A work of epic proportions, Tony Kushner's magnum opus Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia On National Themes presents a portrait of America devastating at first glance, but nevertheless ultimately optimistic and profound in its analysis of humanity's development amidst chaos. The work consists of two parts, Millennium Approaches and Perestroika, and each shows a very different approach to the reality of America in 1985; the former is a world of destruction while the latter is a nation of renewal. In both parts, the four main characters struggle to overcome the irony within themselves and each other, the same irony that poses a threat to their spiritual survival. The first section ends with the characters at the height of these internal conflicts, with seemingly little hope of salvation. In Perestroika, the four protagonists overcome these ironies with the direct (sometimes unconscious) help of others, leading to an ending full of optimism not only for the characters, but also for the audience and the world. Kushner's epic Angels in America uses two starkly different parts chronicling the four main characters' struggles to forgive ironies not only within themselves but between each other, and these developments lead to two very different conclusions that ultimately build thematic bridges between the stage and the world. the audience, all in presentation of the “fantasy” that Kushner imagines for America's future. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The action of Part I reveals the ironies of Prior and Harper's characters, whose conflicts stem from how they see and treat themselves. We can assume that Prior, as a gay man, had the experience of needing a long time, perhaps years, to come to terms with his sexual identity. His diagnosis catapults him backward into a phase of self-loathing, exemplified after he looks in the mirror during a dream and says, "I don't think there's any uninfected part of me...I feel dirty" ( I, 34). AIDS, considered at the time the fatal hallmark of a gay man, is putting an uncloseted figure back in the position of feeling uncomfortable with his own identity. Harper, challenged by the reality of her unhappy marriage, goes against her religion by fostering an addiction to the only thing that truly makes her life bearable: Valium. Antarctica, his drug-induced place of refuge, is simply a reflection of the frigid nature of his reality. She, like Prior, is aware of how she behaves with her partner, comparing herself to a "mentally deranged, sex-starved pill-addicted housewife" (I, 37). It is both characters' need to overcome these ironies and perceptions of themselves that characterize each person's journey through the play, with their conflicts escalating (but not resolving) just enough to lead to the story's explosive finale. Part I. Millennium Approaches is also framed by the introduction of two reports that are ultimately contaminated by a member of each. The most obvious of these betrayals is Louis' abandonment of Prior after the latter was diagnosed with AIDS. Louis' logic is that he “must” and cannot “incorporate illness into his sense of how things should be” (I, 25). The obvious irony is that the audience, Prior, and Louis himself know that there is no justification for his actions, foreshadowing the immense guilt that will plague his journey. Meanwhile, Joe's blatant betrayal of his relationship with his wife stems from his unstoppable homosexuality. His journey will seek to reconcile his two true selves: his devotion to thereligion and the desire to be "correct... in the eyes of God" (I, 40) and his homosexual desires, although both forces oppose each other. Each man is reflected in how he has treated his relationship, with Louis completely racked by guilt and Joe finally starting to embrace his sexuality, both in the name of abandonment. When Millennium Approaches ends, none of the four characters have made any real progress towards positive solutions to any of their conflicts. Prior is still a victim of his illness and still heartbroken over his abandonment. Harper's storyline ends with her in Antarctica, showing that she is still a prisoner of her own delusions. Louis is still tormented by his cowardice and gives in to the temptation of a relationship doomed to fail. Joe is the only character who has seemingly made progress, as he has given in to the desires he has felt his whole life, which usually signals his character's development. However, no real progress has actually been made, as he continues to berate himself for his actions, telling Louis, “I'm a really terrible person, Louis,” and “I don't think I deserve to be loved” (I, 117). The irony of the ending is that all four of these characters, as Americans, should prosper: it's the 1980s, the “Me Decade,” where all Americans should succeed. Instead, everything in the world Kushner presents is falling apart and America is destroying itself. Even though Part I ends with the formation of a new couple, it is palpable that there is something very wrong with their union, as they are two extremely different people who come together despite ultimately destructive differences. There is no hope at the end of the Millennium It is approaching until the arrival of the character who (albeit inadvertently) will unleash the American "perestroika": the Angel. The entrance of the Angel is very significant for the conclusion, as well as the overall meaning, of Angels in America. Prior can sense that something is coming, as “the bedside lamp flickers” and “creaks and groans are heard from the bedroom ceiling” (I, 118). Just when the audience (and Prior) think it's over, we hear: "A sound, like a falling meteor... we hear a terrifying CRASH as something immense hits the ground... the whole building shakes and a part of the bedroom ceiling, a lot of plaster and lathe and cables, crashes to the floor...[then] the Angel descends into the room and floats above the bed” (I, 118). it is chaotic and destructive, a metaphorical climax to the devastation of the approaching Millennium. However, the pandemonium of the finale ultimately distances the audience further from the show. The fate of the characters is ambiguous and until the audience sees Perestroika they will not know what it is “Great Work” that the Angel speaks of. The audience can only hope for a more positive second part of the work, but this kind of unconscious hope is quite alienating in nature, since the future is uncertain. The strength of the conclusion of the first part is completely diminished by the action and conclusion of the next part, Perestroika. At the conclusion of the entire work a new series of relationships is added which means that the four main characters are directly influenced by the four secondary characters: the Angel, Hannah, Roy and Belize. Each secondary character's interaction with one of the protagonists will spur great changes in character for the sake of progress and, ultimately, for the sake of completely rebuilding America. It is important to note the structural focus of the Millennium Approaches; it is the disintegration of two couples and the construction of another (albeit unstable) union, all centered on the mutual relationships of thesefour characters. Perestroika does not follow this same format because Millennium Approaches has taught us that there is no hope