LitWiki - User contributions [en]

Perestroika 2.1

2006-04-27T13:05:28Z

Shill: /* External Links */

==Summary==
Prior and Belize are outside the funeral parlor discussing the events of their friend's burial. Belize notices that Prior has been acting peculiar and mentions that to him. Prior tells Belize that he believes the dream about the angel did occur as well as "I'm a prophet"(169). However, Belize doesn't believe it. Prior continues to tell Belize about his strange encounter with the angel anyway.
==Notes==
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morticia_Addams Morticia Addams](168)-A character from a popular TV show "The Addams Family".
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian Sicilian](168)-a region in Italy.

==Commentary==
In this scene, Prior opens by saying that the funeral was "tacky"(Kushner 167). His comment is odd because he, even though he is no longer a drag queen, should have appreciated another queen's abnormality. Instead he seems to resent many of the things that he used to hold so dearly. He is also dealing with the idea of death. He is just completely unhappy at the funeral with the thought of his own funeral.Later in the scene, Prior tells Belize that his "eyes are fucked up" (Kushner 168). He says that his vision has been different since he encountered the angel. Literally, he may indeed see differently, but this could be symbolic of another change. Consistent with his distaste of the drag queen funeral, Prior is changing his entire perception of the world. At this point one can not determine where his opinions will go, and, quite possibly, neither does Prior.
== Study Questions==
#Why does the death of this drag queen bother Prior so much?
#What does Prior tell Belize he had seen?
#Does Belize believe him?

==External Resources==
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Kushner For More About Kushner]

Perestroika 2.1

2006-04-27T13:04:30Z

Shill: /* Notes */

==Summary==
Prior and Belize are outside the funeral parlor discussing the events of their friend's burial. Belize notices that Prior has been acting peculiar and mentions that to him. Prior tells Belize that he believes the dream about the angel did occur as well as "I'm a prophet"(169). However, Belize doesn't believe it. Prior continues to tell Belize about his strange encounter with the angel anyway.
==Notes==
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morticia_Addams Morticia Addams](168)-A character from a popular TV show "The Addams Family".
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian Sicilian](168)-a region in Italy.

==Commentary==
In this scene, Prior opens by saying that the funeral was "tacky"(Kushner 167). His comment is odd because he, even though he is no longer a drag queen, should have appreciated another queen's abnormality. Instead he seems to resent many of the things that he used to hold so dearly. He is also dealing with the idea of death. He is just completely unhappy at the funeral with the thought of his own funeral.Later in the scene, Prior tells Belize that his "eyes are fucked up" (Kushner 168). He says that his vision has been different since he encountered the angel. Literally, he may indeed see differently, but this could be symbolic of another change. Consistent with his distaste of the drag queen funeral, Prior is changing his entire perception of the world. At this point one can not determine where his opinions will go, and, quite possibly, neither does Prior.
== Study Questions==
#Why does the death of this drag queen bother Prior so much?
#What does Prior tell Belize he had seen?
#Does Belize believe him?

==External Links==
*<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Kushner">For More About Kushner</a>

Perestroika 2.1

2006-04-27T12:58:58Z

Shill: /* Questions */

==Summary==
Prior and Belize are outside the funeral parlor discussing the events of their friend's burial. Belize notices that Prior has been acting peculiar and mentions that to him. Prior tells Belize that he believes the dream about the angel did occur as well as "I'm a prophet"(169). However, Belize doesn't believe it. Prior continues to tell Belize about his strange encounter with the angel anyway.
==Notes==
*<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morticia_Addams">Morticia Addams</a>
*<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian">Sicilian</a>
==Commentary==
In this scene, Prior opens by saying that the funeral was "tacky"(Kushner 167). His comment is odd because he, even though he is no longer a drag queen, should have appreciated another queen's abnormality. Instead he seems to resent many of the things that he used to hold so dearly. He is also dealing with the idea of death. He is just completely unhappy at the funeral with the thought of his own funeral.Later in the scene, Prior tells Belize that his "eyes are fucked up" (Kushner 168). He says that his vision has been different since he encountered the angel. Literally, he may indeed see differently, but this could be symbolic of another change. Consistent with his distaste of the drag queen funeral, Prior is changing his entire perception of the world. At this point one can not determine where his opinions will go, and, quite possibly, neither does Prior.
== Study Questions==
#Why does the death of this drag queen bother Prior so much?
#What does Prior tell Belize he had seen?
#Does Belize believe him?

==External Links==
*<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Kushner">For More About Kushner</a>

Perestroika 5.5

2006-04-27T12:57:39Z

Shill: /* Works Cited */

==Summary==
Harper is standing at the railing of the Promenade in Brooklyn. She is in a dress and no shoes, yet the weather is very cold and icy. Joe approaches her with an umbrella and asks her where her shoes have gone, she tells him she threw them in the river. Harper tells Joe the Jugemnet day approaches, Joe answers by telling her "Let's go home."Harper tells Joe that water will not accommplish the end no matter hoe much you cry., that fire will be the end.
==Notes==
==Commentary==
==Study Questions==
#What could be implied from Harper's use of water will not be the end, no matter how much you cry?
#What could fire represent for Harper?
==External Resources==
==Works Cited==

[[Angels in America | Perestroika Act 5 Scene 6]]
[[Category:Literature]]

Perestroika 5.5

2006-04-27T12:56:05Z

Shill:

Millennium Approaches 2.1

2006-04-27T12:45:56Z

Shill: /* Study Questions */

==Summary==
Louis comes in and finds Prior on the floor.Prior is burning up with fever. Prior is hurting badly. Louis call for ambulance. Prior really does not want to go to the hospital. Prior tries to stand up, to go to the bathroom. Prior, " I had an accident " (54). Prior faints.

==Notes==
==Commentary==
==Study Questions==
#Why did Prior not want to go to the hospital?

==External Resources==
==Works Cited==

----
[[Angels in America | In Vitro Act 2 Scene 2]]
[[Category:Literature]]
*Kushner, Tony. Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches,1995

Perestroika Epilogue

2006-04-27T12:44:19Z

Shill:

==Summary==
Prior, Louis, Belize, and Hannah are in Central Park sitting around the fountain of Bethesda. It is a cold, yet bright sunny day. They are discussing the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the state of affairs in Russia. Louis gives a breif history of the importance of the Bethesda Angel. She landed in a Temple sguare in Jerusalem and where her foot touched the ground a fountain shot from the ground. This fountain had healing powers, yet it ran dry when the Romans destoryed the temple. Prior's last words are of hope the world will continue to go around.
==Notes==
==Commentary==
==Study Questions==
#Where are Prior, Louis, Belize, and Hannah at the beginning of the Epilogue?
#What world events are they discussing?
#What is the importance of the fountain?
#Why is this Prior's favorite angel?
#What changes have Hannah made to her "style" of dress?
==External Resources==
==Works Cited==
[[Category:Literature]]

Angels in America

2006-04-27T12:28:51Z

Shill: /* Factual Information */

[[Image:Angels-in-america-04.jpg|thumb|Angels in America]]

==Factual Information==
According to Jacobus, Kushner was suprised that both liberals and conservatives liked the play because Kushner thought that it attacked many of the conservative views (1636).

