We Dream of Revolution: Why 1789: Les Amants de la Bastille clicks on a deeper level than Hamilton: An Amreican Musical

Revolutions loom large in popular culture. From science fiction pieces such as the Star Wars series and Dune, to games such as the Final Fantasy II, and novels such as Red Rising and The Hunger Games all focus on revolution against corrupt and evil states. As such, it makes sense that musical theatre would also want to portray revolutions and revolts. Two such productions are Lin-Manuel Miranda’s 2015 smash hit Hamilton: An American Musical (Hamilton) which covers the life and times of U.S. founding father Alexander Hamilton, and producer Dove Attia’s 1789: Les Amants de la Bastille (1789), which covers the fateful year of 1789, the beginning of the French revolution. Despite its hit status and earworm songs, I have had a hard time with Hamilton and didn’t really have an answer as to why I felt off about it. 1789 provides that answer. Both musicals centre around the 18th century liberal revolutions against monarchies and as such can be viewed from a similar lens. 

Each musical has several themes and things it discusses in common. The first is that each directly portrays those monarchs in power. Hamilton gives King George III a dark comedy song where the king threatens the Americans for spurning his “love”(Miranda, 2020). King Louis XVI is portrayed throughout 1789 as a vacillating king who does not wish to truly rule but will listen to his more reactionary brother, the count D’Artois, who plays a major role in the musical as well. Louis’ wife, Marie Antoinette is also a major character with many scenes and songs. The musicals differ on how they show the violence of revolution. Hamilton views it more as a tactical and strategic war, whereas 1789 focuses on how the state cracks down. How each musical discusses lower class feelings and attitudes, as well as their participation in revolution also differs in an interesting way. Hamilton, despite its protagonist, Alexander Hamilton, being an orphan from an unnoteworthy family, mainly focuses on the upper crust of the revolution, the landowners and lawyers. Those people are present and matter in 1789, but the protagonist, Ronan, and his sister Solène, are peasants and Solène is an illiterate sex worker. Both play a somewhat prominent role in the musical’s version of the revolution. Lastly, Hamilton as a musical about the American revolution, features songs and dance numbers by people who owned slaves, including Thomas Jefferson, who had sex with at least one of his slaves (monticello, n.d.). Slaves cannot give ongoing enthusiastic consent during sex with the person that legally owns them. Hamilton portrays these people as good and just or at least worthy of respect. 1789 also features controversial characters from history. Maximillian Robespierre is a character and sings songs. Yet the musical uses them because they exist, its real focus is on its trio of fictional characters.

1.I WIll Send a Fully Armed Battalion to Remind You of My Love

Our introduction to King George III comes with the cast singing “a message from the king!” while he walks onto the stage in regalia. The filmed version of the show includes the crowd laughing at his walk to centre stage, this laughing is audible throughout the song. It is framed as a kind of love song. The song is upbeat and cheerful despite its lyrics threatening crackdown, with lines such as “I will kill your friends and family to remind of my love” (Miranda, 2020). The song is an earworm that the audience will have trapped in their heads long after the musical is over. Playing the song for laughs does two things. It treats King George III as a mad tyrant, which the musical wishes for you to feel, which I think it succeeds at. However it also portrays him as a laughing stock, which dilutes the terror of the tyrant King George III. It is hard to be scared of the man singing “da-da-da-da-da-da” right before and after he threatens to kill people (Miranda, 2020). He does not do it in a particularly dangerous tone, instead trying to heighten the comedy of the song. When King George III returns the audience laughter is greater. He sings a song about how hard ruling will be, setting up the conflicts of the rest of the musical. King George III returns once more after Washington steps down, welcomed with laughs and he sings about how and why someone would step down and states that the new president will fail. The audience reaction to these two songs shows us that they have been greatly endeared to King George III. They cheer very loudly after each one and laugh at every joke. Rather than seeing him as an evil tyrant who oppressed the Americans, he is loveable and funny. This takes away the bite of his threats in the first song.