of rebuilding an otherwise failing society with that kind of painful, isolating character-based structure. Therefore, it is the relationships that the four main characters have with others that force them to make revelations about themselves and others, ultimately leading to Kushner's progressive conclusion with Angels in America. Prior's relationship with the Angel and Harper's relationship with Hannah help each of them make important realizations about themselves and spark in both of them the need to make changes in their lives and overcome the irony they live with. The new irony with which the victimized Prior lives is that of being condemned to death due to his illness while at the same time being “the chosen one” as prophet of the Angels. His orgasmic encounter with the Angel gives him something he hasn't felt since he got sick, saying he feels filled with “Joy or something. Hope” (II, 24). The irony of the encounter is that while it triggers Prior's newfound drive to fight for his life, he knows that he cannot be the one to speak on behalf of the Angels' naive and impossible purpose because it goes against his newfound desire to live as a fighter, not as victim. Prior realizes that all humanity, and especially he, must struggle to live because this is the very nature of the human need for progress. And as he explains in heaven: “We can't just stop. We are not rocks: progress, migration, movement is... modernity” (II, 132). Prior's relationship with the Angel gave him the opportunity to live again and to learn, not from the Angel, but from himself. Meanwhile, Joe's mother, Hannah, has been determined to help her daughter-in-law overcome her abandonment, but similarly the help to the character is indirect. Having Hannah bring Harper to the Mormon Visitor Center allows Harper to re-examine what movement and progression mean, as seen in her conversation with the Mormon Mother diorama (which herself is a symbol to Hannah). When Harper complains that she can't move because her “heart is an anchor,” her Mormon mother says, “Forget it, then. I cannot carry any extra burden” (II, 71). Hannah exemplified this change by leaving everything and moving to New York, and although she herself failed to directly convey her message to Harper, Harper's story ultimately ends with her embracing progress and moving to San Francisco . These two interactions that Prior and Harper have help them realize the strength they have to fight against their reality and desire for a better life because, as Kushner will argue, this is the new progressive America. Instead of analyzing progress, Joe and Louis' relationships with secondary characters revolve around the theme of forgiveness, presenting situations of lack and giving. Joe's relationship with Roy is an example of what happens when forgiveness is absent or revoked. When Joe comes out to Roy and reveals that he is living with another man, Roy says, “I want you home. With your wife. Whatever else you have to do, get it done... Listen to me. Do what I say. Or you will regret it. And don't ever talk to me about it again” (II, 87). The meeting ultimately initiates Joe's return to the closet, himself rationalizing that he simply cannot be a homosexual in the headquartered nation in which he and Roy wish to live. Because his mentor cannot forgive him, Joe cannot forgive himself, and that isolating mentality prevents him from being part of the “gay fantasy” of progress that Kushner envisions for the future. Louis is taught by Belize, who has played a sort of confidant to Louis throughout the play and is perhapsthe most principled character, that forgiveness is how the world will rebuild itself from chaos and destruction. As Belize says to Louis in front of the corpse of Roy (who himself was a supporter of destruction), “[Forgiveness] is not easy, it doesn't matter if it's easy, it's the hardest thing. Pardon. And it is perhaps here that love and justice finally meet. At least peace" (II, 124). The wisdom of Belize ultimately sums up Kushner's parallel argument: Progress can only be made when forgiveness has been achieved. Louis and Belize must forgive Roy to move forward and rebuild from the world of hate that Roy supported, and Joe must forgive himself for abandoning Prior to progress as a human being. Louis manages to overcome his irony, while Joe is heartbreakingly suffocated in It. Kushner thus presented to the public the two most important elements for rebuilding a collapsing world: progress and forgiveness in the name of internal and national development. The epilogue of Angels in America and the conclusion of Perestroika are both built upon the characters' journeys to overcome the world of irony within themselves and others. Every main character, except Joe, has accepted the natural order of the world, the “painful progress” that Harper speaks of. The conclusion of the Millennium Approach was the embodiment of chaos, while the conclusion of Perestroika presents the embodiment of “perestroika,” or “reconstruction,” itself. Kushner introduces the audience to two of the main characters and two of the secondary characters: Prior, Louis, Hannah and Belize. Harper can't be in the finale because it would go against her in rebuilding her life and embracing progress, and Joe can't be there because he can't forgive himself and therefore has no place in the new society. Roy can't be there because of what he represented when he was alive (beyond the fact that he's dead), and the Angel character can't be there physically because he represents the immobility that can only suffocate the new America. that the four characters represent. Once again, the audience is left with ambiguity regarding the fate of the characters. For example, there is no mention of how long the Prior will live. But while the end of Part I alienated the audience, the end of Part II completely bridges the gap between the stage and the seats through a dramatic shattering of the fourth wall. All four characters address the audience directly from the beginning of the scene, creating a direct and optimistic ending to a production that champions individual and community progressivism. By breaking the fourth wall, Kushner strives to universalize the characters' experiences and allow those lessons the characters learn to also become those of the audience. With the action now applicable to humanity itself, Kushner demonstrated the nature of progress and forgiveness and that they are necessary for all to rebuild society. The audience leaves the theater with the same blessing that the Angel gave to the Prior: “The Great Work begins”. The blessing now flows from the lips of Prior, an ordinary man and not an otherworldly figure. The true angel, Kushner demonstrates, is the everyday individual. The everyday angel is the person who embodies forgiveness and progress to create a better society. To universalize his message, Prior tells the audience: “You are fabulous creatures, every one of them. And I bless you: More Life. The Great Work begins" (II, 148), leveling the power of his words to strike them in the hearts of all those present. Prior asked the public to become the embodiment of a progressive and forgiving future, as it will create a better society, a better America, and a better self for the individual. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper now from our writers.