Deep within American culture lies a multitude of internalized topics that, for a time, seemed to tear apart individuals; examples of these topics are religion, sexuality, race, gender, economic class and much more. Tony Kushner's magnum opus, Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, brings all these issues to the stage, analyzes them, humanizes them and ultimately brings its characters into a unified coexistence despite the forces that separate them. This unified coexistence, Kushner asserts, is progress, and the public increasingly understands Kushner's hypothesis: that progress can be achieved through the fundamental act of forgiveness. The play is set in the 1980s, one of the most divided eras in American history, and features characters forced to overcome this era of internalized irony in order for the world to survive the chaos. The endings of both parts of the play are crucial to this idea, as they shape the actions of the play's events into Kushner's aforementioned thesis of progress and growth. The analysis of the character in the age of irony and the importance of the ending follow one another throughout the play before merging in the epilogue. The final scene introduces the audience to four characters (Prior, Louis, Belize, and Hannah) who specifically triumph over previously restrictive ironies and summarize the activity of the play in order to convey Kushner's true point: individuals must keep the world in their state of “painful progress” in forgiving themselves and others. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an Original EssayIn order to discuss the importance of triumph over irony, it is necessary to disclose the era in which the piece is set : the 1980s, sometimes called the “Me Decade”. This is the era of consumerism, with the rise of the "yuppie" character and cultural emphasis on flaunting wealth and status, apparently supported by the economic policies of Ronald Reagan. It's an economically ironic time, where the rich are getting very rich and the poor are still, if not more, poor. Thus, the country finds itself in a state of economic polarization, angering many people who recognize inequality. Abroad, communism remains the perennial threat to American capitalism, despite its apparent victory in some areas of the American experience. Meanwhile, the discovery of AIDS in 1981 transformed national ambivalence toward homosexuality into a full-blown war between heterosexuals and homosexuals, thus dividing the country into an even more divided state of being. In summary, the 1980s were a decade characterized by growing divisions between all types of people. The characters in Angels in America face these problems head-on and gradually discover that unity is the only way to survive what could potentially be the death of American society. Prior Walter is one of many characters forced to confront inner irony. him in order to survive the times in which he lives. He describes himself as a WASP, a societal group generally linked to heterosexuality, and is so well-bred that his family says: "Back to the Norman Conquest...there's a Prior Walter sewn into the body." Bayeux Tapestry” (Kushner I, 135). Despite this apparent social distinction, Prior unknowingly separates himself from it by living as a homosexual, and even more so by living as a homosexual with AIDS. This depiction of Prior is solidified in Millennium Approaches, where the ravages of his illness, his grief whenLouis leaves him, and eventually his call from the Angel shows him being followed. This only serves to isolate himself from things that characterize him other than his illness and his sexuality, such as his education and his economic situation. Prior becomes a fighter throughout Perestroika in many ways, including learning to curb the effects of his illness and making amends with Louis. By accepting the realities of his life and making the most of them, Prior reconciles the themes that divided his inner self in Act I. The angels asked Prior to be their voice in the world and tell the world to stop moving. . As payback, Prior said to them after rejecting their request: “Bless me anyway. I want more life. I can't help it. I do” (Kushner II, 135). Prior has forgiven his inner ironies and decided that it is better to live with them than not to live at all, and this is brought into universality in the epilogue. Louis, a cappuccino intellectual with endless views on everything from his left-wing politics to philosophy, is ironic in two ways: his attraction to a closeted Republican and his disconnected relationship with Judaism. As he and Joe try to be happy despite their differences, their differences prove to be their inner foundations, thus preventing them from living a life of coexistence. The irony of their relationship is something neither of them can overcome; we see this when Louis confronts Joe with his homophobic ghostwriting and Joe can only shout back “WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME!” I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU” (Kushner II, 110). With Joe unable to deal with the contradictions he lives in, the relationship ultimately fails because it is fundamentally paradoxical to Kushner's idea of ​​progress and growth. Meanwhile, Louis' disconnection from Judaism is symbolized by the death of his grandmother, of whom he says: "I pretended for years that she was already dead...I abandoned her" (Kushner I , 24). The quote is a metaphor for his abandonment of Judaism; a religion which, according to Rabbi Chemelwitz, advocates “guilt” (Kushner I, 25). Louis finally understands this idea of ​​guilt after abandoning Prior, but at the end of Perestroika he reconciles with Prior and finally with Judaism by reciting Kaddish with Ethel Rosenberg over the body of Roy Cohn. In this scene, Louis symbolically takes responsibility for abandoning his lover (who was temporarily in the afterlife at the time) and his religion, displaying major growth in his moral character. Although Louis cannot undo what he has done, his inner development is a gradual journey that leads to his place in the epilogue. Hannah's presence in the play is characterized by rebirth, first by her initial call to purify her son and instead by his renewal. Hannah believes her purpose is to help others, whether they ask for it or not. Ironically, she is completely unable to "straighten out" her son despite her intentions and inadvertently becomes Prior's protector. Even if his first words are: “We are closed. Go away” (II, 98), Hannah finds herself helping him in a few sentences when he has a fever and she helps him to the hospital. Not only does the sequence reflect Hannah's naturally selfless nature, but it is completely ironic that she helps a gay man (a way of being she neither tolerates nor understands) and that it is purely by accident, never on purpose. Acceptance of the irony of their relationship, rather than its rejection, is what brings about Hannah's rebirth, enacted during her lesbian encounter with the Angel, made possible by her companionship with Prior. Their relationship makes Hannah a woke person, which is expanded upon in the epilogue. THEBelize's character is remarkably