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Perestroika: Act 5, Scene 5
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
Prophets and Prophecies
Progressivism, Conservatism, and Change
Fantasy, Escape, and Tragedy
The Clash between People and Principles
Summary
Analysis
Prior walks through the decaying streets of Heaven. He notices Rabbi Isador Chemelwitz and Sarah Ironson playing cards. Isador and Sarah notice Prior—the Rabbi raises his hand, and a ladder appears, leading Prior back to Earth. As Prior begins to climb back to Earth, Sarah says something in Yiddish. The Rabbi translates: “Tell Louis I forgive him.” She also tells Louis to keep “struggling with the Almighty.”
This scene is sometimes cut from productions of Angels in America, because it doesn’t exactly “move forward” the themes of the story: we already knew that struggle was an important theme of the play, and, for that matter, that Louis has been struggling with guilt over neglecting his grandmother. At the same time, it’s structurally satisfying to see Sarah again: we began the play at her funeral, and now—near the end of Part Two—she reappears.
Themes
