History HistoricalVillainUpgrade / Theatre

** The play certainly makes Aaron Burr a sympathetic character, but the same can't necessarily be said about Hamilton's other rival, UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson, who's shown as a generally arrogant, annoying, and obstinate know-it-all hypocrite. In real life, Jefferson was very egalitarian person ([[FairForItsDay for the time]]), who supported the poor and championed religious freedom. Likewise, while the real Jefferson can be seen as hypocritical for preaching liberty while owning slaves, he did end the slave trade and genuinely wanted to free his slaves only to be prevented by legal constraints, none of which were mentioned in the show. Possibly {{justified}}, seeing as he's pretty much portrayed as a comic relief and the relatively recent revelation that the real Jefferson's fathered many children with his slave Sally Hemmings, who in turn ended up being enslaved.

** A famous example is Abigail Williams, the first accuser in the Salem Witch Trials and main villain of Creator/ArthurMiller's play. In RealLife she was more or less an UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom, an attention-seeking teen who acted out, was accused of witchcraft, and accused someone else to take the heat off herself (then that person accused someone else, etc.). Miller turns her into a teenage AlphaBitch whose goal in starting the witch hysteria was [[MurderTheHypotenuse getting her ex's wife bumped off]]. [[WordOfGod Admitted by Miller]] in the prologue, as he needed the accuser to be actively malicious to complete [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything the allegory to the Red Scare]]. Ironically, the actual Red Scare was more like the historical Salem witch trials than in his play: suspected Communists accusing others to save themselves, with a domino effect. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the House Un-American Activities Committee recognized the allegory, was not amused, and questioned Miller, who refused to name others and was held in contempt of Congress (his conviction was reversed on appeal). The Red Scare was critically different, in that there were no actual witches in Salem. On the other hand, every single one of the Hollywood Ten was a Communist or fellow traveler.

** A famous example is Abigail Williams, the first accuser in the Salem Witch Trials and main villain of Creator/ArthurMiller's play. In RealLife she was more or less an UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom, an attention-seeking teen who acted out, was accused of witchcraft, and accused someone else to take the heat off herself (then that person accused someone else, etc.). Miller turns her into a twenty-something AlphaBitch whose goal in starting the witch hysteria was [[MurderTheHypotenuse getting her ex's wife bumped off]]. [[WordOfGod Admitted by Miller]] in the prologue, as he needed the accuser to be actively malicious to complete [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything the allegory to the Red Scare]]. Ironically, the actual Red Scare was more like the historical Salem witch trials than in his play: suspected Communists accusing others to save themselves, with a domino effect. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the House Un-American Activities Committee recognized the allegory, was not amused, and questioned Miller, who refused to name others and was held in contempt of Congress (his conviction was reversed on appeal). The Red Scare was critically different, in that there were no actual witches in Salem. On the other hand, every single one of the Hollywood Ten was a Communist or fellow traveler.

** Unsurprisingly, UsefulNotes/JoanOfArc is portrayed as a whore and a witch in ''Theatre/HenryVIPart1'', which was very much popular opinion at the time among her sworn enemies, the English. This is an especially ridiculous example when you consider the fact that what we known from her trial suggests Joan of Arc was a BadassPacifist, and that it was proven [[ChasteHero she remained a virgin all her life]]. She was also not only accused of witchcraft, but also of heresy, by a KangarooCourt put on by the English and their allies, the Burgundians. UsefulNotes/ThePope later reviewed the case and exonerated her entirely.

** Even Burr, who is given more character development here than in most portrayals, gets this, being portrayed as a typical lazy jealous co-worker who wants Hamilton's power and influence without having to work as hard--as well as being apparently against the Revolutionary War, and being somewhat obsessed with Hamilton's status as an immigrant. Note that the real Aaron Burr was a ''very'' hard worker and every bit as smart as Hamilton, and there is no historical evidence that he cared about Hamilton being an immigrant. [[BoomerangBigot In fact, Hamilton himself was, ironically, more anti-immigrants than Burr]]. Additionally, while the play presents Burr as driven by [[AmbitionIsEvil power for its own sake]] and unwilling to express dangerous ideas, the real-world Burr, while certainly ambitious, had well-defined and sometimes radical-for-the-day opinions, including being an outspoken opponent of slavery (much moreso than Hamilton) and a proponent of women's rights.

** Even Burr, who is given more character development here than in most portrayals, gets this, being portrayed as a typical lazy jealous co-worker who wants Hamilton's power and influence without having to work as hard--as well as being apparently against the Revolutionary War, and being somewhat obsessed with Hamilton's status as an immigrant. Note that the real Aaron Burr was a ''very'' hard worker and every bit as smart as Hamilton, and there is no historical evidence that he cared about Hamilton being an immigrant. [[BoomerangBigot In fact, Hamilton himself was, ironically, more anti-immigrants than Burr]].

** UsefulNotes/RichardIII in the [[Theatre/RichardIII eponymous play]] is written as having his two nephews murdered, for which there's no direct evidence (they simply disappeared from the Tower of London, [[TheFateOfThePrincesInTheTower their fate unknown to this day]]). Richard's guilt or innocence in this matter is a longstanding BrokenBase among historians. And while he likely committed some atrocities and heinous crimes, including usurping the throne from his nephew under flimsy pretences, it can certainly be argued that he wasn't any more or less ruthless than some kings who had preceded or followed him. But Shakespeare was writing in the time of Elizabeth I, whose grandfather Henry VII overthrew Richard at the end of the War of the Roses. Thus, the official party line was that Richard was a monster and not a legitimate king of England.