==Biography==

==Study Guide==

===Part One: Millennium Approaches===
====Act One: Bad News====
#[[Millennium Approaches 1.1|Act One, Scene 1]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 1.2|Act One, Scene 2]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 1.3|Act One, Scene 3]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 1.4|Act One, Scene 4]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 1.5|Act One, Scene 5]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 1.6|Act One, Scene 6]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 1.7|Act One, Scene 7]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 1.8|Act One, Scene 8]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 1.9|Act One, Scene 9]]
====Act Two: In Vitro====
#[[Millennium Approaches 2.1|Act Two, Scene 1]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 2.2|Act Two, Scene 2]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 2.3|Act Two, Scene 3]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 2.4|Act Two, Scene 4]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 2.5|Act Two, Scene 5]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 2.6|Act Two, Scene 6]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 2.7|Act Two, Scene 7]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 2.8|Act Two, Scene 8]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 2.9|Act Two, Scene 9]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 2.10|Act Two, Scene 10]]
====Act Three: Not-Yet-Conscious, Foward Dawning====
#[[Millennium Approaches 3.1|Act Three, Scene 1]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 3.2|Act Three, Scene 2]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 3.3|Act Three, Scene 3]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 3.4|Act Three, Scene 4]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 3.5|Act Three, Scene 5]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 3.6|Act Three, Scene 6]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 3.7|Act Three, Scene 7]]

===Part Two: Perestroika===
====Act One: Spooj====
#[[Perestroika 1.1|Act One, Scene 1]]
#[[Perestroika 1.2|Act One, Scene 2]]
#[[Perestroika 1.3|Act One, Scene 3]]
#[[Perestroika 1.4|Act One, Scene 4]]
#[[Perestroika 1.5|Act One, Scene 5]]
#[[Perestroika 1.6|Act One, Scene 6]]
====Act Two: The Epistle====
#[[Perestroika 2.1|Act Two, Scene 1]]

====Act Three: Borborygmi====
#[[Perestroika 3.1|Act Three, Scene 1]]
#[[Perestroika 3.2|Act Three, Scene 2]]
#[[Perestroika 3.3|Act Three, Scene 3]]
#[[Perestroika 3.4|Act Three, Scene 4]]
#[[Perestroika 3.5|Act Three, Scene 5]]
====Act Four: John Brown's Body====
#[[Perestroika 4.1|Act Four, Scene 1]]
#[[Perestroika 4.2|Act Four, Scene 2]]
#[[Perestroika 4.3|Act Four, Scene 3]]
#[[Perestroika 4.4|Act Four, Scene 4]]
#[[Perestroika 4.5|Act Four, Scene 5]]
#[[Perestroika 4.6|Act Four, Scene 6]]
#[[Perestroika 4.7|Act Four, Scene 7]]
#[[Perestroika 4.8|Act Four, Scene 8]]
#[[Perestroika 4.9|Act Four, Scene 9]]
====Act Five: Heaven, I'm in Heaven====
#[[Perestroika 5.1|Act Five, Scene 1]]
#[[Perestroika 5.2|Act Five, Scene 2]]
#[[Perestroika 5.3|Act Five, Scene 3]]
#[[Perestroika 5.4|Act Five, Scene 4]]
#[[Perestroika 5.5|Act Five, Scene 5]]
#[[Perestroika 5.6|Act Five, Scene 6]]
#[[Perestroika 5.7|Act Five, Scene 7]]
#[[Perestroika 5.8|Act Five, Scene 8]]
#[[Perestroika 5.9|Act Five, Scene 9]]
#[[Perestroika 5.10|Act Five, Scene 10]]
====Epilogue: Bethesda====
#[[Perestroika Epilogue]]

==Characters==

[[The Angel]]

[[Emily]]

[[The Eskimo]]

[[Ethel Rosenberg]]

[[Hannah Porter Pitt]]

[[Harper Amaty Pitt]]

[[Henry]]

[[Joseph Porter Pitt]]

[[Louis Ironson]]

[[The Man in the Park]]

[[Martin Heller]]

[[Mr. Lies]]

[[Norman Arriaga]] AKA: Belize

[[Prior I]]

[[Prior II]]

[[Prior Walter]]

[[Rabbi Isidor Chemelwitz]]

[[Roy Cohn]]

[[Sister Ella Chapter]]

[[The Voice]]

[[The Woman in the South Bronx]]

[[Belize]]

==Major Themes==
''Angels in America'' is in many ways a play about conversion.The experience of HIV illness is often conceived as involving a conversion of the self, and Prior's discovery that he has AIDS is depicted in part as making him a new person: I'm a lessionnaire". The Angel's visitation to Prior takes the form of a mission of conversion:given a new identity, Prior is like Joseph Smith, to become Prophet of a new dispensation. Indeed, in the course of the play all its characters undergo startling shifts in identity. Hannah is not only physically transplanted to New York but becomes ''"noticeably different--she looks like a New Yorker''. Roy , who clings tenaciously to his professional status a a lawyer,is disbarred just before his death. Harper moves through a period of dysfunction to strike out on her own, choosing "the real San Francisco, on earth," with its "unspeakable beauty" (Kruger 4).

Kushner uses split scenes to make more explicit the contrapuntal relationship between these seemingly disconnected narrative worlds. Roy's meeting with Joe, to discuss the junior attorney's future as a "Roy-Boy" in Washington, occurs alongside the scene in which Louis is sodomized in the Central Park Rambles by a leather clad mama's boy.Louis's mini-symposium at the coffee shop is simultaneous with Prior's medical checkup at an outpatient clinic. Dreams,ghosts, and a flock of dithering, hermaphroditic angels are also used to break through the play's realistic structure, to conjoin seemingly disparate characters, and to reveal the poetic resonances and interconnectedness of everyday life (McNulty 4).

==Major Symbols==

==Influences==
The biggest influences on this play would defiantly have to be American society. Kushner brings up many problems that he has with the country. Form his problems with President Regan to the discrimination of people in American society.

==Study Questions==
#Many of the gay characters struggle with the question of how their sexuality should be, and several come out in different ways during the course of the play. Discuss the meaning of the ''closet'' — are closeted characters different from uncloseted ones? What implications does coming out have for self and community?
#"It's law not justice," Joe tells Louis during their final breakup. Discuss the themes of law and justice as they appear in the play. Is Joe correct that the two are separate entities? Or does the play encourage a more visionary potential of the law?
#Belize stands out as exceptionally compassionate and good, yet at times seems two-dimensional. Which view is correct? Is Belize a virtuous stereotype or a complex moral authority?
#What does the subtitle "A Gay Fantasia on National Themes" suggest? What national themes are evident in the plays? What is the relationship between "gay" and "national"?
#[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perestroika <i>Perestroika</i>] was the term for Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of political and economic reform in the Soviet Union. In what ways does the play represent the possibility of ''perestroika'' in America? Is this an appropriate title for part two?
#Choosing at least two examples ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethel_Rosenberg The Rosenberg Trial], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1906_earthquake The San Francisco Earthquake], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl Chernobyl], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reagan_administration The Reagan Administration]), analyze the role of history in the plays. Does Kushner more or less depict events as they happened? If not, what dramatic and thematic purposes does he serve by shading the facts?
#As a "fantasia," ''Angels in America'' is a major departure from prevailing theatrical realism, with detours into the religious and the supernatural — angels, ghosts, apparitions, and visions appear over and over. What effect do these fantastical elements have on the play as a whole? Go beyond a simple analysis of plot to consider the implications for characters, messages, and themes.
#Is there any connection between [[the Angel]], and [[Mr. Lies]]. If there is a connection, is it a friendly one?

