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(musical) Alexander Hamilton: ENFP
I've seen around a lot that Hamilton is an ENTJ (I also saw one type that had him as an INTJ) and that may be true for his real life historical counterpart. But in the musical, I'm more on board with the idea that he's an ENFP. Primarily he's definitely Ne leading and I can probably be persuaded for ENTP ESTJ (edit: I definitely think he operates with the Ne/Si/Fi/Te stack) Hamilton, but my interpretation of his character prefers him as an ENFP.
→ Dominant Function: Ne (Extraverted Intuition)
Hamilton does not settle for any of the secretary jobs - he rejects them, even though they are important roles in the war. This is fueled by his ambition, but we can say initially that the "smart" thing for him to do is still get a job that he doesn't necessarily want because at least it's in the war that he wants to be a part of, right? But Hamilton has this idea, and is constantly looking, constantly saying no to jobs that ultimately could've been perfectly successful in the short run (and possibly the long run) because it's not what he wants, even if what he wants is outlandish and reachable. Hamilton does not care for the practical present.
And when the war is over and they're establishing the government:
-- one could possibly argue that the source of this idea is his view of the "near" future. But providing the context of the musical and the way Burr says this, this is obviously something that someone doesn't just do, especially the youngest member of the Constitutional Convention, when the entire country is trying to fix itself from the war.
Perhaps it's rather Te of him to express it so boldly, but we have to remember that he was a general in the war and is perfectly capable of doing things by himself. But I'll get to his tertiary Te function later - constantly, every moment of his life, Hamilton is living in the world of possibilities. When Burr says, "Can I give you some advice?" after Hamilton admittedly chatters too much, Hamilton is still all too eager to what Burr has to say. His ambition is motivated by his tert Te/inferior Si, imo, but unconsciously and prominently and on the surface his cognitive functions seem to gear more towards the big pictures and just EVERYTHING!!!!
I mean, it would explain why he could give a 6 hour speech, and write 51 essays of the Federalist papers.
→ Auxiliary Function: Fi (Introverted Feeling)
I can understand why a lot of people make Hamilton a Thinker, but we have to remember that he came from a background that forced him to be such a diligent and effective Thinker, especially driven by his ambition. But I don't think MBTI is an explanation for how ambitious anyone is; and moreover, I think that Hamilton still runs on his personal authenticity, values, and individuality first.
This might get me some looks, but give me a chance, okay. I think this becomes especially obvious during "Your Obedient Servant":
-- that rather in explaining that he thought that what he said was what he felt like what needed to be said (which would be Te in a higher position), he explained it more from the point that it has always been him, and he is not apologetic about it.
Auxiliary Fi makes him conscious of his ambitions; his environment allows him to go for them (same goes for his tertiary Te.) For all the ideas that he takes in his dominant Ne function, his aux Fi uses them because he intrinsically feels like these ideas are what's best relative to his own values. The big difference between tert/inferior Fi and Fi in the auxiliary position is that there tends to be a mild conflict of interest or a roundabout way to make sure that plans, which come first, fit with the user's morals and feelings.
But Hamilton does not do that. He makes sure that his plans and his actions interact with his morals and feelings first, before going on to decide the practicality of executing them. Sometimes this leads to bad decisions, like the segue from Hurricane to The Reynolds Pamphlet; or even Say No To This, when he so willingly helped Maria it just led him to helping her by sleeping with her, too. But the consideration of his personal self we can see is larger than his efficiency in executing, though he is so efficient that it may go unnoticed.
→ Tertiary Function: Te (Extraverted Thinking)
And here we come to a rather obvious function that he has - Hamilton is so largely efficient that it's no wonder that people often say that he leads with Te. Hamilton is ambitious and he does know how to (and subsequently does) get shit done - this is not up for debate.
However, I remain with the idea that he largely functions leading with Ne/Fi. This efficiency comes innate, and appropriately enough it does actually yield a lot of great and incredible results - but also not so great ones. See: The Reynolds Pamphlet.
