This song offers a surprising break of character for the Schuyler Sisters, who just 5 songs earlier were power hungry ladies unaffected by men and their opinions.
This song begins with Eliza seeing Alexander and suddenly becoming, 'helpless', but is nearly devastated when her sister, Angelica spies him first. After being unsatisfied with his family's history, she introduces the future founding father to her sister, Eliza.
One thing that I found really interesting came from the next song, Satisfied. I found it interesting that Angelica thought that marrying Alexander would not bring enough prestige to their family name. Because he was not from a wealthy or well known family, she felt she couldn't marry him because she was the oldest.
So my question is: why would she pass him off to her sister? Did she think it was okay for her younger sister, who she adored to 'settle'? But then again, in the song, Satisfied, Angelica expresses that she did fall in love with Alexander, but knew she couldn't have him: so why would should she settle for someone she doesn't truly love.
I think it is interesting to look at how different today is from America's beginning days and before. Today, it is becoming more and more acceptable to marry anyone you love. People of the same gender and different races can now marry without fear, and the 'prestige' of a person is often disregarded. Today, who you are as a person is what matters most.
This one of my favorite songs throughout the musical and I have never thought of it in the way you described. Settling is an interesting term to use. When I think of settling I think of having no other options. In todays day and age I 100% agree with you that settling is out of the question. No one must settle to be with someone they don't love and I think those are big steps in aAmerican history.
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