It's that time of year again, finals week! You've had more caffeine in the last 3 days than you had all last month. You can't remember the last time you slept more than 3 hours. You feel like the end is near and you've already started looking for alternate options for when you fail and drop out. I'm here to tell you that it isn't the end of the world. Actually, you're probably doing a lot better than most people. To make you feel better, here's 5 musical theatre characters that have it worse than you do during finals.
1. Betty Rizzo in Grease
Rizzo thinks she rules the school until a pregnancy scare comes along. Word gets out that she's pregnant so she pushes away her boyfriend Kenickie. She then has to watch him go to the prom with another girl. Probably the character that has it the least terrible on this list but she knows she could have it worse because she sings a whole song about it.
2. Eliza Schuyler Hamilton from Hamilton
Ok yes, Eliza was born into a rich family but the rest of her life sucks. Although she marries Alexander, she eventually finds out he's been cheating on her. What makes it even worse, he's cheating with her sister Angelica. She's betrayed by the two most important people in her life. In the end she takes control and burns anything that would have helped him get his good image back.
3. Wendla Bergmann from Spring Awakening
Young little Wendla doesn't understand anything about the world of sex and her mother refuses to educate her. With the lack of education and communication she does what any confused teen might do and figures it out all on her own. Experimenting with Melchior turns her entire world upside down. She ends up pregnant without at all understanding what she did. Making matters worse, she also ends up sick with anemia and eventually dies from a botched abortion her mother puts her through.
4. Éponine Thénardier from Les Misérables
Éponine is spoiled growing up but in her adult life she lives alone and poor on the streets of Paris. She falls in love with Marius and she loves him so much that she helps him find out where Cosette lives. She basically pushes him straight down the aisle with Cosette instead of herself. Despite the fact that Marius marries Cosette, Éponine takes a bullet for him and dies on the barricade. All for the love of a man who didn't love her.
5. Diana Goodman from Next to Normal
To everyone outside her family it seems like Diana has it all together but inside she's falling apart. She suffers from bipolar disorder and becomes delusional, believing that her son who died at 18 months is still alive. She tries so hard to live her life and be there for her family but she cannot move on from the past. In the end she leaves her husband and two kids behind to find herself.
Now those finals don't seem so bad right? Just remember when you're up at 3 AM losing your mind studying for that exam, at least you're not one of these musical theatre characters.