==Additional Resources==
*[http://www.januarymagazine.com/artcult/angelsinam.html Larger Than Life] - A review of'' Angels in America'' by Tony Buchsbaum.
*[http://www.hbo.com/films/angelsinamerica/cast/kushner_interview.html HBO Interview with Tony Kusher]

==Works Cited==

* Garner, Stanton B. ''"Angels in America: The Millennium and Postmodern Memory," in Approaching the Millenium, Essays on Angels in America,'' edited by Deborah R. Geis and Steven F. Kruger, University of Michigan Press, 1987: pp.173-84.

* Glenn, Lane A.. "Angels in America." ''Drama for Students''. Gale, 1999.

* Kruger, Steven F. ''"Identity and Conversion in Angels in America."in Approaching the Millennium: Essays on "Angels in America."'' edited by Deborah R. Geis and Steven F.Kruger, University of Michigan Press, 1997: pp. 151-69.

* Kushner, Tony. ''Angels in America''. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 1995.

* Layman, Bruccoli Clark. ''"Tony Kushner,"in Dictionary of Literary Biography,'' Volume 228: Twentienth Century American Dramatists, Second Series. Edited by Christopher J. Wheatley.

* McNutty, Charles. ''"Angels in America: Tony Kushner's Theses on the Philosophy of History."'' Modern Drama 39,no.1 (Spring 1996): 84-96.

* Meisner, Natalie. ''Messing with the Idyllic: The Performance of Femininity in Kushner's Angels in America''. ''The Yale Journal of Criticism'' 16,no.1 (2003): 177-189.

* Quinn, John R. ''"Corpus Juris Tertium: Redemptive Jurisprudence in Angels in America."'' Theatre Journal 48,no.1 (March 1996): 79-90.

* Trilling, Lionel, et. al. ''Bloom’s Period Studies: Modern American Drama''. Chelsea House Publishers, 2005.

* Jacobus, Lee A., Ed. ''The Beford Introduction to Drama.'' 3rd Ed. Boston: Bedford, 1997.

[[Category:Literature]]

Millennium Approaches 2.10

2006-04-27T02:17:01Z

Shill: /* Study Questions */

==Summary==
Hannah Pitt sits outside her house in Salt Lake City with her good friend Sisiter Ella Chapter. Sister Ella is a real-estate agent that is going to help sell Hannah's house. Sister Ella is trying to convince Hannah from moving away to New York City because Salt Lake is the right place for saints. To which Hannah replys Latter Day Saints. Only kind left according to Sister Ella.

==Notes==
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-Day_Saints Latter-Day Saints](89)-Considered the “Mormom church” and is one of the largest and most well known.

==Commentary==
==Study Questions==
#Why is Sister Ella Chapter selling Hannah's house?
#What does Sister Ella have Hannah fix?
#What reason does Sister Ella give for not wanting Hannah to move?

==External Resources==
==Works Cited==

----
[[Angels in America | Not-Yet-Conscious, Forward Dawning Act 3 Scene 1]]
[[Category:Literature]]

Millennium Approaches 2.10

2006-04-27T02:14:21Z

Shill: corrected a header

==Summary==
Hannah Pitt sits outside her house in Salt Lake City with her good friend Sisiter Ella Chapter. Sister Ella is a real-estate agent that is going to help sell Hannah's house. Sister Ella is trying to convince Hannah from moving away to New York City because Salt Lake is the right place for saints. To which Hannah replys Latter Day Saints. Only kind left according to Sister Ella.

==Notes==
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-Day_Saints Latter-Day Saints](89)-Considered the “Mormom church” and is one of the largest and most well known.

==Commentary==
==Study Questions==
==External Resources==
==Works Cited==

----
[[Angels in America | Not-Yet-Conscious, Forward Dawning Act 3 Scene 1]]
[[Category:Literature]]

Millennium Approaches 2.10

2006-04-27T02:13:22Z

Shill: /* Notes */

==Summary==
Hannah Pitt sits outside her house in Salt Lake City with her good friend Sisiter Ella Chapter. Sister Ella is a real-estate agent that is going to help sell Hannah's house. Sister Ella is trying to convince Hannah from moving away to New York City because Salt Lake is the right place for saints. To which Hannah replys Latter Day Saints. Only kind left according to Sister Ella.

==Notes==
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-Day_Saints Latter-Day Saints](89)-Considered the “Mormom church” and is one of the largest and most well known.

==Commentary==
==Study Questions==
==External Questions==
==Works Cited==

----
[[Angels in America | Not-Yet-Conscious, Forward Dawning Act 3 Scene 1]]
[[Category:Literature]]

Millennium Approaches 2.10

2006-04-27T02:12:11Z

Shill: /* Summary */

==Summary==
Hannah Pitt sits outside her house in Salt Lake City with her good friend Sisiter Ella Chapter. Sister Ella is a real-estate agent that is going to help sell Hannah's house. Sister Ella is trying to convince Hannah from moving away to New York City because Salt Lake is the right place for saints. To which Hannah replys Latter Day Saints. Only kind left according to Sister Ella.

==Notes==
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-Day_Saints Latter-Day Saints](89)-Considered the “Mormom church” and is one of the largest and most well known

==Commentary==
==Study Questions==
==External Questions==
==Works Cited==

----
[[Angels in America | Not-Yet-Conscious, Forward Dawning Act 3 Scene 1]]
[[Category:Literature]]

Millennium Approaches 2.10

2006-04-27T02:11:29Z

Shill: /* Notes */

==Summary==
Hannah Pitt sits outside her house in Salt Lake City with her good friend Sisiter Ella Chapter. Sister Ella is a real-estate agent that is going to help sell Hannah's house. Sister Ella is trying to convince Hannah from moving away to New York City because Salt Lake is the right place for saints. To which Hannah replys Latter Day Saints. Only kind left according to Sister Ella.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints]

==Notes==
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-Day_Saints Latter-Day Saints](89)-Considered the “Mormom church” and is one of the largest and most well known

==Commentary==
==Study Questions==
==External Questions==
==Works Cited==

----
[[Angels in America | Not-Yet-Conscious, Forward Dawning Act 3 Scene 1]]
[[Category:Literature]]

Millennium Approaches 2.10

2006-04-27T02:06:46Z

Shill: /* Summary */

==Summary==
Hannah Pitt sits outside her house in Salt Lake City with her good friend Sisiter Ella Chapter. Sister Ella is a real-estate agent that is going to help sell Hannah's house. Sister Ella is trying to convince Hannah from moving away to New York City because Salt Lake is the right place for saints. To which Hannah replys Latter Day Saints. Only kind left according to Sister Ella.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints]

==Notes==
==Commentary==
==Study Questions==
==External Questions==
==Works Cited==

----
[[Angels in America | Not-Yet-Conscious, Forward Dawning Act 3 Scene 1]]
[[Category:Literature]]

Millennium Approaches 2.10

2006-04-27T01:58:39Z

Shill: /* Summary */

The Man in the Park

2006-04-27T01:47:41Z

Shill:

A man that Louis has an encounter with in Central Park. Ironically he is played by the same actor that plays Prior (the lover that Louis abandons).