King Louis XVI is also played for laughs in 1789, however the combination of his much more reactionary brother, the Count D’Artois, and seeing Louis XVI give the order to kill people makes the comedy play better. We are introduced to the king early in the musical but crucially only after Ronan and Solene’s father is killed by the state in a riot and we hear a song from Marie Antionette about her frivolous lifestyle. He is introduced while also being frivolous, playing at finding women with a blindfold on. Here we meet Jaque Necker, the minister of finance and the count D’Artois. D’Artois and Necker argue about how to fix the government’s financial problems, with Necker wanting to give concessions to the common people and tax the upper classes more while D’Artois wishes to take the third estate even harder. The king breaks up this argument clearly uncomfortable with conflict. This scene uses Louis XVI for comedy while still portraying him as unworthy and useless, which is dangerous for the people of France. The audience sees he is clearly unfit for rule during this tumultuous time, he is playing games while his people starve. We can laugh at him for being hapless while recognizing the damage he is doing to his people. 

We next see the king in his major comedic scene where Necker is preparing for Louis XVI to speak to the deputies of the estate-general. The king would much rather sit in his comically large throne and drink, much to Necker’s dismay. The king calls for his rifle, runs around chasing Necker, and yelling at him to do things exclaiming “I am the King of France”. These two scenes are funny, or at least are supposed to be, while not endearing us to Louis. We see him at some of his worst. Abusing his power simply to show he has power. Since we have seen what the state does to people like Ronan and Solene, we are disgusted by how the king can act this way when people are starving and being killed. Louis is not lovable like George is and the musical is better for it. 

We also see the pretense of comedy drop from Louis’ character when the situation demands it. After the women’s march to Versailles, Louis and Marie are hearing the anger of their people through the window and Louis confronts Marie on her frivolity. We of course know the king has been just as frivolous, but he states he expects her to stick by him throughout the rest of the crisis. After that, the captain of the guard, D’Artois, and Necker have an argument about what to do. D’Artois scolds his brother for his weakness and to send troops to arrest the ring leaders and kill those who resist, while Necker wants to negotiate. At this pivotal moment, Louis listens to his younger brother and captain and sends the troops to “restore order by any means necessary” (Attia, 2013). This sets up the violence to come. Here we see that Louis is a despot, clinging to power by slaughtering his people. Unlike with Hamillton, this moment is not played for laughs. It is allowed to be sat with as the gravity of the situation is brought into focus. This is a revolution, it will be and has already been bloody, people will and are dying, Louis must be stopped.

2.Tirer! Si C’est la Seule Respons que ton Roi a!

The nature of violence in both productions is vastly different as well. The revolution Hamilton shows is rarely violent, and when it is, the focus is on military tactics and battles. The Song “Right Hand Man” begins with a corus stating that the British have 32,000 troops about to assault New York and much of the song is about the fall of New York to the British. Washington relays the problems of the men under his command while recounting the areas of the city the Americans are forced to leave behind. There is dancing that somewhat abstractedly minors warfare while the music imitates cannon fire. This is one of two moments of revolutionary violence in Hamilton. It is abstract and more about the major players of Hamilton and Washington rather than the violence as a necessary part of keeping the Americans in line . Moments of violence such as the Boston Massacre are given one line in the song “Farmer Refuted”. But we do not see or hear a follow up on King George III’s threats to “KIll your friends and family” (Miranda, 2020). 

Instead, the violence is seen as a way to social climb. During the song where Aaron Burr and Hamilton meet, Hamilton sings “God, I wish there was a war. Then we could prove we’re worth more than anyone bargained for” (Miranda, 2020). Similar is said in the beginning of “RIght Hand Man” when Hamilton says “As a kid in the Caribbean I wished for a war. I knew that I was poor. I knew it was the only way to rise up” (Miranda, 2020). The violence in Hamilton is not an unfortunate necessity of freeing oneself or detestable and to be avoided, it is an opportunity. One can use the revolution to gain social standing in the world. Fighting is not about who is right or who is left, but getting a leg up in society. Very few people die in the conflict in Hamilton, but one does. John Laurens is portrayed as an abolitionist and friend of Hamilton who dies in the revolution. The focus of the violence being on social advancement rather than the horrors of war or their necessity cheapens his death. He died for freedom for himself and in an attempt for freedom for slaves and yet the major player in the musical does it to move up in the world.

