In the America of the 80’s, reality was harsh, and the different communities didn’t communicate. They preferred to stay in their own bubbles and, when they did leave their bubbles, criticism took place. There was little empathy or collective effort. The diversity was something negative, resulting in more isolation. “Angels in America” is a play that, through characters’ dreams and hallucinations, seek to inspire its viewers and readers to realize that differences can actually be mutually dependent, that is, communities can learn with each other, depend on each other and in fact understand that there are many similarities between them.
Scene 7 in Act 1, between Prior and Harper, is a perfect example of this important endeavor. The two characters represent two members of the gay and the Mormon community, respectively. It’s very unlikely that these characters would meet and actually have such a deep conversation in real life. Through Prior’s dream and Harper’s hallucination, the characters talk and discover their similarities. However, Harper says that what they are experiencing is different from usual, because “… the mind, which is where hallucinations come from, shouldn’t be able to make up anything that wasn’t there to start with, that didn’t enter it from experience, from the real world. (p. 32). Later, she says that “(…) when we think we’ve escaped the unbearable ordinariness and, well, untruthfulness of our lives, it’s really only the same old ordinariness and falseness rearranged into the appearance of novelty and truth” (p. 33).
What is Harper trying to say is that human beings are trapped in their own bubbles even when they are dreaming or hallucinating. Dreams are a way of preparing a person for her/his/their own life, that is, imagination is limited, as Prior said. What would be the solution then, if both the real and the oneiric worlds don’t burst the communities’ bubbles? I think “Angels in America” is a play that talks about the power of art and how it can lead to a “threshold of revelation”. (page 33) Art has no limits and make distinct characters be empathetic towards each other. Art produces “a blue streak of recognition” (page 34). “Angels in America” is a form of revelatory art in which Tony Kushner calls the attention to how we can recognize ourselves in others and understand how our differences can be amalgamated together and make us stronger through tough times. Art holds our hands so that we can cross our own thresholds.
I agree 100% that while Harper’s hallucinations are aggressive there are limitations to her imagination (I.e., she cannot picture a perfect marriage with Joe). Whether or not she consciously thought about her husband’s sexuality this feeling of a “depressing hallucination” that her life has become could have contributed to her heavy reliance on pills. I believe that all the evidence you used is cohesive with your claim and this idea of not being able to erase your emotions no matter how you try relates to this overarching theme of identity of this class.