The Power of Angels in America
"Such ethical possibility is, however, founded on and coextensive with the subject's movement toward what Foucault calls 'care of the self,' the often very fragile concern to provide the self with pleasure and nourishment in an environment that is perceived not particularly to offer them." -Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick
"Demanding that life near AIDS is an inextricably other reality denies our ability to recreate a sustaining culture and social structures, even as we are daily required to devote such time to the details of the AIDS crisis." -Cindy Patton
Tony Kushner's two-part play (or, if you will, two plays) Angels In America is one of most famous and most powerful plays about AIDS and gay life to come out of the early 1990s. It not only engages with the political issues surrounding AIDS and homosexuality in Reaganite America, but also deals with deeply philosophical questions of identity and the nature of God. It's no surprise that this play has sparked comment, including the criticism of the conservative right. In this paper, I intend to examine two of the articles written on the play. The first, Gordon Rogoff's "Angels in America, Devils in the Wings," is quite problematic, and errors of fact that the author makes about the play lead me to wonder at its value for analysis. The second article, Charles McNulty's "Angels in America: Tony Kushner's Theses on the Philosophy of History" pose some difficult questions regarding the plays' relationship to the concept of history, arguing that Millennium Approaches1 deconstructs history while Perestroika moves away from this deconstruction. According to McNulty, this is a problem in the second part of the pla...
... middle of paper ...
... One of Angels in America. Perestroika is Part Two of the play.
Works Cited
Kushner, Tony. Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches. New York: Theatre Communications Group, Inc., 1992.
---. Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika. New York: Theatre Communications Group, Inc., 1992.
McNulty, Charles. "Angels in America: Tony Kushner's Theses on the Philosophy of History." Modern Drama 39.1 (1996): 84-96.
Patton, Cindy. "Teaching About AIDS." Inventing AIDS. New York: Routledge, 1990. 99-120.
Rogoff, Gordon. "Angels in America, Devils in the Wings." Theater 24.2 (1993), 21-29.
Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky. "Paranoid Reading and Reparative Reading; Or, You're So Paranoid, You Probably Think This Introduction is About You." Novel Gazing: Queer Readings in Fiction. Ed. Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick. Durham: Duke UP, 1997. 1-37.
Tony Kushner, in his play Angels in America, explores a multitude of issues pertaining to modern American society including, but not limited to, race, religion, and sexual orientation. Through his diverse character selection, he is able to compare and contrast the many varied experiences that Americans might face today. Through it all, the characters’ lives are all linked together through a common thread: progress, both personal and public. Kushner offers insight on this topic by allowing his characters to discuss what it means to make progress and allowing them to change in their own ways. Careful observation of certain patterns reveals that, in the scope of the play, progress is cyclical in that it follows a sequential process of rootlessness, desire, and sacrifice, which repeats itself.
In Tony Kushners to part play, Angels in America, readers are introduced to a closeted gay man, Joe Pitt and are exposed to his relationship with his Mormon mother, Hannah. An underlying conflict occurs when Hannah finds out her son is a homosexual; a problem which forces her to question her love and acceptance towards her son and her strong Mormon anti gay sentiments and beliefs. This conflict between mother and son helps Kushner illustrate the complexity of sexuality and the changing views of homosexuality.
Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. 2189.
well-known plays. There isn’t any shortage of revenge in Hamlet, and so that is the theme
Is obesity really a serious health concern or is the “epidemic” merely a result of highly fabricated, misleading ideas of politicians and the media? The article, Obesity: An Overblown Epidemic? By W. Wayt Gibbs featured in the May 23, 2005 edition of Scientific America, raises this question. Most health experts and average people believe that obesity is one of the most prevalent health concerns today, resulting in increased risk for other major health issues; such as; heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer, and the chance for early loss of life. However, other researchers are suggesting that the consequences of being overweight are being blown out of proportion. Naturally, they do acknowledge that obesity rates are increasing and being overweight can play a role in other health conditions.
Within the last 30 years, the number of obese Americans has soared from 48% to 65%. To make things worse, the number of obese children has tripled from 5% to 15% (Wallis). The rising numbers should be cause for concern but seem to be doing the opposite, making obesity and its consequences more acceptable. Neglecting exercise and careless eating can lead to life-threatening conditions. People do not realize harmful effects obesity can have on their bodies.