The violence of revolution is much more front and centre in 1789. The musical’s first scene after an opening crawl is the state charging a group of peasants with fraud and not paying taxes. They are sentenced to the gallows and a riot breaks out, Ronan and Solène’s father is one of the sentenced and he is killed in the riot. The stage is set immediately that people are dying and France needs change. The riot starts with Ronan leading a song about how the people are stripped to the bone with nothing to survive on. Before leading to physical violence and Ronan and Solène’s father being shot. The musical also takes a much wider view of violence. After Ronan and Solène decide to go to Paris, the song “Je Mise Tout” plays. This song is all about how Marie Antionette gambles away all her money. She is surrounded by dancing courtiers and the juxtaposition is clear. The people are starving because of actions like this. The song’s pop nature serves to enhance the feeling of disgust with the situation, while providing a good song for the musical. 

The threat of sexual violence is also not shied away from. Ramard is an agent in the employ of the Count D’Artois, who is possessive over Ronan’s love interest and the female lead, Olympe. After the intermission, Olympe dreams of Ramard in the song “Je Suis un Dieu”. She runs away from him as he sings of his sexual exploits and at one point in the song Ramard sexually assaults Olympe. Despite the fact Ramard as a character is mostly played for laughs he is still treated as capable of great evil on a personal level. Ramard is not just evil in Olympe’s dreams. His style of comedy is anger at his followers, treating them as less than human. He also corners Olympe and says ‘The kiss I’ve always dreamed of. Your mouth shall serve it to me.” (Attia, 2013). While holding her against her will with a knife to her face. The threat of sexual violence is clear and present and treated with the gravity it needs, even from a comedic character. Olympe is only saved because the Count D’Artois walks in on Ramard and kills him.

The street violence of revolution is also given appropriate weight. After the king gives the order to clamp down and “restore order” the song “Nous ne Somme” plays. It features words such as “Insurgent, obey me” as soldiers dance around with props made to look like guns to militaristic beats. The crack down is here. Yet the people are fighting back. A chorus sings back “We are no longer any man’s subject” while actors dance around the soldiers (Attia, 2013). The song ends with pyrotechnics from the props going off and the street fighters being killed by the soldiers. In direct engagements with the military, 1789 does not flinch when depicting massacres. Many people die in this scene and in a later one, the storming of the Bastille, in which our protagonist Ronan is gunned down much like any other street fighter. The violence is depicted as tragic and somewhat random, with some people dying and others not. Providing greater impact to the moment of Ronan’s death as a shock. While he is our protagonist, he is also just one of many people fighting for freedom.

3. The Room Where it Happens

The two musicals have very different views on the role of common lower class people and revolution. Hamilton is a musical about giants of the revolution.While the only real nobility present are King George III and the Marquis de Lafaytte, the main characters are all rich and powerful, or will become so during the events of the musical. The titular character, Alexander Hamilton, despite being from a family of no renown and an orphan, is able to move through the high life of the revolution and end up as secretary of the treasury and play president maker in a later election. His origins are spelled out in the introductory number titled fittingly, “Alexander Hamilton”. He is a man that comes from nothing, with only a work ethic and brilliant intellect to his name, hee is “Just another Immigrant coming up from the bottom” (Miranda, 2020). But on the bottom he does not stay. He will quickly see a meteoric rise. In the song “Right Hand Man” We hear Hamilton hatch a plot to steal british cannons and that plus his genius gets him on the notice of many important people, including Nathaniel Green, Henry Knox and most importantly General George Washington, who will hire Hamilton as his aide-de-camp, in the songs parlance, it takes Hamilton to truly allow Washington to “rise up”. Over the next three songs, “A Winters Ball”, “Helpless”, and “Satisfied” we will see Hamilton woo two daughters of Philip Schuyler, and wed one, Elizabeth. This increases Hamilton’s social status greatly as in addition to a famous boss, he now has a famous father-in-law as well, who is also rich. The other main characters are also similarly statued. There is the already mentioned Washington, who needs no introduction, but also Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Aaron Burr, all three are considered founding fathers and powerful statesmen. Even Hercules Mulligan, introduced as a “tailor’s apprentice” was monied enough to own at least one slave.(BBC, 2021). 

