Digging Deeper into Tony Kushners Angels of America - Essay Example

Digging Deeper into Tony Kushner’s ‘Angels of America’ ‘Angels of America’ is an outstanding play that caught the attention of many in the early 1990s. The play exists in two parts ‘millennium approaches’ and “perestroika’. The play emerged into the American theatre at the conclusion of the Reagan era. The play is an epical drama representing more than what appears on the surface. A close examination of the play reveals three critical themes that the author sought to highlight. Kushner discusses the complexity of the gay identity towards the closure of the 20th century and highlights how the emergence of HIV served to heighten the complexity. Moreover, the playwright uses the play to criticize the Reagan era politics. This paper will delve into the issues discussed and elaborate how Kushner addresses different themes in his play. An understanding of the playwright’s identity is critical in order to analyze why he chose to address the issues that he brings out in the play. Kushner admits that he harbored gay instincts since he was six, but the fact that he was homosexual eventually sank in at the age of eleven. The cultural setting and the societal resistance surrounding homosexuality compelled him to keep his identity closeted (Nielsen 5). Therefore, the playwright‘s identity proves his familiarity with the issues that he brought out in the play. Moreover, HIV/AIDS was prevalent among the gay people and was considered as a scourge for the gay only. Kushner experienced the political conditions that defined Reagan’s regime. The conclusion of the millennium brought along new realities such as the emergence of a gay community that existed in a closeted system, but later some members openly declared their sexual orientation before the public. The gay community faced rigid resistance from society for defying the societal norms outlined in the gender sexual roles. In his play, Kushner painted the picture of the experience of gay people. He introduces the reader into the realities surrounding a homosexually-oriented man. He developed his themes using a gay couple made up of Prior and Louis and a heterosexual couple made up of Harper and Joe Pitt. Other important characters supporting the themes are Roy, a lawyer, and Belize, an influential nurse. In part on of his play, the author introduced the sad reality that Prior, Louis’ Lover, contracted the human immune deficiency virus (HIV). From the start of the play, the playwright bombards the reader with the reality of the HIV scourge from the experience of Prior. The victim faces devastation because of the status and also abandonment by his lover (Bloom and Hobby 7). The decision of Louis to abandon his lover is a typical reaction exhibited by many people after the realization that their partners had contracted the virus. In addition, the playwright sought to enlighten society on the inner battle faced by homosexuals. Apparently, the rigid construct of the society did not present any opening for the gay community to exercise the civil rights that they demanded. In Kushner’s play, he presents two characters that preferred keeping their gay identity closed in fear of the inherent resistance from society and the association of the homosexual orientation with the deadly virus that ha just been described (Bloom and Hobby 10). Joe Pitt is a representative of the internal battle fought by individuals in their bid to analyze their sexual orientation and embrace it. Although married to Harper, Joe was living a lie because he had nurtured homosexual feelings for a long time. In fear of how society would perceive his identity, he opted to suppress such feelings and strived to express his heterosexual identity through his marriage to Harper. However, his encounter with Louis weeping over his lover’s condition, Joe got an opportunity to express what he thought was his real sexual orientation. He embarked on building a relationship with Louis that culminated into his full expression of his homosexual identity. He confessed that he had taken this decision after his realization that each individual has an opportunity to make free choices regardless of societal perception of those choices. His sentiments concerning the critical decision and the consequences brought about by the decision reveal to the reader of the inner experiences of gay people. The reader can count on the description about the inner feelings of homosexuals because the playwright writes from an informed basis since he experienced it in his earlier life (Nielsen 5). Moreover, the playwright introduces the complexity that has surrounded homosexuality and religion. Joe Pitt, a Mormon adherent found himself entrapped in the expression of his homosexuality instincts, and there are chances that religion was one of the factors compelling him to suppress his feelings. Kushner also uses the case of Roy to highlight the inner conflict faced by homosexual individuals. The social standing of Roy as an influential lawyer compelled him to deny his homosexual identity although it is the sexual orientation that he practiced. However, Roy condemned homosexuals and associated HIV with them in the limelight. This serves as evidence that he was undergoing an internal conflict, a suspicion confirmed by his denial of his HIV status. Evidently, Kushner sought to highlight how far societal ideologies and myths about HIV and homosexuality compel led some individuals to live in denial (Fisher 39). From the play, it becomes evident that HIV caused real devastation to the victims. The desperation faced by Roy and Prior serve to highlight the fears and desperation that surrounded the American society towards the conclusion of the millennium after the emergence of the HIV epidemic (Bloom and Hobby 7). During the critical time, there were no drugs with the potential of lengthening the lives of those infected with the virus. Moreover, the stigma associated with the homosexuality and the disease hindered some people from seeking medical attention and accepting their condition. Kushner uses Roy in the play to highlight a real story that had happened in society. The denial exhibited contributed to him succumbing to the disease within a short time. Kushner also highlights the opinion of the people concerning the political system that prevailed during the time he was writing the play. He coupled the complex homosexuality issues with political sentiments. It became evident that a few people found Reagan’s governance a reflection of democracy while others realized that it was lacking. Evidently, the reforms initiated by the Reagan government impacted people differently. Whereas he claimed to foster economic growth, the growth favored the upper class. The playwright gives the play an identifying feature in the American political history. In the second part of the play titled ‘Perestroika’, the playwright introduces a societal reconstruction. Whereas he majored on the issues of great concern to the American society in the first part, the playwright seemed to highlight that reconstructing societal ideologies and beliefs would suffice to solve the inherent issues. Prior is one of the characters used by the playwright to signify that change in society is critical. From his prophetic encounters, Prior found a new will to live his life irrespective of his inherent condition. In some sense, Kushner was giving prophetic prospects on how America would forge into the future. However, Kushner highlights the urgency with which the American society needed to accept the inherent problems and work together in solving such problems (Fisher 39). The playwright insinuated this through his depiction of the characters united in the epilogue. Through the epilogue, he depicted the dream ‘to belong’ of the homosexual community. In my opinion, the playwright used Prior and Harper as metaphors of resilience and positive change. Whereas Prior was devastated after his condition, he sought medical attention and managed to remain focused on rebuilding his life. The same happened for Harper who suffered nervous breakdown that was worsened by the disappointment she felt on discovering that her husband was homosexual. However, she struggled to get over the challenges. The playwright represents her as an epitome of hope, with an immense conviction that she would reconstruct her life away from New York. The playwright contrasts this with the likes of Roy, who give up and die. Evidently, the play has multiple storylines and the playwright needed to highlight some important themes. Among these were the fears and fantasies of homosexuals towards the end of the millennium. The author tackles a complex interrelationship of social, cultural, medical and political fears that the American society was facing. The author seemed to urge the society to forge into the future with hope and confidence regardless of the inherent challenges. The play serves as a unique piece that reveals the history of America in the 1980s and 1990s. Apparently, Kushner envisioned an inclusive American society. Work Cited Bloom, Harold, and Blake Hobby. Human Sexuality. New York, NY: Bloom's Literary Criticism, 2009. Internet resource. Fisher, James. Understanding Tony Kushner. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2008. Print. Nielsen, Ken. Tony Kushner's Angels in America. London: Continuum, 2008. Print. Read More