Angels in America
Introduction + Context
Plot Summary
Detailed Summary & Analysis
Millennium Approaches: Act 1, Scene 1 Millennium Approaches: Act 1, Scene 2 Millennium Approaches: Act 1, Scene 3 Millennium Approaches: Act 1, Scene 4 Millennium Approaches: Act 1, Scene 5 Millennium Approaches: Act 1, Scene 6 Millennium Approaches: Act 1, Scene 7 Millennium Approaches: Act 1, Scene 8 Millennium Approaches: Act 1, Scene 9 Millennium Approaches: Act 2, Scene 1 Millennium Approaches: Act 2, Scene 2 Millennium Approaches: Act 2, Scene 3 Millennium Approaches: Act 2, Scene 4 Millennium Approaches: Act 2, Scene 5 Millennium Approaches: Act 2, Scene 6 Millennium Approaches: Act 2, Scene 7 Millennium Approaches: Act 2, Scene 8 Millennium Approaches: Act 2, Scene 9 Millennium Approaches: Act 2, Scene 10 Millennium Approaches: Act 3, Scene 1 Millennium Approaches: Act 3, Scene 2 Millennium Approaches: Act 3, Scene 3 Millennium Approaches: Act 3, Scene 4 Millennium Approaches: Act 3, Scene 5 Millennium Approaches: Act 3, Scene 6 Millennium Approaches: Act 3, Scene 7 Perestroika: Act 1, Scene 1 Perestroika: Act 1, Scene 2 Perestroika: Act 1, Scene 3 Perestroika: Act 1, Scene 4 Perestroika: Act 1, Scene 5 Perestroika: Act 1, Scene 6 Perestroika: Act 1, Scene 7 Perestroika: Act 2, Scene 1 Perestroika: Act 2, Scene 2 Perestroika: Act 3, Scene 1 Perestroika: Act 3, Scene 2 Perestroika: Act 3, Scene 3 Perestroika: Act 3, Scene 4 Perestroika: Act 3, Scene 5 Perestroika: Act 4, Scene 1 Perestroika: Act 4, Scene 2 Perestroika: Act 4, Scene 3 Perestroika: Act 4, Scene 4 Perestroika: Act 4, Scene 5 Perestroika: Act 4, Scene 6 Perestroika: Act 4, Scene 7 Perestroika: Act 4, Scene 8 Perestroika: Act 4, Scene 9 Perestroika: Act 5, Scene 1 Perestroika: Act 5, Scene 2 Perestroika: Act 5, Scene 3 Perestroika: Act 5, Scene 4 Perestroika: Act 5, Scene 5 Perestroika: Act 5, Scene 6 Perestroika: Act 5, Scene 7 Perestroika: Act 5, Scene 8 Perestroika: Act 5, Scene 9 Epilogue
Themes
All Themes Homosexuality in the AIDS Era Prophets and Prophecies Progressivism, Conservatism, and Change Fantasy, Escape, and Tragedy The Clash between People and Principles
Quotes
Characters
All Characters Prior Walter Louis Ironson Joe Pitt Harper Pitt Roy Cohn Belize / Norman Ariago The Angel of America Hannah Pitt Ethel Rosenberg Aleksii Antedilluvianovich Prelapsarianov
Symbols
All Symbols The “Book of Life” The Angel’s Spectacles Angels AZT The Bethesda Fountain Perestroika Funerals
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Angels in America

by

Tony Kushner

Angels in America: Perestroika: Act 4, Scene 7 Summary & Analysis

Homosexuality in the AIDS Era Theme Icon
Prophets and Prophecies Theme Icon
Progressivism, Conservatism, and Change Theme Icon
Fantasy, Escape, and Tragedy Theme Icon
The Clash between People and Principles Theme Icon
Themes Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Angels in America, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Homosexuality in the AIDS Era Theme Icon
Homosexuality in the AIDS Era
Prophets and Prophecies Theme Icon
Prophets and Prophecies
Progressivism, Conservatism, and Change Theme Icon
Progressivism, Conservatism, and Change
Fantasy, Escape, and Tragedy Theme Icon
Fantasy, Escape, and Tragedy
The Clash between People and Principles Theme Icon
The Clash between People and Principles
Summary
Analysis
The scene opens with Joe having sex with Harper in their apartment. After they’re finished, Harper asks Joe why he closes his eyes during sex—is he imagining men? Joe admits that he is. Harper laughs and tells Joe the irony of this: the only time in her day when she doesn’t imagine fantasies is when she’s with Joe.
Although Kushner has shown how fantasy can bring together unlike people, here he suggests that Joe and Harper will always be separated by their respective fantasy-lives.
Themes
Prophets and Prophecies Theme Icon
Fantasy, Escape, and Tragedy Theme Icon
The Clash between People and Principles Theme Icon
Joe gets up and tells her that he needs to go and take care of some things. Harper, furious, tells Joe, “Look at me!” Joe looks and says, “I see nothing.” Harper thanks Joe for telling the truth, and Joe leaves the apartment.
Joe and Harper seem to reach something of a truce—they acknowledge that they can never really be romantic lovers, even if they love each other as people.
Themes
The Clash between People and Principles Theme Icon
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