Doomsday

Angels in America was truly a difficult and depressing read for me. In order to help explicate the many themes and issues that arose in the play I consulted a compilation of essays written about the play. One particular essay that I read was David Savran’s: Ambivalence, Utopia and a Queer sort of Materialism: How Angels In America Reconstructs the Nation. He explores many of the issues that surface in both of Kushner’s plays but I focused largely upon his take on the approaching millennia and the utopia envisioned by the characters. First, Savran argues that the inspiration for Angels’ utopia was taken from a twentieth century philosopher (Walter Benjamin) Theses in the Philosophy of History.  I have not read Theses but I am sure that it could only provide greater insight into the thinking that went into writing this play. One resounding theme in Theses, according to Savran, is the binary of the future vs. the present. He refers to progression of the painful and imperfect reality that is now while comparing it to the hope provided by the future. One such representation of the future appears in the form of the angel at the end of the first play. Another example is provided by the character of Prior Walter who is called as a prophet at the end of the play. Prophets see into the future and reveal its secrets to others. But even with his higher calling I wonder how long will he be mired in the pain and eventual death of the present. In spite of a grasp of the future and his gifting, his name is Prior. He is constantly visited by his forefathers reminding him of what was without alluding to what will be. This is of course a very brief summary of the author’s argument and his take on the borrowed philosophy behind the play. Once again the play was a heavy read and at times the issues raised in this essay were even heavier. However, I received some insight into the play that I would have largely overlooked during my own exploration.