Throughout Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, unexpected characters mirror each other in unique ways. This is first demonstrated in Act I Scene 7 where Prior and Harper “meet” in a mutual dream/hallucination. In this scene, it becomes clear that Prior, a gay ex-drag queen dying of AIDS and Harper, a Mormon Valium addict are more similar than previously thought. Both individuals are shunned by their perspective groups and are thus outsiders. Furthermore, the loneliness and isolation each faces in regards to their relationships, Prior being abandoned by Louis and Harper being agoraphobic and often being left alone by Joe. This scene highlights how the two of them although isolated and alone could find comfort together and learn something about themselves as demonstrated by “the threshold of revelation” that each experience.
Furthermore, Kushner demonstrates the similarities between Louis and Roy later in the play, mostly highlighted by their shared viewpoints of American society and democracy. This fact is especially demonstrated when Roy talks about his views and rolls in American democracy and Louis’s tirade about America.
Kushner uses these parallels not only to emphasize characters hardships and viewpoints but also to make the reader understand character’s values in a new way. For Harper and Prior I never saw the connection between the two characters struggles until they “meet” in Act I Scene 7. As for Louis and Roy their similarities in their viewpoints although Louis does not necessarily view himself as a republican, his tirade on race, democracy, and the lack of angels in America (Kushner, Act II Scene 2) is followed by Roy’s admission of his role in Ethel Rosenberg’s death in Act III Scene 5. These scenes emphasize what each character values thus making the reader understand the characters better while also drawing attention to how the each character is in a way a mirror of another, showing both the audience and the characters the good and bad of themselves.