In “Burn,” Eliza delivers her heartbroken response to the “Reynolds Pamphlet,” Hamilton’s public account of his affair. Eliza takes center stage with no ensemble backing and only minimal instrumental accompaniment, highlighting her sense of detachment from the once-comforting union of marriage. Over the course of the song, we witness the composed and elegant Eliza transition through stages of anguish and fury at her husband’s betrayal. No longer the young girl “helpless” to Hamilton’s charms, Eliza now finds a way to reassert her agency. As noted by The New Yorker, “Eliza [takes] revenge on Hamilton by destroying their correspondence—which Miranda cleverly casts as a self-aware historical act.” In burning their letters, Eliza undermines the very cause that motivated Hamilton to publish the Pamphlet in the first place. She destroys what Hamilton values most—his words and legacy.

Meanwhile, “Burn” also serves as a commentary on the lack of historical material available from Eliza Hamilton and other female historical figures. Surely Miranda is poking fun at his own lack of primary sources when it came to dramatizing this moment in the Hamiltons’ marriage. But in embracing the enigma, the song points to the larger problem of women’s history: the public records are thinner, the milieu is mostly domestic, and there’s more need for speculation. What did the real Eliza think about the affair? Why would she destroy her letters?

According to Chernow, Eliza destroyed her letters not after the affair, but later in life, during her widowhood, due to her “self-effacing” personality. She never intended for this move to harm her husband’s legacy, which she had long labored to preserve.

The piano melody from the beginning of “Wait for It” returns here, this time with a harp, drawing a parallel between the two songs. Both Burr and Eliza are reacting to Hamilton’s relentless, reckless behavior, which contributes to both the rise and fall of his political career. Both of them are trying to find a way to reclaim their agency against this overpowering force in their lives:

BURR: “I am the one thing in life I can control”

ELIZA: “I’m erasing myself from the narrative”