Essays on Angels In America

Angels in America is a play by Tony Kushner that was first performed in 1991. The play is set in the mid-1980s and follows the lives of several characters who are affected by the AIDS epidemic. The play is divided into two parts, each of which is further divided into two sections.Part One, Millennium Approaches, begins with the introduction of Roy Cohn, a powerful and ruthless lawyer who is dying of AIDS. As Cohn’s health deteriorates, he is visited by an angel who tells him that he will be judged for his actions on Earth.Cohn’s death is followed by the death of Prior Walter, another AIDS patient. Prior’s death is particularly difficult for his partner, Louis Ironson, who is left feeling guilty and alone.The second part of Millennium Approaches, Perestroika, picks up where the first part left off. Louis has left Prior and is now living with Joe Pitt, a Mormon lawyer who is struggling to come to terms with his own homosexuality.As the play comes to a close, the various characters are brought together by their shared experience of loss and love. Angels in America is a powerful and moving work that explores the human capacity for hope and resilience in the face of adversity.