Belize

2006-04-27T01:42:59Z

Shill: grammer corrections

A former drag queen and former lover of Prior's. Belize is the drag name taken by Norman Arriaga. Belize is a registerd nurse. The Acter that plays Belize also plays Mr. Lies.

[[Image:Belize.jpg]]

Angels in America

2006-04-23T15:36:34Z

Shill: /* Additional Resources */

[[Image:Angels-in-america-04.jpg|thumb|Angels in America]]

==Factual Information==

==Study Guide==

===Part One: Millennium Approaches===
====Act One: Bad News====
#[[Millennium Approaches 1.1|Act One, Scene 1]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 1.2|Act One, Scene 2]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 1.3|Act One, Scene 3]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 1.4|Act One, Scene 4]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 1.5|Act One, Scene 5]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 1.6|Act One, Scene 6]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 1.7|Act One, Scene 7]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 1.8|Act One, Scene 8]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 1.9|Act One, Scene 9]]
====Act Two: In Vitro====
#[[Millennium Approaches 2.1|Act Two, Scene 1]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 2.2|Act Two, Scene 2]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 2.3|Act Two, Scene 3]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 2.4|Act Two, Scene 4]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 2.5|Act Two, Scene 5]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 2.6|Act Two, Scene 6]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 2.7|Act Two, Scene 7]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 2.8|Act Two, Scene 8]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 2.9|Act Two, Scene 9]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 2.10|Act Two, Scene 10]]
====Act Three: Not-Yet-Conscious, Foward Dawning====
#[[Millennium Approaches 3.1|Act Three, Scene 1]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 3.2|Act Three, Scene 2]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 3.3|Act Three, Scene 3]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 3.4|Act Three, Scene 4]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 3.5|Act Three, Scene 5]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 3.6|Act Three, Scene 6]]
#[[Millennium Approaches 3.7|Act Three, Scene 7]]

===Part Two: Perestroika===
====Act One: Spooj====
#[[Perestroika 1.1|Act One, Scene 1]]
#[[Perestroika 1.2|Act One, Scene 2]]
#[[Perestroika 1.3|Act One, Scene 3]]
#[[Perestroika 1.4|Act One, Scene 4]]
#[[Perestroika 1.5|Act One, Scene 5]]
#[[Perestroika 1.6|Act One, Scene 6]]
====Act Two: The Epistle====
#[[Perestroika 2.1|Act Two, Scene 1]]
====Act Three: Borborygmi====
#[[Perestroika 3.1|Act Three, Scene 1]]
#[[Perestroika 3.2|Act Three, Scene 2]]
#[[Perestroika 3.3|Act Three, Scene 3]]
#[[Perestroika 3.4|Act Three, Scene 4]]
#[[Perestroika 3.5|Act Three, Scene 5]]
====Act Four: John Brown's Body====
#[[Perestroika 4.1|Act Four, Scene 1]]
#[[Perestroika 4.2|Act Four, Scene 2]]
#[[Perestroika 4.3|Act Four, Scene 3]]
#[[Perestroika 4.4|Act Four, Scene 4]]
#[[Perestroika 4.5|Act Four, Scene 5]]
#[[Perestroika 4.6|Act Four, Scene 6]]
#[[Perestroika 4.7|Act Four, Scene 7]]
#[[Perestroika 4.8|Act Four, Scene 8]]
#[[Perestroika 4.9|Act Four, Scene 9]]
====Act Five: Heaven, I'm in Heaven====
#[[Perestroika 5.1|Act Five, Scene 1]]
#[[Perestroika 5.2|Act Five, Scene 2]]
#[[Perestroika 5.3|Act Five, Scene 3]]
#[[Perestroika 5.4|Act Five, Scene 4]]
#[[Perestroika 5.5|Act Five, Scene 5]]
#[[Perestroika 5.6|Act Five, Scene 6]]
#[[Perestroika 5.7|Act Five, Scene 7]]
#[[Perestroika 5.8|Act Five, Scene 8]]
#[[Perestroika 5.9|Act Five, Scene 9]]
#[[Perestroika 5.10|Act Five, Scene 10]]
====Epilogue: Bethesda====
#[[Perestroika Epilogue]]

==Characters==
[[Roy Cohn]]

[[Joseph Porter Pitt]]

[[Harper Amaty Pitt]]

[[Louis Ironson]]

[[Prior Walter]]

[[Hannah Porter Pitt]]

[[Belize]]

[[The Angel]]

[[Rabbi Isidor Chemelwitz]]

[[Mr. Lies]]

[[The Man in the Park]]

[[The Voice]]

[[Henry]]

[[Emily]]

[[Martin Heller]]

[[Sister Ella Chapter]]

[[Prior I]]

[[Prior II]]

[[The Eskimo]]

[[The Woman in the South Bronx]]

[[Ethel Rosenberg]]

==Major Themes==
''Angels in America'' is in many ways a play about conversion.The experience of HIV illness is often conceived as involving a conversion of the self, and Prior's discovery that he has AIDS is depicted in part as making him a new person: I'm a lessionnaire". The Angel's visitation to Prior takes the form of a mission of conversion:given a new identity, Prior is like Joseph Smith, to become Prophet of a new dispensation. Indeed, in the course of the play all its characters undergo startling shifts in identity. Hannah is not only physically transplanted to New York but becomes ''"noticeably different--she looks like a New Yorker''. Roy , who clings tenaciously to his professional status a a lawyer,is disbarred just before his death. Harper moves through a period of dysfunction to strike out on her own, choosing "the real San Francisco, on earth," with its "unspeakable beauty" (Kruger 4).

Kushner uses split scenes to make more explicit the contrapuntal relationship between these seemingly disconnected narrative worlds. Roy's meeting with Joe, to discuss the junior attorney's future as a "Roy-Boy" in Washington, occurs alongside the scene in which Louis is sodomized in the Central Park Rambles by a leather clad mama's boy.Louis's mini-symposium at the coffee shop is simultaneous with Prior's medical checkup at an outpatient clinic. Dreams,ghosts, and a flock of dithering, hermaphroditic angels are also used to break through the play's realistic structure, to conjoin seemingly disparate characters, and to reveal the poetic resonances and interconnectedness of everyday life (McNulty 4).