The characters in 1789 are similar and different. While titans of the french revolution are named dropped and character in the musical, such as Maximillian Robespierre and George Danton, we see most of the fighting and driving moments of the revolution are done by nameless common people, and two of the main characters, Ronan and Solene. We also see Ronan call out the delegates of the third estate at the estate-general for being wealthy and corrupt. After Robespierre gives a speech in Marat’s print shop where Ronan works, Ronan begins saying words are not enough and action is needed, as people are starving and being killed. Ronan is about to come to physical blows by Camille Desmounlins over this conflict. It is only Danton stopping the fight and urging the two to come to terms, it takes Marat ordering Ronan to make up for him to do it. After that we see a duality of tactics win the day in 1789. We see the deputies of the third estate proclaim themselves the national assembly and make the tennis court oath during the song “A Quoi tu Danses?”. This incenses the King enough to proclaim the assembly null and void. However, the real catalyst for the rest of the events of the musical is the physical hunger of the common people. The next big revolutionary act we see is the starving women of Paris breaking into bakeries and killing the bakers for hiding flour to sell later, which the bakers deny., stating it is requisition for the soldiers. They are lead in the song which plays as this happens “Je veux le monde” by Solene, who is the main vocalist and is pushing the people further in their action. She sings words such as “Let’s dream the world” and “Let lead the revolt”, sending the people, mainly women, into a greater frenzy (Attia, 2013). She then urges them to walk to Versaille and demand better. This is a self described illiterate daughter of a peasant prostitute leading one of the biggest moments in the french revolution. Even with the historic inaccuracy as Solene is fictional, the musical is showing every day regular people do the hard work of revolution. We then see the regular, nameless people die as covered in section 2, including Ronan, who is the person who suggests storming the Bastille in the musical’s version of events. 

4.Thomas Jefferson’s coming home

We see characters such as George Washington through the eyes of Hamilton, this gives a skewed look at the man. We see him as the “Pride of Mount Vernon” and “The venerated Virginian veteran” (Miranda, 2020). We do not see him as a man who’s wealth and status came from owning other people. This complexity is not even broached in the musical, with slavery rarely mentioned only once when not as a way to make a historically white person look better. His previous military service in the North American theatre of the Seven Years’ War is only mentioned as him being a veteran. This leaves out the detail that Washington and his men started the entire global conflict (Smith, n.d.).His military service is only ever seen as a good thing for America and its people, not as the cause for a destructive conflict that would lead to the causes of the American revolution (Office of the historian, n.d.). The musical is interested in Washington only as the major founding father, the war hero who created America. He is called “The father” in one song (Miranda, 2020). As such, it cannot bring in the complications of Washington’s life. He is a symbol to the musical, not a person with flaws.

Another character we see through Hamilton’s eyes is Thomas Jefferson. This leads us to see him as a political enemy to Hamilton but nonetheless, someone who simply has differing views on what America should be. Jefferson is first heard from long before he is seen. We first hear a critique of the declaration of independence from Angelica Schuyler sing “And when I meet Thomas Jefferson, I’mma compel him to include women in the sequel” (Miranda, 2020). This critique of his views on women, which is not biting in the slightest, is the biggest critique of the man we get. Once again nothing is stated about his owning of slaves, which i even more glaring due to the fact that as previously mentioned, Thomas Jefferson raped on of his slaves. 

Instead we see him as a figure to respect, even if Hamilton disagreed with his politics. After the revolution phase of the musical, it becomes occupied with the governance of the American’s new state, with Hamilton in the cabinet of Washington’s administration, often battling with southerners such as Jefferson, a fellow cabinet member, and Madison, a senator with substantial sway. This tension builds over several songs in the musical until it explodes, with Jefferson and Madison telling Hamilton they have noticed some financial impropriety in his books. This leads to Hamilton publishing the Reynolds Pamphlet, clearing his name of wrongdoing in finances but also admitting to an affair, ruining his political career. This paves the way for Jefferson to run for president and tie for the win in 1800, with Aaron Burr. In the musical, the reading of Burr is a flip-flop who stands nothing throughout the whole musical. The musical puts in on Hamilton to break the deadlock. Hamilton makes his choice for Jefferson, he sings “I have never agreed with Jefferson once. We have fought on like 75 different fronts. But when all is said and all is done. Jefferson has beliefs, Burr has none” (Miranda, 2020). To the musical, sticking to your beliefs makes one better, despite those beliefs being abhorrent. Jefferson was a slaver, even if it was simply for political reasons, Burr had introduced an amendment to end slavery immediately in the New York State Assembly. (American Experience, n.d.). The musical uses speaking out against slavery when attempting to make characters look good such as Elizabeth Schuyler, who sings, “I speak out against slavery” in a song about how she lives with the memory of Hamilton after his death (Miranda, 2020). The musical is based on history and cannot simply switch an important part of Hamilton’s life such as the election of 1800, however the musical is not interested in interrogating that choice of his. It is simply a fact and due to the musical’s refusal to engage with the complexity of these historical people, it must be good, as the musical views Hamilton as good.

