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11. Satisfied

One of my personal favorite songs, Satisfied speaks of Hamilton and Eliza's marriage through the perspective of Angelica. The unique part of this song, however, is that Eliza seems to go back in time and comments on the events that led up to Hamilton and Eliza's marriage.


The context of the song starts at the wedding party of Hamilton and Eliza. Angelica starts off giving a toast to the bride and groom, but then she rewinds to the night where Hamilton and Eliza met (during the song Helpless). From the moment Angelica met Hamilton, she had secretly liked him herself. However, she favors her sister, Eliza, too much, so she gave Hamilton up to Eliza; this is why she says in the song, "I remember that night, I just might regret that night for the rest of my days".


She describes Hamilton as someone with "intelligent eyes in a hunger-pang frame" and who is never satisfied. This is a very important theme throughout the whole musical as Hamilton is never contempt with what he has, and always wants to have and do more. He also expresses this mindset when Angelica asked where his family was from (a common introductory question in that time), to which he responds with "Unimportant, there's a million things I haven't done", followed by "But just you wait, just you wait", which is one of Hamilton's important catchphrases.


When Angelica met Hamilton she finally felt like meeting someone on her level as per the line "So this is what it feels like to match wits with someone at your level". Angelica considers herself to be intelligent and knowledgeable (remember how she was reading Common Sense by Thomas Paine?) and Hamilton, who although has no money or status, also considers himself to be someone capable of achieving great things.


Towards the middle of the song, Angelica realizes 3 fundamental truths that convinces her Eliza is better suited to marry Hamilton.

  1. "I'm a girl in a world in which my only job is to marry rich" - Her father has no sons, and since she's the oldest, she has to take responsibility and marry into a rich family, even though she wants Hamilton for herself.

  2. "He's after me 'cause I'm a Schuyler sister, that elevates his status" - Although Hamilton wants to marry one of the Schuyler sisters, a part of him might actually like them, but another part might be doing so for the money and status that comes with marrying into the Schuyler family. For someone who wants to rise to the top, marrying one of the Schuyler sisters would be a massive shortcut.

  3. "I know my sister like I know my own mind/You will never find anyone as trusting or as kind" - Even though Angelica likes Hamilton, she knows Eliza will be equally as good, if not a better wife for Hamilton than she can be.

Realizing these 3 facts convinces her to give up Hamilton to Eliza instead, but Angelica never really got over Hamilton, even many years later.

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© 2023 by Joshua Li

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