I think Hamilton's younger years (which we'll be getting to soon enough) allowed him to hone and mature this ability a lot earlier on than it would for any ENFP. The Te in the tertiary position allows people to put their ideals into motion - that they live in the world of their ideals, first, but also can become subconsciously motivated to put them into action, rather than sitting back on them and knowing how they can be enforced but being reluctant to (inferior Te.) Hamilton is so good at what he does, and he knows it - but he dominantly lives more in the idea of his plans, than the execution of them, despite how good he is.
→ Inferior Function: Si (Introverted Sensing)
I feel like this should be a given, considering "Hurricane."
And then he writes the Reynolds Pamphlet - he uses his experiences from all the good that has come from his writing to make probably the worst decision of his life. And his past is not just something that drives him - it's something that lives with him, that he's insecure about, that he repeats because he's so conscious of it. Not just of its impression it has on other people - his self-consciousness comes with the fact that it was a part of his past and he's come so far from it but he still dwells, still clings to his traumatic past.
He uses his inferior Si both in this and also with getting with Eliza ("I never had a family when I was a child / my father left, my mother died, I grew up buck-wild") - both terrible and great decisions. But it's never something that he uses to guide himself or to be conscientious of details or to do things that he used to like doing. His experiences and memory arise mostly when he is self-conscious or stressed ("you've never seen a bastard orphan more in need of a break") - and even with Eliza, we the audience know that though he loves Eliza, a large part of his pursuing her actually came from his desire to be famous and rich. The visibility in his Si in this scene may have been self-consciousness or guilt, but I'm certain it's his most hindering drive.
→ Overall
Additionally, I think the writing of Hamilton in the musical also fits largely with the portrait of an ENFP, despite how goal-oriented he is (which is admittedly NTJ.) He has goals, but his overall eagerness and I suppose the impression that he makes outside of his successes are exuberant, enthusiastic, and sociable - "Farmer Refuted" can see to be both to pick apart an illogical argument and to entertain his friends - and also ties in with his personal values, but the Ne allows him to be so fun and expressive about them, too.
Hamilton in the musical is an eager and idealistic person, and this is what drives him. To me, he doesn't seem to be driven just by the practicality and the actuality of his plans happening - he goes for them because of the ambition and the need to take action that he got from when he was younger (which had developed his tertiary Te.) But first and foremost, he is always seeking and creating, living outside and drawing them inside - staple concepts of the ENFP.
→ Dominant Function: Ne (Extraverted Intuition)
Hamilton does not settle for any of the secretary jobs - he rejects them, even though they are important roles in the war. This is fueled by his ambition, but we can say initially that the "smart" thing for him to do is still get a job that he doesn't necessarily want because at least it's in the war that he wants to be a part of, right? But Hamilton has this idea, and is constantly looking, constantly saying no to jobs that ultimately could've been perfectly successful in the short run (and possibly the long run) because it's not what he wants, even if what he wants is outlandish and reachable. Hamilton does not care for the practical present.
And when the war is over and they're establishing the government:
He goes and proposes his own form of government
His own form of plan for a new form of government
-- one could possibly argue that the source of this idea is his view of the "near" future. But providing the context of the musical and the way Burr says this, this is obviously something that someone doesn't just do, especially the youngest member of the Constitutional Convention, when the entire country is trying to fix itself from the war.
Perhaps it's rather Te of him to express it so boldly, but we have to remember that he was a general in the war and is perfectly capable of doing things by himself. But I'll get to his tertiary Te function later - constantly, every moment of his life, Hamilton is living in the world of possibilities. When Burr says, "Can I give you some advice?" after Hamilton admittedly chatters too much, Hamilton is still all too eager to what Burr has to say. His ambition is motivated by his tert Te/inferior Si, imo, but unconsciously and prominently and on the surface his cognitive functions seem to gear more towards the big pictures and just EVERYTHING!!!!
I mean, it would explain why he could give a 6 hour speech, and write 51 essays of the Federalist papers.
→ Auxiliary Function: Fi (Introverted Feeling)
I can understand why a lot of people make Hamilton a Thinker, but we have to remember that he came from a background that forced him to be such a diligent and effective Thinker, especially driven by his ambition. But I don't think MBTI is an explanation for how ambitious anyone is; and moreover, I think that Hamilton still runs on his personal authenticity, values, and individuality first.