==Major Symbols==

==Influences==

==Study Questions==
#Many of the gay characters struggle with the question of how their sexuality should be, and several come out in different ways during the course of the play. Discuss the meaning of the ''closet'' — are closeted characters different from uncloseted ones? What implications does coming out have for self and community?
#"It's law not justice," Joe tells Louis during their final breakup. Discuss the themes of law and justice as they appear in the play. Is Joe correct that the two are separate entities? Or does the play encourage a more visionary potential of the law?
#Belize stands out as exceptionally compassionate and good, yet at times seems two-dimensional. Which view is correct? Is Belize a virtuous stereotype or a complex moral authority?
#What does the subtitle "A Gay Fantasia on National Themes" suggest? What national themes are evident in the plays? What is the relationship between "gay" and "national"?
#[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perestroika <i>Perestroika</i>] was the term for Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of political and economic reform in the Soviet Union. In what ways does the play represent the possibility of ''perestroika'' in America? Is this an appropriate title for part two?
#Choosing at least two examples ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethel_Rosenberg The Rosenberg Trial], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1906_earthquake The San Francisco Earthquake], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl Chernobyl], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reagan_administration The Reagan Administration]), analyze the role of history in the plays. Does Kushner more or less depict events as they happened? If not, what dramatic and thematic purposes does he serve by shading the facts?
#As a "fantasia," ''Angels in America'' is a major departure from prevailing theatrical realism, with detours into the religious and the supernatural — angels, ghosts, apparitions, and visions appear over and over. What effect do these fantastical elements have on the play as a whole? Go beyond a simple analysis of plot to consider the implications for characters, messages, and themes.

==Additional Resources==
*[http://www.januarymagazine.com/artcult/angelsinam.html Larger Than Life] - A review of'' Angels in America'' by Tony Buchsbaum.
*[http://www.hbo.com/films/angelsinamerica/cast/kushner_interview.html HBO Interview with Tony Kusher]

==Works Cited==

* Garner, Stanton B. ''"Angels in America: The Millennium and Postmodern Memory," in Approaching the Millenium, Essays on Angels in America,'' edited by Deborah R. Geis and Steven F. Kruger, University of Michigan Press, 1987: pp.173-84.

* Glenn, Lane A.. "Angels in America." ''Drama for Students''. Gale, 1999.

* Kruger, Steven F. ''"Identity and Conversion in Angels in America."in Approaching the Millennium: Essays on "Angels in America."'' edited by Deborah R. Geis and Steven F.Kruger, University of Michigan Press, 1997: pp. 151-69.

* Layman, Bruccoli Clark. ''"Tony Kushner,"in Dictionary of Literary Biography,'' Volume 228: Twentienth Century American Dramatists, Second Series. Edited by Christopher J. Wheatley.

* McNutty, Charles. ''"Angels in America: Tony Kushner's Theses on the Philosophy of History."'' Modern Drama 39,no.1 (Spring 1996): 84-96.

* Meisner, Natalie. ''Messing with the Idyllic: The Performance of Femininity in Kushner's Angels in America''. ''The Yale Journal of Criticism'' 16,no.1 (2003): 177-189.

* Quinn, John R. ''"Corpus Juris Tertium: Redemptive Jurisprudence in Angels in America."'' Theatre Journal 48,no.1 (March 1996): 79-90.

* Trilling, Lionel, et. al. ''Bloom’s Period Studies: Modern American Drama''. Chelsea House Publishers, 2005.

* Kushner, Tony. ''Angels in America''. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 1995.

[[Category:Literature]]

Perestroika 1.2

2006-04-23T15:26:27Z

Shill:

==Summary==
Harper is imagining that she is in Antartica and Mr. Lies is sitting alone playing the oboe. Harper is dragging a small pine tree that she chewed down with her teeth from over the hill. Joe appears in her imagination as an eskimo. She begs him to come back and he refuses and disappears. Mr. Lies disappears because police lights start to flash. Harper's imagination is over.
==Notes==
==External Resources==
==Works Cited==

Roy Cohn

2006-04-23T15:20:00Z

Shill: Added a External Resource

The character of Roy Cohn serves as vehicle for Kushner's most telling act of counterhistory. As a "Saint of the Right", Cohn represents a point of continuity between the anticommunism of the 1950's and the Republic ascendancy of the Reagan 1980s (Garner 5).

Kushner employs a quite different brand of humor with the character of Cohn, whose gleefully bitter corruption is both comic and frightening. Cohn is a rapacious predator who is first discovered in his command module juggling phone calls and wishing he had eight arms like an octopus. Roy's self-loathing is his most unsettling quality, vividly shown in his scathing denial of his homosexuality: "Like all labels they tell you one thing and one thing only: where does an individual so identified fit in the food chain,in the pecking order? Cohn represents a kind of trickle-down morality in ''Angels in America''; he is a symbol of Kushner's notion that if there is corruption, hypocrisy, and bad faith at the top, it will ultimately seep down to each individual in the society (Layman 10).

Like an incipient cancer, Cohn's corruption, however destructive, is nonetheless insidious. It infiltrates and draws on the body's internal systems to spread, eventually overtaking and destroying the host--Cohn or the law.Although he corrupts the method by which judges decide cases (by sleeping with them and the like), he does not try to have cases decided any other way (Quinn 3).

Cohn's deviation from the jurisprudential norm is indeed like that of a cancer, ravenous in its hunger, growing and operating at a rate independent of the rest of the body of which it is a part, destined to overtake and kill the very body that sustains it. But the corrupt, diseased, tumorous nature of Cohn's lawyering also has important textual and thematic links with the physical infection and ensuing "corruption" of Cohn's flesh and blood with AIDS (Quinn).

==External Resource==
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Cohn Roy Cohn]

Ethel Rosenberg

2006-04-23T15:16:58Z

Shill: /* Works Cited */

“Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were executed for espionage in Sing Sing Prison on 19 June 1953. They had been convicted of giving American atomic secrets to the Soviets during World War II. Though the government was convinced of their guilt, many people were not and the debate over their guilt or innocence did not stop with their deaths. Subsequent declassified government documents have however indicated that Julius Rosenberg did indeed spy for the Soviets but that the government's case against Ethel Rosenberg was quite weak.(CCNY Libraries reference and research)

”http://www.math.ucsd.edu/~crypto/Projects/AnthonyZanontian/KGB%20PROJECT/IMAGES/GUYS/rosenbergs.gif

== Works Cited ==

*http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/library/Divisions/Government/rosenbergs.html

==External Resource==

*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethel_Rosenberg Ethel Rosenberg]

Perestroika 1.1

2006-04-23T13:34:05Z

Shill:

==Summary==
Mr. Prelapsarianov is standing at the podium, facing a great red
flag discussing a plan to bring about change. "Can we change?"(147) He also discusses ''Theory'' and how to proceed with Theory. He asks several questions reguarding Theory. "And what have you to offer, children of this theory?"(148) "American cheeseburgers?"(147)

==Notes==
==Study Questions==
==External Resources==

==Works Cited==

----

[[Category:Literature]]

Millennium Approaches 1.5

2006-04-18T12:53:24Z

Shill: /* Study Questions */

==Summary==

Joe and Harper are at home discussing the pros and cons of moving to Washington D.C. Harper does not want to go she feels nothing good happens there. Joe tells her he is tired of being a chief clerk, and wants to go where some good is happeneing. Harper compares their apartment to the one in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosemary's_Baby ''Rosemary's Baby''], and claims Georgetown was the town of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Exorcist ''The Exorcist''].

