Angels in America by Tony Kushner

​The play, Angels in America by Tony Kushner represents a turning point for the famous American dream. The play has several characters and I would therefore highlight the protagonists and the antagonists in the course of my paper. Of course, different people have a different perception of the American dream. Tony Kushner is a great American playwright and also screen writer. Therefore, for this week`s discussion, Angels in America will be our main play for discussion. It is one of the best plays, with a sense of dignity in it.

Every work of art is usually made to teach a lesson to the society and to the audience specifically. However, this paper will explore several characters presented in the play by Tony Kushner and basically show their contribution to the American dream. Tony Kushner uses the play to represent the treatment of history that America has gone through. He also explores the aspect of the melting pot that the American society had become in the 1980s (Kushner, 34).

​The author and the playwright expose his own view of the current events in the American society through the characters he presents in the play based on the protagonists’ behavior and character. On a light note, Kushner, the playwright deliberately rekindles the aspect of the traditional American myths and the elements of the American culture. He therefore attaches them on a reconstruction of identity, which is based on different pillars, for instance, gender, racial and political pillars (Kushner, 78). These are the bases of the play.

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He therefore displays America as a promised land where every other person tries to put his or her efforts in daily activities to help realize the dream that Americans have had for a long time.

​The play has being criticized for several reasons and different people have different opinions on the same. Some claim that, the play by Tony Kushner is just an epic drama while others basically take it as a gay drama. It has also being named n AIDS play. However, according to me, Angels in America is a serious drama that has being criticized by most American citizens, it has also being commented on by many Americans and finally, it has won most awards. The play has a number of gay characters and for instance, there is an entertainer living with AIDS, whose Jewish lover , Louis, who happens to be the main protagonist in the play, leaves her and gets involved with a gay lover, Mormon, who is also a political republican. The entertainer Prior Walter gets angry at her lover, Louis (McNulty, 89). She thinks that Louis does not know the value of love. The characters are full of fear and guilty. For instance, Louis believes that he has being cursed and attributes his life challenges to the betrayals and curses that have come in his life! The scenes are full of gay acts and this is the main reason why the playwright subtitled it as, “A gay fantasia on national themes.” Tony Kushner therefore makes things overlap in the scenes he presents (Nielsen, 89). Both protagonists and the antagonists are trying to make sense in the play.

​In the list of all the characters in the book “Angels in America”. Louis is the only character who resembles Tony Kushner. Louis is a young Jewish in New York who has a great influence on the playwright’s prose style. It’s sometimes problematic to equate a character with the author. I therefore infer the similarity which exists between Kushner and Louis. The author does not intend or view the character to be seen as heartless. Tony Kushner uses the play to represent the treatment of history that America has gone through. He also explores the aspect of the melting pot that the American society had become in the 1980s (Kushner, 34).

​The author and the playwright expose his own view of the current events in the American society through the characters he presents in the play based on the protagonists’ behavior and character. On a light note, Kushner, the playwright deliberately rekindles the aspect of the traditional American myths and the elements of the American culture. He therefore attaches them on a reconstruction of identity, which is based on different pillars, for instance, gender, racial and political pillars (Kushner, 78). These are the bases of the play. He therefore displays America as a promised land where every other person tries to put his or her efforts in daily activities to help realize the dream that Americans have had for a long time.

​The play has being criticized for several reasons and different people have different opinions on the same. Some claim that, the play by Tony Kushner is just an epic drama while others basically take it as a gay drama. It has also being named n AIDS play. However, according to me, Angels in America is a serious drama that has being criticized by most American citizens. Some readers have proposed that the author had an intention to make Louis Ironson be seen as a heartless villain. According to my understanding on the novel Angels in America, it’s much easy to reduce an outstanding character like Louis Ironson as an idealist who is seen to discuss virtues in the society but retains and reneges his own personality and responsibilities.

​Louis as a character in “Angels in America” has her actions openly condemned. For instance, Louis believes that he has being cursed and attributes his life challenges to the betrayals and curses that have come in his life! The scenes are full of gay acts and this is the main reason why the playwright subtitled it as, “A gay fantasia on national themes.” Tony Kushner therefore makes. Louis abandonment of prior is one of his weakness (Kushner, 78). The action of Louis Ironson condemned in the book includes how he abandons his own responsibility. Far from his weakness, Louis Ironson shows a selfish behavior.

​ Due to the hardships in his life, the situation of Louis is painted so harshly by the author making the audience create a harsh understanding on him. Louis is also considered as insensitive character by the author. At one point, the audience understands; Louis’s nature and end up feeling for him. A sense is created in his failings and audience empathizes with him since they agree that hardship and bad luck is the cause of all these problems (Macnaughty, 87). Louis’s complication, excruciating nature as well as his guilty nature proves that all what he does is genuine. The careful nature of Louis is portrayed as the author triers to show how he walks out with his two eyes prior open with much awareness of all his action. Louis is portrayed as a character who is brave enough to do what he felt was right for her.

​Louis is brought as a character who has a deep origin of ides in the book. One of the most important roles of Louis to the author is introduction of key and helpful ideas. In his conversation with Emily, Louis is the one to discuss the whole narration of the venerable heritage. This is a discussion which brings his history into light. In the discussion with Emily, the reader is able to realize the history and stability as Louis touches on many themes in the venerable heritage (McNaughty, 86). In addition, Louis is an important character to the author as he is the spokesman for the democratic optimism. He voices most of the plays ideas about politics.

​For instance, Roy Cohn is a lawyer and a character in the play. He is presented as a power broker. He offers his young one a chance to work in the Justice section in Washington (Kushner, 56). This is a show of power broking. However, debate ensues where he has first to convince his wife about the idea of finding his young one a chance to work in Washington, DC. The play has a number of couples and we also come across Louis Ironson and Prior Walter. Again, the play has disputes that are evident among the characters in the play (Kushner, 78). For instance, there is a dispute where Joe and Louis confront each other. Louis accuses Joe of being a gay, however, Joe declines being a gay.

​The reading again fills us with the thinking that, the society in question is an evil one. This is simply because of the suspicion that, Joe is a gay. However, this comes clear and Joe admits being a gay. Characters in the play seem to be concerned with the idea of justice and freedom. For instance, Joe seems to be more comfortable talking with Louis about the type of justice, and in the process, he comes to admit that he is a gay and his mother tells him to go home to his wife (Lonergan, 79). Emotional scenes are quite evident in the play again. Roy`s son refuses the work that his father had offered him in Washington, DC. Joe, is finally seeing refusing the job offer at Washington, DC, where he says that, he cannot do unethical things that his father wants him to do. There are several themes that are evident in this state. Joe almost gets to fight with Roy over this issue. The scenes are quite interesting to watch and read about!

Work Cited

1. Kushner, Tony. Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes: Revised and Complete ​Edition. Theatre Communications Group, 2014.
2. McNulty, Charles. ‘Angels in America: Tony Kushner’s theses on the philosophy of ​history.’ Modern Drama 39.1 (1996): 84-96.
3. Nielsen, Ken. Tony Kushner’s Angels in America. A&C Black, 2013.
4. Lonergan, Patrick. Theatre and Globalization: Irish Drama in the Celtic Tiger Era. Palgrave ​Macmillan, ​2009.