1789 is largely disinterested in its historical characters. They dance and sing and play the role they are famous for in history in 1789, yet the core of the musical is Ronan, his noble love interest Olympe, and Solene. The musical is titled Les Amants de la Bastille, literally translated as The Lovers of the Bastille. The core of the play is a kind of star-crossed lovers within the revolutionary year of 1789. Ronan, a peasant, works for and with the bleeding edge of the radicals, Marat, Robespierre, and Danton. Olympe is a noblewoman and works directly for the queen. Ronan is sent to the Bastille because of Olympe and is nearly killed until she saves him and they fall in love. They must sneak meetings whenever Olympe gets a chance to go to Paris. They also have a brief falling out as Olympe realizes Ronan views his love for her and hers for him as a way to get revenge on the nobility for killing his father. She calls him too radical and breaks off their relationship. She still holds feelings for him however and when the queen relieves her of her duty because the queen cares for Olympe, she runs to Paris in time to see him die. It is through Solene we see how the common women of Paris are fairing, and it is not well. They are starving, selling themselves into prostitution in order to be able to afford necessities.

The historical characters exist in service to these three as they serve as foils to them. Olympe is very different from the rest of the nobility. They are averious, sleep around, and are seen as dismissive of the common people. Olympe starts out dismissive, she gets Ronan thrown in the Bastille, yet when she hears he will be murdered, she immediately runs to save his life. Solene is different from the other named women of the play, while Marie Antionette will have various lovers because she can, Solene will do sso to be able to eat. Ronan iss seen as a radical even among the radicals of the revolution. He feels the time for talk is over and action must be taken now. The historical characters also exist to move the plot forward so we can get to the next stage for the three main characters. The people must learn of the events of the estate-general through a deputy, usually Robespierre, The king must clamp down, the tennis court oath must happen. This is often done in song such as “Hey Ha” which is about the day of dreaming for revolution stating “The day of glory has to be dreamed” that is to say, people like Robespierre, Danton, and Marat must help the people hone their revolutionary spirit into something greater than just destruction (Attia, 2013). This speaks to a kind of paternalism the revolutionary deputies and lawyers have. The truly controversial moments the historical characters take part in, such as the committee of public safety are also well beyond the scope of the musical. The Musical ends with the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. Which is well before the revolution begins its clamp down on those it deems counter-revolutionary. As such, characters such as Danton and Robespierre who were pivotal to that clamp down are able to be seen in a better light because the dark turn hasn’t happened yet.

5. Je Veux Vivre à l'Horizon qui s'Éclaircit

The reason for the vast difference in how the two musicals can be seen by looking at the titles of the musicals closely. It is Hamilton: An American Musical, the musical is primarily interested in viewing Hamilton as a rags to riches story, a version of the American dream. The musical starts with the lyrics, “How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore… grow up to be a hero and a scholar”. It is about putting this historical story into one that modern america with recognize and be happy to hear as it is a variation on a story american has been telling itself forever. Hamilton is “Just like my country, I’m young, scrappy and hungry” (Miranda, 2020). The musical is using Hamilton's story to launder good feelings about America, as such, it cannot be sidelined by the real complexity of the situation surrounding the revolution and its participants. That would complicate the feel good story of America the musical is attempting to present. This includes the cast, which is mainly made of extremely talented non-white people. I have no real problem with this, the performances are by far the highlight of the musical. It does slightly distort the history however. Throughout writing this project there have been times where I assumed the slightly lesser players such as John Laurens were racialized due to their casting, they were always white. I do not actually hold this against the musical, the cast was brilliant, save Miranda himself. I feel as though the musical wants you to come out of it with a desire to do a bit of research on these people and learn the rest of their stories. I mention this due to the fact that once one does that light bit of research, the story of the musical becomes less impactful. The very same reluctance to complicate becomes a negative because the audience will be wondering why so much of the complexity is missing. 