Louis and Rabbi Isidor Chemelwitz are in the cemetery in front of the little coffin. Louis asks the Rabbi what the [http://www.thefreedictionary.com/holy+writ Holy Writ] says about someone who abandons someone in a time of need.

==Notes==

*'''Rosemary's Baby''' (30)- a 1967 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosemary's_Baby horror novel]by Ira Levin and a 1968 film directed by Roman Polański
*'''The Exorcist''' (30)- a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Exorcist novel] written by William Peter Blatty.Published in 1971. Blatty also wrote the screenplay for the horror film in 1973.
*'''Holy Writ''' (31)- [http://www.thefreedictionary.com/holy+writ Sacred writings]: Religious Text: The Christian Bible.

==Commentary==

==Study Questions==
#According to Harper what is Washington D.C.?
#Why does Joe want to make some changes?
#What reasons does Harper give for staying in Brooklyn?
#What movie does Harper compare their apartment to in Brooklyn?
#What movie does Harper compare Georgetown to?
# What quote does the Rabbi tell Louis and what is it from?
#According to the Rabbi Catholics believe in _____and Jews believe in_______?

==External Resources==

==Works Cited==

------
[[Angels in America | Millennium Approaches Act 1 Scene 6]]

[[Category:Literature]]

Millennium Approaches 1.5

2006-04-18T00:00:25Z

Shill: /* Notes */

==Summary==

Joe and Harper are at home discussing the pros and cons of moving to Washington D.C. Harper does not want to go she feels nothing good happens there. Joe tells her he is tired of being a chief clerk, and wants to go where some good is happeneing. Harper compares their apartment to the one in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosemary's_Baby ''Rosemary's Baby''], and claims Georgetown was the town of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Exorcist ''The Exorcist''].

Louis and Rabbi Isidor Chemelwitz are in the cemetery in front of the little coffin. Louis asks the Rabbi what the [http://www.thefreedictionary.com/holy+writ Holy Writ] says about someone who abandons someone in a time of need.

==Notes==

*'''Rosemary's Baby'''(30)- a 1967 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosemary's_Baby horror novel]by Ira Levin and a 1968 film directed by Roman Polański
*'''The Exorcist''' (30)- a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Exorcist novel] written by William Peter Blatty.Published in 1971. Blatty also wrote the screenplay for the horror film in 1973.
*'''Holy Writ'''(31)- [http://www.thefreedictionary.com/holy+writ Sacred writings]: Religious Text: The Christian Bible.

==Commentary==

==Study Questions==

==External Resources==

==Works Cited==

------
[[Angels in America | Millennium Approaches Act 1 Scene 6]]

[[Category:Literature]]

Millennium Approaches 1.5

2006-04-17T23:56:04Z

Shill: /* Summary */

Millennium Approaches 1.5

2006-04-17T23:53:46Z

Shill: /* Notes */

Millennium Approaches 1.5

2006-04-17T23:48:25Z

Shill: /* Summary */

Millennium Approaches 1.5

2006-04-17T23:46:24Z

Shill: /* Notes */

Millennium Approaches 1.5

2006-04-17T23:40:11Z

Shill: /* Summary */

Millennium Approaches 1.5

2006-04-17T23:34:43Z

Shill: /* Summary */

Millennium Approaches 1.5

2006-04-17T23:24:59Z

Shill: /* Summary */

Millennium Approaches 3.7

2006-04-17T23:03:29Z

Shill:

==Summary==
==Notes==
==Commentary==
==Study Questions==
==External Resources==
==Works Cited==

----
[[Angels in America | Perestroika Part 2 Spooj Act 1 Scene 1]]
[[Category:Literature]]

Millennium Approaches 3.6

2006-04-17T23:00:22Z

Shill:

==Summary==
==Notes==
==Commentary==
==Study Questions==
==External Resources==
==Works Cited==

----
[[Angels in America | Not-Yet-Conscious, Forward Dawning Act 3 Scene 7]]
[[Category:Literature]]

Millennium Approaches 3.5

2006-04-17T22:58:24Z

Shill:

==Summary==
==Notes==
==Commentary==
==Study Questions==
==External Resources==
==Works Cited==

----
[[Angels in America | Not-Yet-Conscious, Forward Dawning Act 3 Scene 6]]
[[Category:Literature]]

Millennium Approaches 3.4

2006-04-17T22:56:33Z

Shill:

==Summary==
==Notes==
==Commentary==
==Study Questions==
==External Resources==
==Works Cited==

----
[[Angels in America | Not-Yet-Conscious, Forward Dawning Act 3 Scene 5]]
[[Category:Literature]]

Millennium Approaches 3.3

2006-04-17T22:54:18Z

Shill:

==Summary==
==Notes==
==Commentary==
==Study Questions==
==External Resources==
==Works Cited==

----
[[Angels in America | Not-Yet-conscious, Forward Dawning Act 3 Scene 4]]
[[Category:Literature]]

Millennium Approaches 3.2

2006-04-17T22:52:08Z

Shill:

==Summary==
==Notes==
==Commentary==
==Study Questions==
==External Resources==
==Works Cited==

----
[[Angels in America | Not-Yet-Conscious, Forward Dawning Act 3 Scene 3]]
[[Category:Literature]]

Millennium Approaches 3.1

2006-04-17T22:50:08Z

Shill:

==Summary==
==Notes==
==Commentary==
==Study Questions==
==External Resources==
==Works Cited==

----
[[Angels in America | Not-Yet-Conscious, Forward Dawning Act 3 Scene 2]]
[[Category:Literature]]

Millennium Approaches 2.10

2006-04-17T22:48:02Z

Shill:

==Summary==
==Notes==
==Commentary==
==Study Questions==
==External Questions==
==Works Cited==

----
[[Angels in America | Not-Yet-Conscious, Forward Dawning Act 3 Scene 1]]
[[Category:Literature]]

Millennium Approaches 2.9

2006-04-17T22:45:22Z

Shill:

==Summary==
==Notes==
==Commentary==
==Study Questions==
==External Questions==
==Works Cited==

----
[[Angels in America | In Vitro Act 2 Scene 19]]
[[Category:Literature]]

Millennium Approaches 2.8

2006-04-17T22:43:37Z

Shill: /* Works Cited */

==Summary==
==Notes==
==Commentary==
==External Resources==
==Works Cited==

----
[[Angels in America | In Vitro Act 2 Scene 9]]
[[Category:Literature]]

Millennium Approaches 2.8

2006-04-17T22:43:04Z

Shill:

==Summary==
==Notes==
==Commentary==
==External Resources==
==Works Cited==

----
[[America in America | In Vitro Act 2 Scene 9]]
[[Category:Literature]]

Millennium Approaches 2.7

2006-04-17T22:41:34Z

Shill:

==Summary==
==Notes==
==Commentary==
==Study Questions==
==External Resources==
==Works Cited==

----
[[Angels in America | In Vitro Act 2 Scene 8]]
[[Category:Literature]]

Millennium Approaches 2.5

2006-04-17T22:39:20Z

Shill: /* Works Cited */

==Summary==
==Notes==
==Commentary==
==Study Questions==
==External Resources==
==Works Cited==

----
[[Angels in America | In Vitro Act2 Scene 6]]
[[Category:Literature]]

Millennium Approaches 2.4

2006-04-17T22:38:41Z

Shill: /* Works Cited */

==Summary==
Sitting in a fancy bar, Joe explains to Roy his marriage to Harper, as well as his spiritual struggles. Joe tells Roy that he feels responsible for Harper's emotional problems, but Roy still pushes him into taking the job in Washington. Then Roy brings up the subject of father-figures. Joe tells him that he did not have a good relationship with his - now deceased - father. Later, Roy reveals to Joe that he is dying of "cancer" (64).

