How did the Capitalist Views Presented in Anaïs Mitchell’s Hadestown Reflect the Political Climate of Modern-Day America?

Mitchell, Anaïs. “Making the Music: Anaïs Mitchell Breaks Down “Why We Build the Wall” From Hadestown.” Interview by TheaterMania. YouTube, TheaterMania, 7 June 2019.

• In this interview, playwright Anaïs Mitchell breaks down the creation of Hadestown’s Act I finale song, “Why We Build the Wall.” Mitchell discusses the beginning of the creative process, how she found inspiration, and eventually how the song came to be what we know it today. Mitchell also discusses the political significance of the song, and although that was not used as inspiration, it can be related to the lyrics.

• I thought this interview with Mitchell was well constructed and served the purpose of my research well. It was interesting to hear from the creator of the work what influenced her to write this song, which inspired me to write this paper in the first place. There is some bias in her tone, as she is proud of the work she has created. However, this bias did not affect the delivery or significance of what she was saying. Mitchell is one of the most reliable people to discuss the subject of Hadestown, as she was the one to create this world that we can analyze today, so she was credible to speak on the subject and her information was trustworthy. 

• This source helped create my piece, as I was able to get a first-hand look at the creation of this song, which I am using as evidence for most of my paper. Hearing Mitchell’s perspective of how the song should be interpreted was helpful in my writing, as it helped me to shape my argument to reflect the views that Mitchell wanted to be presented. This interview has only confirmed how I feel about my topic, and it has inspired me to continue writing about this and include this information in my research paper. 

Read, Bridget. “The Liberating, Radical Politics of Hadestown.” Vogue, Vogue, 6 June 2019.

• In this article, Bridget Read discusses the politics in Hadestown, and how they are reflected in the current political climate of America. She goes into detail on how certain lyrics in some of the songs can be related to certain political situations, and how the musical as a whole can be seen as a foreshadowing of America’s future. Additionally, she brought up the interesting analysis that Anaïs Mitchell used a Greek tale to tell the story of American politics, and the significance of not using an American tale, unlike how Lin-Manuel Miranda did with Hamilton.

• It was interesting to read an average American citizen’s point of view on this subject, and it was comforting to see my opinions reflected in her writing. I thought Read wrote with little bias, and her information was useful in constructing my argument. Read seemed to be well versed on the subject, and her information mainly came from specific lyrics in the songs, which are reliable. 

• This source was helpful to me, as many of the arguments that Read brought up are ones that I would like to include in my paper as well. Additionally, Read brought up a very interesting comparison, comparing Hadestown to Hamilton, and explaining the significance of using a foreign tale to tell the story of American politics in Hadestown, unlike Hamilton, which used an American tale to tell the story of American politics. I had never thought of this before, so it was interesting to think about and will influence the way I write my paper. 

Thomas, Isabel. “‘How the World Could Be in Spite of the Way That It Is’: Broadway as a Reflection of Contemporary American Sociopolitical Life.” Bowdoin Digital Commons, 2020, pp. 57-71.

• In this chapter of Thomas’ essay, she discusses how Broadway reflects modern-day America with its sociopolitical views and ideas. Previous to this chapter, Thomas laid down the basics of how the current sociopolitical climate of America can be seen and represented through musicals, and in this chapter she specifically discusses Hadestown. The capitalist world of Hadestown is most prevalent in the musical, and Thomas highlights this. 

• Thomas’ work was an  excellent source for my research: she was able to provide many relevant quotes and details on my topic, and she used many scholarly references when creating her piece. Thomas’ piece did not come off as biased, as she wrote with a factual and authoritative tone that made me feel confident in her information, without feeling like she was persuading me to believe one thing over another. I believe Thomas’ goal was to make the reader aware of the sociopolitical views and ideas that can be seen in musicals like Hadestown and to get them to think about what they say about our society today. 

• This source was very helpful in crafting my research essay and argument. I can use this source as a way to include quotes into my paper, as Thomas provided many scholarly quotes that I will be able to cite to further my argument. Additionally, Thomas wrote about the irony of condemning capitalism in an industry that seems to support it, which was something I had not put much thought into, but I will when further constructing my paper.

Wilson, Nia. “Hadestown: Nontraditional Casting, Race, and Capitalism.” TDR : Drama Review, vol. 65, no. 1, Cambridge University Press, 2021, pp. 188–92.

