In honor of the many affectionate HAMILTON tweets I've offered this week, here's one of my critiques: its conception and romanticizing of forgiveness is very bothersome to me!

Forgiveness is most meaningful if given freely. Not acknowledging the limited options a married woman in the public eye would have had *other* than forgiveness is certainly not the show's most significant elision of historical realities, but it is one.

It has always seemed to b
me that the perception that husbands should be expected to commit to monogamous marriages and then break that commitment simply because men are dogs etc. fails to reckon with the economic realities that have prevailed for a long time in many places.

When you have few rights upon dissolution of a marriage and you can't do very many jobs, then if you decide not to be forgiving, what's the move?

Every time I see the obviously very moving "It's Quiet Uptown" and Angelica sings "Forgiveness ... can you imagine," there is a tiny party of me that mutters, "Well, under these circumstances, sure." /fin