In summation, the interconnection of people and events that one might ordinarily see as disconnected or unrelated is successfully applied in Angels of America. The use of dual roles, in correlation with dialogue and character interaction allow Kushner’s to interconnect four of the major characters established persona and communities, all the while fulfilling the requirements of other characters to further the play. Consequently, Kushner is able to expand or sustain, rather than renegotiate, his characters for the audience so that the messages, triumphs and struggles of one character may be evolved even while an actor is represented in another character.
Fetterley, Judith. The Resisting Reader: A Feminist Approach to American Literature. Bloomington and London: Indiana University Press, xi-xxiv. Print.
Wolff, Cynthia Griffin. "Un-Utterable Longing: The Discourse of Feminine Sexuality in The Awakening." Studies in American Fiction 24.1 (Spring 1996): 3-23. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Janet Witalec. Vol. 127. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 19 May 2014.
Both Hamlet and Laertes die because they want to prove they are honorable and their want for revenge. Hamlet killed Polonius, Laertes father. Laertes swore to revenge him and he does by killing Hamlet. To kill off Hamlet, Laertes and Claudius set up a sword fight. Before the sword fight both Hamlet apologizes Laertes for killing his father but they still fight for honor. But Laertes really wants Hamlet dead as does the King. Laertes uses a poisoned sword and slashes Hamlet. Then swords get switched and Laertes is slashed and killed by his own sword. “I am justly kill’d with my own treachery” (Act V Scene ii)
Finally we arrive at the sword match between Hamlet and Laertes. Hamlet is unaware of Claudius’ poisoned goblet and the poisoned tip of Laertes’ sword. When Laertes cuts Hamlet, he makes the choice to stab Laertes, who would see him dead as well.
Featuring four flour with 80 arches each, the Colosseum is the biggest amphitheater ever build in Roman history; it holds the dimension of 620ft by 513ft and the astonishing height of 157ft. Located just east of the Roman Forum, it is one of the most iconic buildings in Rome today. The Colosseum was first commissioned by Emperor Vespasian after setting up the Flavian Dynasty in 69 A.D. His purpose was to gain public authority and encourage social welfare throughout the empire. Vespasian decreed that the Colosseum, later known as the Flavian amphitheater, should be built as a place where all Romans could enjoy gladiatorial fights and other entertainments. Vespasian’s son, Titus, proceeded to build the Colosseum and finished the construction around 79 A.D. It opened up as the grandest and the most extravagantly built architecture in the Ancient Rome.
A poll that was published in TIME magazine showed that 69 percent of people believe in Angels, 46 percent of which believe they have a personal guardian angel. Descriptions of these angels include a wide range of appearances. Some are only lights or a hovering golden halo; while others describe their angel as human, half human, or even animal! Angels are said to descend upon those who are in need of salvation (from evil or hell), or who need direction in life, in pain or suffering physically or emotionally, or to those who need simple things such as directions or a winning lottery ticket. Angelic encounters are sometimes life-changing, but always leave the experience spiritually/physically/emotionally revived, comforted, and less negative. "Rocky" situations in one's life are handled easier and with less stress.
In Williams Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, there are many themes. Revenge is the biggest theme in this play. The idea of Revenge plagues Hamlet and causes many tragic deaths in its wake. Hamlet who consumed by the need of revenge is the cause of all of the deaths in the play. The deaths that are directly caused by the sense of revenge is in order, Polonius, Ophellia, Guildenstern and Rosencrantz, Gertrude, Laertes, Claudius, and Hamlet himself. Revenge is the downfall of all of the characters in the play. While there are many themes to this play, revenge is the key to what makes this play a tragedy.
From the moment scientists identified HIV and AIDS, social responses of fear, denial, stigma and discrimination have accompanied the epidemic. Discrimination has spread rapidly, fuelling anxiety and prejudice against the groups most affected, as well as those living with HIV or AIDS. It goes without saying that HIV and AIDS are as much about social phenomena as they are about biological and medical concerns. Across the world the global epidemic of HIV/AIDS has shown itself capable of triggering responses of compassion, solidarity and support, bringing out the best in people, their families and communities. But the disease is also associated with stigma, repression and discrimination, as individuals affected (or believed to be affected) by HIV have been rejected by their families, their loved ones and their communities. This rejection holds as true in the rich countries of the north as it does in the poorer countries of the south.