Meanwhile, Louis is in the park, exchanging glances with a man. They talk dirty, but they have no place to go since Louis lives with Prior and the man lives with his parents. They begin to have sex but the man stops when the condom breaks. The man then says he wants to leave, at which Louis responds, "Give my best to mom and dad" (63). The man slaps him and leaves.

==Notes==
*'''Walter Winchell''' (62) - an American newspaper and radio [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Winchell commentator] who invented the gossip column at the ''New York Evening Graphic''.

*'''Edgar Hoover''' (62) - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Hoover J. Edgar Hoover], the founder of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Bureau_of_Investigation Federal Bureau of Investigation].

*'''Joe McCarthy''' (62) - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_mccarthy Joseph McCarthy], a Republican Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 to 1957. McCarthy is known for making freewheeling accusations of membership in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist communist party] or of communist sympathies. He appointed Roy as chief counsel.

==Commentary==

==Study Questions==
#According to Joe, why does Harper take Valium?
#Why did Joe marry Harper?
#Who does Roy list as his father-figures?
#What kind of a relationship did Joe have with his father?
#What does Roy reveal to Joe near the end of the scene?
#Where are Louis and the man?
#Why can't they go to the man's place?
#Why do they stop having sex?
#What does Louis say to make the man slap him?

==External Resources==

==Works Cited==
*Kushner, Tony. ''Angels in America''. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 1995.

----
[[Angels in America | In Vitro Act 2 Scene 5]]
[[Category:Literature]]

Millennium Approaches 2.3

2006-04-17T22:38:21Z

Shill: /* Works Cited */

==Summary==
==Notes==
==Commentary==
==Study Questions==
==External Resources==
==Works Cited==

----
[[Angels in America | In Vitro Act 2 Scene 4]]
[[Category:Literature]]

Millennium Approaches 2.2

2006-04-17T22:37:55Z

Shill: /* Works Cited */

==Summary==
==Notes==
==Commentary==
==Study Questions==
==External Resources==
==Works Cited==

----
[[Angels in America | In Vitro Act 2 Scene 3]]
[[Category:Literature]]

Millennium Approaches 2.1

2006-04-17T22:37:31Z

Shill: /* Works Cited */

==Summary==
==Notes==
==Commentary==
==Study Questions==
==External Resources==
==Works Cited==

----
[[Angels in America | In Vitro Act 2 Scene 2]]
[[Category:Literature]]

Millennium Approaches 2.6

2006-04-17T22:36:03Z

Shill: /* Works Cited */

==Summary==
The scene takes place in a fancy Manhattan restaurant. Joe, Roy and a new character, Martin, are discussing politics. Roy reveals his disbarment hearings and his plans for Joe's help in the case. He wants Joe to go to Washington, take the job in the Justice Department, and intervene on his behalf. Joe is very trepiditious about such a venture; he is worried about the moral and ethical ramifications. Roy and Martin push until Joe agrees to think about it.

==Notes==
*'''Liberalism''' (69) - an ideology, philosophy, and political [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberalism tradition] which holds liberty as the primary political value.

*'''New Deal Socialism''' (69) - the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal name] given to the series of programs implemented between 1933-37 under [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt President Franklin D. Roosevelt] with the goal of relief, recovery and reform of the United States economy during the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression Great Depression].

*'''Bolsheviks''' (70) - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolsheviks members] of the Marxist Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party's Bolshevik faction. Bolsheviks had an extreme socialist and internationalist outlook, and were opponents of the Russian traditional statehood and the Russian Orthodox Church.

*'''"...turned St. Petersburg into Leningrad..."''' (70) - Roy is referring to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Petersburg St. Petersburg, Russia], which became known as Leningrad in 1924 in honor of the Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin, who led the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_Revolution October Revolution]. It was later changed back to St. Petersburg in 1991, after the collapse of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union Soviet Union].

*'''Marx and Engels''' (70) - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marx Karl Marx] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Engels Friedrich Engels] were the co-founders of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxism Marxism] and the authors of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Communist_Manifesto ''The Communist Manifesto''].

*'''Lenin and Trotsky''' (70) - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Lenin Vladimir Lenin] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Trotsky Leon Trotsky] were both Bolshevik revolutionaries in Russia during the early 20th century.

*'''Josef Stalin and Franklin D. Roosevelt''' (70) - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin Stalin], leader of the Soviet Union from 1924 to 1953, and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt Roosevelt], the U.S. President from 1933 to 1945, were allies during [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II World War II].

*'''New York State Bar Association''' (71) - Founded in Albany in November of 1871, the [http://www.nysba.org NYSBA] is now the largest [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_State_Bar_Association association] of lawyers in the U.S., with about 72,000 members.

*'''Brahmin''' (73) - a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmin] member of a certain division of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism Hindu] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caste_system caste system].

*'''"ipso facto secular humanism"''' (73) - The phrase [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipso_facto "ipso facto"] is Latin in origin and, when used in a religious context, indicates an individual guilty of specified actions considered unlawful by a committee, resulting in removal of membership from the religious group. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_humanism Secular humanism] is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanism humanist] philosophy that upholds reason, ethics, and justice and rejects rituals and ceremonies as a means to affirm their life stance.

==Commentary==
Religion, Judaism in particular, plays a very important role in Tony Kushner's ''Angels in America''. Kushner himself is Jewish, even though he doesn't care much for the religion and instead calls himself a "serious agnostic" (Glenn).
[[Image:Kushner.jpg|right|thumb|''Tony Kushner'']]

One of the characters through which Judaism is represented is Roy Cohn, a divorce lawyer who has been diagnosed with AIDS. Roy is very ambitious, which is shown through his enthusiastic overuse of the telephone system in his office. He uses everything and everyone, especially the law, to his best advantage.

While Roy claims to not be a religious person, he actually just has a very different way of identifying with his Jewish faith (Glenn). He realizes that his faith, as well as his sexuality, would most likely get in the way of his political aspirations so he chooses not to fully embrace these lifestyles. "I'm about to be tried, Joe, by a jury that is not a jury of my peers. The disbarment committee: genteel gentlemen Brahmin lawyers, country-club men. I offend them, to these men ... I'm what, Martin, some sort of filthy little Jewish troll?" (72-73). He believes that his job is affected by his religion, the same way he believes it would be in jeopardy if he publicly announced that he is "homosexual" and has AIDS. As a result, he attempts to hide it all in hope that it will not threaten his political reputation.