different from the rest of the characters, even the other three who appear at the end. He is at odds with the world racially as a black man, sexually as a gay man, and gender-wise as a former drag queen. Despite these isolating themes, Belize has already resolved her inner ironies and instead acts to resolve those of others. As a nurse at New York Hospital, he must care for Roy Cohn, despite their obvious hatred for each other and Roy's reluctance to admit his true identity. He plays Louis' confidant and adversary, although the two are constantly at odds and as Prior's former lover, Belize should be on Prior's side. Belize's constant efforts to heal others are summed up in his asking Louis to recite Kaddish for Roy, saying, "He was a terrible person." He died a difficult death. So maybe... A queen can forgive her vanquished enemy. It's not easy, it doesn't matter if it's easy, it's the hardest thing. Pardon. Perhaps this is where love and justice finally meet. Peace, finally. Isn't that what the Kaddish asks? (II, 124). Belize's role in the age of irony is not for it to reconcile; his character's goal is to help others mend the divisions that tear people apart, which he believes is only achieved through forgiveness. Belize's presence as a guide for the other characters is a crucial mechanism for Kushner to prepare the audience for the play's conclusion, and thus the statement of its goal. Kushner gives the audience two scenes preceding the epilogue to signify the conclusion of the play. In the first scene, Prior comes down from the sky and wakes up with his fever broken, to which Nurse Emily exclaims, "Well, look at that." It is the dawn of man” (II, 139). The scene, and this quote in particular, lets the audience know that all the action of the play is over and that man finally has the foundation to rebuild society. To conclude Harper's story and show the inevitability of this progress, Harper is shown on a night flight to San Francisco, where she remarks that "in this world there is a kind of painful progress" (II , 144). Showing a character like Harper, who has been terrified of movement throughout the play, embarking on a great journey in his life is symbolic of the inevitable progression that humanity must undertake to rebuild its life and its world. Because neither scene fully shows the ideal society that Kushner is trying to convey, an epilogue is necessary to conclude his argument. However, both sequences are crucial to the plot because they conclude the action of the play and set the stage for the epilogue which reveals Kushner's speculative world. The epilogue takes place at a pivotal moment in world history, in January 1990; as Louis describes it: “The Berlin Wall has fallen. The Ceausescu are outside. He builds democratic socialism. The new internationalism… Remember four years ago? All this time we had the impression that everything was blocked everywhere, even though in Russia! Look! Perestroika! …The whole world is changing! (II, 145). Louis' explanation addresses what Kushner sees as the overarching problem of the 1980s; that things were stagnating, that nothing was moving. Millennium Approaches addresses this problem, as the main characters were (for the most part) succumbing to the perils of the times, and if they were to move in any direction, it would almost certainly be a descent. This is what the Angels want, the stopping of progression in the world so that God can be found. But what Kushner proved in Perestroika is that, as Prior says: "We are notrocks: progress, migration, movement are… modernity” (II, 132). It is not possible to live in a world that is not moving, a world that encompassed the 1980s, according to Kushner. For the characters and for Kushner, this first month of 1990 marks the beginning of this modernity, of this reception of migration. For the audience, a scene set in a new era signifies not only the end of the play, but also the beginning of a new world. The end of the play is a pivotal moment in the play; it is the moment when the audience receives the fulfillment sought in the action. The realization in Angels in America is the embodiment of Kushner’s “Gay Fantasia on National Themes,” the embodiment created by these four characters. This "fantasy" is what Kushner believes America's future should be, a future where gaps between sexualities, religions, genders, and races should be bridged, and Kushner introduces audiences to characters who represent these four things. They can meet at the fountain that day because for these characters, those boundaries that once separated have been repaired and transcended. Before, Louis, Hannah and Belize all survived the age of irony and they are reunited. in the epilogue, which takes place at the Bethesda Fountain. Prior remained alive because of his primal desire to live, despite the limitations his illness placed on him. Louis, in his abandonment of Prior, his relationship with Joe, and his reconciliation with religion, has become someone who lives by the morals he once could only talk about rather than live by. Hannah, despite her religion's teachings against the movement, has embraced progress so much that she is a completely different person, dressing like a New Yorker. Belize, whose inner conflicts have long been resolved, nevertheless appears at the Bethesda Fountain, still serving as a moral guide to the characters. These specific characters come together at the end for the same purpose: to validate the actions of the past and reveal what Kushner hopes will be America's future. An important element of the epilogue that needs to be addressed is the nature of homosexuality within the characters. that appear, their relevance to Kushner's Fantasia, and their relevance to the audience. Prior and Belize are the least secretive characters, as they have been throughout the play. It's easy to assume that Louis still lives as an openly gay, but partially closeted, man. Hannah's orientation is harder to tell, as she is likely still Mormon. However, her experiences with Prior as well as her lesbian encounter with the Angel suggest that her views have evolved from what her religion initially told her. Plus, Hannah seems completely comfortable with this fact. What Kushner suggests about homosexuality from the epilogue is that broad acceptance of gay rights is an inevitable thing that will come with time as well as progression. As Prior valiantly proclaims: “…we will not leave…We will be citizens.” The time has come” (148). For Kushner, the time has come for the world to accept homosexuals and achieve peaceful coexistence, because they "are not going to disappear." Because these lines are spoken to the audience, Kushner bridges the gap between the stage and the seats and inspires the audience to believe in the progress of gay civil rights. In the final analysis, the epilogue, the scene itself is not a break, but a shattering of the fourth wall. Kushner is so invested in the concept of progression that he ensures that the characters' experience becomes the audience's experience and that when they leave the audience, the action of the play is set in their past as well as in that of others. the characters. But what.