{"id":554,"date":"2021-03-28T20:23:48","date_gmt":"2021-03-29T00:23:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqhistoryandliterature\/?p=554"},"modified":"2021-03-28T20:23:48","modified_gmt":"2021-03-29T00:23:48","slug":"lbgtq-visibility-in-kushners-angels-in-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqhistoryandliterature\/2021\/03\/28\/lbgtq-visibility-in-kushners-angels-in-america\/","title":{"rendered":"LBGTQ Visibility in Kushner’s “Angels in America”"},"content":{"rendered":"

In his Introduction, Kushner states that \u201cAngels <\/em>is a hopeful work\u201d (x), and in many ways Angels in America<\/em> lives up to this promise. While dealing with themes of love, mental health, and justice, the play also offers a hopeful insight about the family as an institution. One on hand, Kushner displays the family as a self-reinforcing structure; family members develop expectations that they then impose on their relatives. It is for this reason that Hannah and Joe diverge over Joe\u2019s sexuality. However, the following interactions between Hannah and Prior reveal that this bigotry isn\u2019t essential to Hannah\u2019s character. She grows to withhold judgement. Ironically, Kushner then unites the two characters in an equal state of understanding, and in the end offers a hopeful commentary on the nature of \u2018coming out.\u2019<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s easy to dismiss Hannah\u2019s first reaction to Joe\u2019s sexuality as homophobic (and it kinda is), it\u2019s also important to note her tone. She comes from, admittedly a position of ignorance, but there\u2019s still evidence of compassion. In answering the 4am call, two of her first three questions were \u201cWhat\u2019s happened?\u201d (77). Until Joe \u2018comes out,\u2019 her focus remains isolated on his safety. She comments how \u201cIt\u2019s dangerous\u201d and how he should \u201cgo home right now\u201d (78). In fact, Joe was first to frame his sexuality as something that would hurt her, \u201cwell, it[, the call,] gets worse from here on\u201d (78). However, Joe through hesitating reveals several of the expectations underlying his family dynamics, the most notable being that his role as Hannah\u2019s child is endangered through his sexuality. He calls her first \u201cMom\u201d (79), and then \u201cMamma\u201d (79), the latter being an attempt to imitate his childhood self. This highlights the expectation for Joe to be the same person he has presented as, yet also implies that he has felt a sense of difference since childhood. The scene therefore unfolds into a paradox where Joe simultaneously tries to convey his difference while still needing to fill the same role. Hannah, by contrast is put into an impossible situation, somehow needing to acknowledge the change without acknowledging that it is a change. From this lens, her silence on the issue, while on one hand, is avoidance, on the other, serves to protect Joe. Even in denial, Hannah tries to fulfill her motherly expectation in not chastising her son.<\/p>\n

Expectations plague Hannah and Joe\u2019s relationship. In contrast, neither Hannah nor Prior have expectations for one another. When they meet, it\u2019s as though they come from two different worlds, with Hannah volunteering, having just met with Joe, and Prior showing up \u201cwet, in his prophet garb, [and] dark glasses on, despite the dark day outside\u201d (234). Yet, this strangeness is what allows them to freely interact, and they quickly exchange intimacies, Prior about his illness and Hannah about her curiosities. The two symbolically bridge the divide as Prior asks \u201cDo I have a fever?\u201d where Hannah, \u201chesitates, then puts her hand on his forehead\u201d (235). Unlike Joe, Prior allows Hannah to react to him, his beliefs, and his worries, and in the process, they can form a subtle understanding. Hannah laments, \u201cYou don\u2019t make assumptions about me, mister; I won\u2019t make them about you\u201d (240).<\/p>\n

Returning to the idea of \u2018coming out,\u2019 Angels in America <\/em>seems to suggest that familial expectations are damning. However, Hannah\u2019s development, in getting close to Prior, offers hope for the visibility movement. One may even argue that Hannah stopped to help Prior because of her recent interactions with Joe. In such a case, the play offers yet more hope to closeted individuals who hesitate in opening up to their family. Either, the visible presence of Prior led Hannah to empathize with Joe, or Joe\u2019s coming out proved successful in changing Hannah\u2019s outlook enough to empathize with Prior.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In his Introduction, Kushner states that \u201cAngels is a hopeful work\u201d (x), and in many ways Angels in America lives up to this promise. While dealing with themes of love, mental health, and justice, the play also offers a hopeful insight about the family as an institution. One on hand, Kushner displays the family as … Continue reading LBGTQ Visibility in Kushner’s “Angels in America”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4220,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[169398],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2021-blog-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqhistoryandliterature\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqhistoryandliterature\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqhistoryandliterature\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqhistoryandliterature\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4220"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqhistoryandliterature\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=554"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqhistoryandliterature\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqhistoryandliterature\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqhistoryandliterature\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqhistoryandliterature\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}