Another Jewish character is Louis Ironson. He is also rather detached from his faith, calling himself "an intensely secular Jew" (256) and instead developing "his own philosophy of life" (Glenn). He doesn't speak any Yiddish, he didn't have a Bar Mitzvah, and he does not know the Kaddish (nor what language it's in, for that matter). He criticizes Judaism, insisting that "It should be the questions and shape of a life, its total complexity gathered, arranged, and considered, which matters in the end, not some stamp of salvation or damnation which disperses all the complexity in some unsatisfying little decision - the balancing of the scale" (44-45).

Kushner says that Louis is "the closest thing to an autobiographical character he has ever created" (Glenn). They are both homosexual Jews who are uncertain about their family's religion. Kushner also claims that his family went to a very "Reform" Jewish congregation. "We didn't know Yiddish, we didn't know Hebrew, we didn't know prayers" (Glenn).

Though Louis and Roy are ''very'' different characters, they both, like Kushner, have strayed from their Jewish roots and developed their own views on life.

==Study Questions==
#Why does Roy ask Martin to rub his back?
#Who is Roy's letter from? What does it say?
#Why does Roy say he is being disbarred?
#What is the actual reason for his being disbarred?
#Why does Roy want Joe to take the job in Washington?

==External Resources==
*[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/index.html Jewish Virtual Library]

==Works Cited==
* Glenn, Lane A.. "Angels in America." ''Drama for Students''. Gale, 1999.
*Kushner, Tony. ''Angels in America''. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 1995.
----
[[Angels in America | In Vitro Act 2 Scene 7]]
[[Category:Literature]]

Millennium Approaches 2.6

2006-04-17T22:35:30Z

Shill: /* Works Cited */

==Summary==
The scene takes place in a fancy Manhattan restaurant. Joe, Roy and a new character, Martin, are discussing politics. Roy reveals his disbarment hearings and his plans for Joe's help in the case. He wants Joe to go to Washington, take the job in the Justice Department, and intervene on his behalf. Joe is very trepiditious about such a venture; he is worried about the moral and ethical ramifications. Roy and Martin push until Joe agrees to think about it.

==Notes==
*'''Liberalism''' (69) - an ideology, philosophy, and political [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberalism tradition] which holds liberty as the primary political value.

*'''New Deal Socialism''' (69) - the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal name] given to the series of programs implemented between 1933-37 under [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt President Franklin D. Roosevelt] with the goal of relief, recovery and reform of the United States economy during the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression Great Depression].

*'''Bolsheviks''' (70) - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolsheviks members] of the Marxist Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party's Bolshevik faction. Bolsheviks had an extreme socialist and internationalist outlook, and were opponents of the Russian traditional statehood and the Russian Orthodox Church.

*'''"...turned St. Petersburg into Leningrad..."''' (70) - Roy is referring to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Petersburg St. Petersburg, Russia], which became known as Leningrad in 1924 in honor of the Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin, who led the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_Revolution October Revolution]. It was later changed back to St. Petersburg in 1991, after the collapse of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union Soviet Union].

*'''Marx and Engels''' (70) - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marx Karl Marx] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Engels Friedrich Engels] were the co-founders of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxism Marxism] and the authors of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Communist_Manifesto ''The Communist Manifesto''].

*'''Lenin and Trotsky''' (70) - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Lenin Vladimir Lenin] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Trotsky Leon Trotsky] were both Bolshevik revolutionaries in Russia during the early 20th century.

*'''Josef Stalin and Franklin D. Roosevelt''' (70) - [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin Stalin], leader of the Soviet Union from 1924 to 1953, and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt Roosevelt], the U.S. President from 1933 to 1945, were allies during [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II World War II].

*'''New York State Bar Association''' (71) - Founded in Albany in November of 1871, the [http://www.nysba.org NYSBA] is now the largest [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_State_Bar_Association association] of lawyers in the U.S., with about 72,000 members.

*'''Brahmin''' (73) - a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmin] member of a certain division of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism Hindu] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caste_system caste system].

*'''"ipso facto secular humanism"''' (73) - The phrase [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipso_facto "ipso facto"] is Latin in origin and, when used in a religious context, indicates an individual guilty of specified actions considered unlawful by a committee, resulting in removal of membership from the religious group. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_humanism Secular humanism] is a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanism humanist] philosophy that upholds reason, ethics, and justice and rejects rituals and ceremonies as a means to affirm their life stance.

==Commentary==
Religion, Judaism in particular, plays a very important role in Tony Kushner's ''Angels in America''. Kushner himself is Jewish, even though he doesn't care much for the religion and instead calls himself a "serious agnostic" (Glenn).
[[Image:Kushner.jpg|right|thumb|''Tony Kushner'']]

One of the characters through which Judaism is represented is Roy Cohn, a divorce lawyer who has been diagnosed with AIDS. Roy is very ambitious, which is shown through his enthusiastic overuse of the telephone system in his office. He uses everything and everyone, especially the law, to his best advantage.

While Roy claims to not be a religious person, he actually just has a very different way of identifying with his Jewish faith (Glenn). He realizes that his faith, as well as his sexuality, would most likely get in the way of his political aspirations so he chooses not to fully embrace these lifestyles. "I'm about to be tried, Joe, by a jury that is not a jury of my peers. The disbarment committee: genteel gentlemen Brahmin lawyers, country-club men. I offend them, to these men ... I'm what, Martin, some sort of filthy little Jewish troll?" (72-73). He believes that his job is affected by his religion, the same way he believes it would be in jeopardy if he publicly announced that he is "homosexual" and has AIDS. As a result, he attempts to hide it all in hope that it will not threaten his political reputation.

Another Jewish character is Louis Ironson. He is also rather detached from his faith, calling himself "an intensely secular Jew" (256) and instead developing "his own philosophy of life" (Glenn). He doesn't speak any Yiddish, he didn't have a Bar Mitzvah, and he does not know the Kaddish (nor what language it's in, for that matter). He criticizes Judaism, insisting that "It should be the questions and shape of a life, its total complexity gathered, arranged, and considered, which matters in the end, not some stamp of salvation or damnation which disperses all the complexity in some unsatisfying little decision - the balancing of the scale" (44-45).

Kushner says that Louis is "the closest thing to an autobiographical character he has ever created" (Glenn). They are both homosexual Jews who are uncertain about their family's religion. Kushner also claims that his family went to a very "Reform" Jewish congregation. "We didn't know Yiddish, we didn't know Hebrew, we didn't know prayers" (Glenn).

Though Louis and Roy are ''very'' different characters, they both, like Kushner, have strayed from their Jewish roots and developed their own views on life.

==Study Questions==
#Why does Roy ask Martin to rub his back?
#Who is Roy's letter from? What does it say?
#Why does Roy say he is being disbarred?
#What is the actual reason for his being disbarred?
#Why does Roy want Joe to take the job in Washington?

==External Resources==
*[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/index.html Jewish Virtual Library]

==Works Cited==
* Glenn, Lane A.. "Angels in America." ''Drama for Students''. Gale, 1999.
*Kushner, Tony. ''Angels in America''. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 1995.

[[Angels in America | In Vitro Act 2 Scene 7]]
[[Category:Literature]]