Millennium Approaches 2.6

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).

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 may not seem like a very 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 hopes that it will not threaten his political reputation.

Works Cited

• Glenn, Lane A.. Drama for Students. Gale, 1999.
• Kushner, Tony. Angels in America. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 1995.