Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes

Prior is a white gay man in his late 20s/early 30s who, at the start of the first play, has just been diagnosed with AIDS. Although the plays do not follow a traditional Aristotelian plot structure, and the characters each live their own narrative arcs, Prior is the most likely choice to name as the protagonist. For much of the first play, Prior is helpless. As he gets sicker, he cannot control what happens to his body. He cannot stop Louis from leaving him, or himself from longing for Louis. Finally, he cannot control the voices and visions, and the Angel literally crashes through his ceiling against his will. But in the second play, Prior changes. He gains agency by telling the Angel to go away and refusing to do her bidding. Prior commands Hannah to help him when she hesitates instead of suffering passively. He wrestles with the Angel and stands up to the others, potentially changing the course of humanity (if his visions are real) or at least seizing control of his own life. Prior is double cast as the Man in the Park, demonstrating that Louis is haunted by guilt for leaving him.