Despite including no fictional characters Hamilton feels more fictional than 1789: Les Amants de la Bastille. 1789 is interested in the year of 1789 using the fictional lovers of the Bastille to show how the year played out. It's why they meet and know so many famous revolutionaries and royalty. They serve as a frame to move the plot of the year forward, which is both important to the story and important for moving the fictional characters around to do things. That half of the fictional characters are peasants also allows the musical to focus on the extreme lower class point of view easily. The narrow time frame of 1789 allows the musical to tell the story of the year more completely, hitting all the important notes such as the tennis court oath, the creation of the national assembly, the womens’ march, and the storming of the Bastille, while also having plenty of time for its fictional love story/ tragedy. The tragic nature of the end of the musical is also important. By killing our protagonist Ronan, we feel much more sympathetic to the nameless people gunned down by the state, because we can imagine they had stories just like Ronan. 

All together, the differing on how royalty and those in power are depicted allows 1789 to better show why the people of France needed to rebel compared to Hamilton and the Americans. We see the French state waste money and push for more taxes and what those taxes mean whereas we are only told in Hamilton. The violence depicted also shows the difference in that need to rebel. We see regular people die in 1789 for the cause of freedom. In Hamilton, the war is much more about territory and how great the cast of characters are. This dovetails into how 1789 is much more interested in the blight of the common people, who make up most of the population. Telling their story through two fictional characters. Hamilton is primarily concerned with the rich and powerful of the revolution, telling the story of the rise of Alexander Hamilton. Lastly, by focusing on the single year of 1789 and having the truly important characters be fiction, 1789 is able to more deftly sidestep the issue of favouring and enjoying the songs sung by people such as Robespierre and Danton. Whereas the historical lens Hamilton uses, the American Revolution was good as were the people who did it, leading to paving over important complexity in the lives of people such as Jefferson and Washington.

Notes

First off, thank you for getting all the way here. Despite bitching on bluesky about how long this project is, it was actually a lot of fun to write and think about why despite really liking Hamilton when I first watched it, it lost its luster with every musical I have watched since. 1789 is far from the best musical I have watched despite me liking it but the closeness in time and subject matter to Hamilton made it an easy choice to use as a lens to view Hamilton. If you’ve watched 1789 and want something else like it I highly recommend the creators’ previous work, Mozart L’Opera Rock. It is an exceptionally interesting musical with probably my favourite musical soundtrack on the whole. Next, a note on translations and transcriptions. I do not speak french and as such had to rely on a translated musical for 1789. The version I watched will be linked in the bibliography to come and for the French section titles, I unfortunately had to translate the English subtitles back into French. I did notice some lyrics that were incorrect however I believe I chose action titles where that wasn’t the case. The translation was a fan translation by the youtube uploader I believe and I cannot speak to the quality but i believe in them. Hamilton was watched via the Disney+ app and most quotes came from the subtitles on that version though some were transcribed by me from the soundtrack on Apple Music, please assume any error in regards to that is made by me. 

Bibliography

American Experience.(n.d.). Events Leading up to the Duel. Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved February 16, 2025, from, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/duel-events-leading-duel/ 

British Broadcasting Corporation, (2021, February 19). Coleraine: Hercules Mulligan to be honoured in NI hometown. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-foyle-west-56116480

Miranda, L. M. (Writer). (2020). Hamilton: An American Musical [FIlmed Stage Musical]. Disney.

Attia, D. (Writer). (2013). 1789: Les Amants de la Bastille [Filmed Stage Musical]. NRJ Productions.

Monticello. (n.d.). The Life of Sally Hemings. Retrieved February 8, 2025, from https://www.monticello.org/sallyhemings/

Office of the Historian. (n.d.). French and Indian War/Seven Years’ War, 1754–63. State Department. Retrieved February 16, 2025, from https://history.state.gov/milestones/1750-1775/french-indian-war

Smith, Y. L. (n.d.). Seven Years’ War. Mount Vernon. Retrieved February 16, 2025, from https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/seven-years-war