused, even after seeing the closeness with adhesive tape. Eliza walks to the edge of the stage and appears to see something shocking and sigh audibly, with tears running down his face. But, what do you see?
There are a lot of fan theories about what this mysterious moment could mean. In fact, it is a point of confusion that Soo and show creator Lin-Manuel Miranda has separately addressed the speculation. We have divided the most popular of the theories (as well as some of our own) for consideration, ahead:
Eliza Sees The Sky
As Eliza mentions in his closing monologue, she lives 50 years after Alexander dies. By the end of the series, she is walking hand-in-hand with her late husband, that would imply she crossed to the other side and see what is beyond.
Eliza Looks To Alejandro Again
Another theory suggests Eliza’s gasp is simply an expression of his relief to be with her husband after death. Although Alexander leads all over the stage, she can’t fully register your meeting until the end of the scene.
Eliza Sees the Public
just a reminder that the gasp eliza makes it to the end of “who lives, who dies, who tells your story” is that she saw the audience and realizing that her husband the story was carried in #Hamilton pic.twitter.com/MahMwGkpcx
— 𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙝 ❂ (@sitharies) July 3, 2020
This is perhaps the most popular theory: Eliza is reunited with her beloved Alexander, who demonstrates that efforts to “tell their story” have been paid. She is overwhelmed by emotion when she breaks the fourth wall and sees a theater full of customers who are interested in their family legacy.
Eliza Will See The Whole Family Again
OK, this is personal, because I have two sisters, but hear me out. I like to think that Eliza could be so passionate to meet with Angelica and Peggy Schulyer as she would be to see Alexander again. Obviously, these sisters have an incredible close bond. (See: “I love my sister more than anything in this life, I would choose her happiness over mine all the time.”) A reunion with his eldest son, Felipe, would also be beautiful.
Eliza Sees the World Today
When Hamilton he made his Broadway debut in the year 2015, the world was a different place, and, of course, that continues to change and evolve as the years pass. On any given night, Eliza could see the progress or the dangers to which the country of her husband, she founded has faced since his death in 1854.
Here is What Lin-Manuel Miranda and Phillipa Soo Think
Miranda and Soo are the people with the closest relationship to this Broadway character, and as such, are the most reliable sources for the true meaning behind Eliza’s gasp. However, frustrating as it may be, seem to be of the same opinion that this time is for any person of the interpretation.
In a conversation with AOL to re-Build in the year 2016, Soo, said, “People are like, ‘Is Eliza going to heaven? Is that to see Alexander? Is to see God? What is it?’ And it is a bit of all those things. Sometimes, it is, literally, I look out and see the audience, and that is what it is, but I think, that the idea of ‘transcendence’ is present in all of that,” Soo said. “Whether it is in Eliza’s mind, or in Phillipa’s mind, the two are one and the same, which is beautiful at that time.”
Miranda echoed the same idea in a recent Cable interviewwhere he explained that Eliza time is personal to each actress who plays her. “I think it’s different for every Eliza,” he explained. “It’s heart stopping isn’t it? Through the time somehow. If what you are seeing is Hamilton, because what you are seeing is the sky, because what you are seeing is the world now. I think those are all valid, and all the righteous. I think that she is seeing through a period of time, at that time”.
