angels in america
Tony Kushner's play “Angels in America” illustrates a painful and truthful picture of what gay men go through within a society. Homosexuality is defined as a disorder in the eyes many. In most cases, homosexuals suffer either inner anguish or public torment. However, the toughest part that homosexuals face is enduring the criticism. A person has two choices when it comes to being a homosexual. They can either let the world know of their decision, or hide it. Letting the world know about you homosexuality leads to suffering of ridicule and mockery from the ignorant society, however, keeping it a secret just condemns to personal turmoil. The fear of public scrutiny forces many gay men into a life of denial and secrecy. Within the play, Kushner uses a society that looks down upon homosexuals and minorities. The setting is portrayed as the mid 1980s, a time when gay bashing was at the highest. During this time, he was able to capture prejudice towards homosexuals. Also, by setting the play in New York City, a very diversified area that contains backgrounds from all over the world, Kushner was able to depict that not just one group came in contact with homosexuals.