• In this journal, Wilson argues the significance of the nontraditional casting in Hadestown, and how it helped to emphasize the musical’s overarching view of capitalism. Wilson also discussed how the capitalism themes seen throughout the musical were not specifically written to reflect the political climate of America when Hadestown opened on Broadway, however, they can be compared and interpreted to the modern-day capitalism themes seen in America. Wilson argued in favor of the nontraditional and racially diverse casting in Hadestown and supported how casting certain races in certain roles helped to emphasize the white supremacist and capitalist ways of Hades. 

• Wilson’s journal was a very useful source in constructing my argument. It was not written in a biased style, and Wilson’s tone was factual and concise. Being a scholarly source, it was important for it to have specific details on my topic, which Wilson provided. There were many other scholarly sources referenced in the piece, as well as some of the music directly from the show, so the sources that constructed this paper were reliable. 

• This source was essential in constructing my argument. Not only did it provide specific information on the capitalist views I wish to discuss, but it also brought up a new way for me to think about them. Since the journal also discussed the nontraditional casting in Hadestown, I was able to learn about that, and I discovered that I can use this racially-specific casting as more support for my argument. 

Annotated Bibliography Essay

Writing this annotated bibliography has prepared me quite well for the upcoming research paper. By completing this assignment, I was able to dive deeper into my sources and gain more foundational knowledge on them. Without the annotated bibliography, I would have simply read my sources, taken a couple of notes, and moved on. However, due to this assignment, I was able to pay closer attention to detail than I would have otherwise, as I had to analyze the writing, the author’s credibility, their sources, and much more. One thing that I learned about writing with sources from working on this assignment, is that it is important to reflect upon the source once you have completed reading it, before you add it to your paper. Many sources did not make the cut, even though before reading them I had my heart set on including them. Some of them did not live up to the potential I wanted them to have, and when reflecting on the source I realized they were not the best fit for my paper. Reflection was key to including the most important and detailed sources in my work. Rhetorical knowledge was key in constructing this assignment, as it helped me to keep my understanding of purpose and context at the forefront of my writing. My purpose for writing the research paper, and my context for doing so was always first on my mind, and I believed that helped me to pick the most reliable and detailed sources possible. One thing I learned about writing with sources from constructing this project is that less can sometimes be more. Many sources were tens of pages long, or multiple chapters from a novel. However, some of the best sources I was able to find were only a couple of pages long. Although they were much shorter, they contained some of the best and most useful information out of all my sources. While using many novels and chapters may look better on paper, sometimes the shorter, academic journals were filled with the information that I needed to construct this project. 

Understanding the audience of my work was essential in writing this piece. I know that my audience could be avid musical theatre fans, those who are aware of Hadestown and the message it passes on. However, I also understand that my audience could be students in a class much like I am in now, where some of them are not so well versed in musical theatre. Therefore, I understood that when writing my research paper, I must spend some time laying down the ground details of Hadestown, to ensure that the reader and I have the same background knowledge when I dive deeper into the capitalism and politics represented. Additionally, I could see some of my sources having an awareness of the audience as well, and although I am well-aware and very knowledgeable on Hadestown, it was nice to read a recap of the topic before diving into the details and analysis of the source, so that all the background information was fresh in my mind. Awareness of genre was also essential in selecting my sources, as the end goal of the research paper was always at the front of my mind. This helped me to select scholarly sources that I could rely on to provide me with the information I needed. Additionally, some of these sources seemed to be research papers themselves, which were interesting for me to read, and inspired me for my end goal. Being aware of the research genre helped remind me that I am not arguing a certain point or stance, I am simply providing the reader with the facts and figures, and letting them come to their own conclusion about the subject. This helped me when annotating my sources, and I was drawn to agree or disagree with them when I simply had to analyze them and decide if their information was useful to me in my writing. Having this knowledge of needing to be aware of your audience, genre, and context will not only be beneficial in this assignment and the research paper, but in all academic assignments that I complete. My awareness of the audience helped to aid me in making sure I lay down some background details on my subject before I dive in, and having an awareness of genre reminded me that the annotated bibliography was simply to analyze my sources, and not to begin the research paper. In the research paper itself, constructing this annotated bibliography helped remind me to not argue a point or stance, but simply lay down the information, and let the audience decide which side they will take.