This might get me some looks, but give me a chance, okay. I think this becomes especially obvious during "Your Obedient Servant":
I will not equivocate on my opinion
I have always worn it on my sleeve
-- that rather in explaining that he thought that what he said was what he felt like what needed to be said (which would be Te in a higher position), he explained it more from the point that it has always been him, and he is not apologetic about it.
Auxiliary Fi makes him conscious of his ambitions; his environment allows him to go for them (same goes for his tertiary Te.) For all the ideas that he takes in his dominant Ne function, his aux Fi uses them because he intrinsically feels like these ideas are what's best relative to his own values. The big difference between tert/inferior Fi and Fi in the auxiliary position is that there tends to be a mild conflict of interest or a roundabout way to make sure that plans, which come first, fit with the user's morals and feelings.
But Hamilton does not do that. He makes sure that his plans and his actions interact with his morals and feelings first, before going on to decide the practicality of executing them. Sometimes this leads to bad decisions, like the segue from Hurricane to The Reynolds Pamphlet; or even Say No To This, when he so willingly helped Maria it just led him to helping her by sleeping with her, too. But the consideration of his personal self we can see is larger than his efficiency in executing, though he is so efficient that it may go unnoticed.
→ Tertiary Function: Te (Extraverted Thinking)
And here we come to a rather obvious function that he has - Hamilton is so largely efficient that it's no wonder that people often say that he leads with Te. Hamilton is ambitious and he does know how to (and subsequently does) get shit done - this is not up for debate.
However, I remain with the idea that he largely functions leading with Ne/Fi. This efficiency comes innate, and appropriately enough it does actually yield a lot of great and incredible results - but also not so great ones. See: The Reynolds Pamphlet.
I think Hamilton's younger years (which we'll be getting to soon enough) allowed him to hone and mature this ability a lot earlier on than it would for any ENFP. The Te in the tertiary position allows people to put their ideals into motion - that they live in the world of their ideals, first, but also can become subconsciously motivated to put them into action, rather than sitting back on them and knowing how they can be enforced but being reluctant to (inferior Te.) Hamilton is so good at what he does, and he knows it - but he dominantly lives more in the idea of his plans, than the execution of them, despite how good he is.
→ Inferior Function: Si (Introverted Sensing)
I feel like this should be a given, considering "Hurricane."
When I was seventeen a hurricane
Destroyed my town
I didn’t drown
I couldn’t seem to die
I wrote my way out
Wrote everything down far as I could see
I wrote my way out
I looked up and the town had its eyes on me
And then he writes the Reynolds Pamphlet - he uses his experiences from all the good that has come from his writing to make probably the worst decision of his life. And his past is not just something that drives him - it's something that lives with him, that he's insecure about, that he repeats because he's so conscious of it. Not just of its impression it has on other people - his self-consciousness comes with the fact that it was a part of his past and he's come so far from it but he still dwells, still clings to his traumatic past.
He uses his inferior Si both in this and also with getting with Eliza ("I never had a family when I was a child / my father left, my mother died, I grew up buck-wild") - both terrible and great decisions. But it's never something that he uses to guide himself or to be conscientious of details or to do things that he used to like doing. His experiences and memory arise mostly when he is self-conscious or stressed ("you've never seen a bastard orphan more in need of a break") - and even with Eliza, we the audience know that though he loves Eliza, a large part of his pursuing her actually came from his desire to be famous and rich. The visibility in his Si in this scene may have been self-consciousness or guilt, but I'm certain it's his most hindering drive.
→ Overall
Additionally, I think the writing of Hamilton in the musical also fits largely with the portrait of an ENFP, despite how goal-oriented he is (which is admittedly NTJ.) He has goals, but his overall eagerness and I suppose the impression that he makes outside of his successes are exuberant, enthusiastic, and sociable - "Farmer Refuted" can see to be both to pick apart an illogical argument and to entertain his friends - and also ties in with his personal values, but the Ne allows him to be so fun and expressive about them, too.
Hamilton in the musical is an eager and idealistic person, and this is what drives him. To me, he doesn't seem to be driven just by the practicality and the actuality of his plans happening - he goes for them because of the ambition and the need to take action that he got from when he was younger (which had developed his tertiary Te.) But first and foremost, he is always seeking and creating, living outside and drawing them inside - staple concepts of the ENFP.