I think Kushner uses religion to give his play an overarching "spiritual" theme---in the sense of more than just material conditions, the beliefs and aspirations people have which motivate them in both positive and negative directions (and possibly both at once). It is tied to his theme of human life as defined by moving, changing, "immigrating." And the two religions he bookends the play with----Judaism and Mormonism---have migration and diaspora as common elements (also one is ancient and "old world" and one is new and "new world.")
That Prior eventually rejects his "celestial mission" and instead chooses to remain defiantly mortal is part of how Kushner is placing human struggle at the center of what it means to be human, both historically and personally. And it allows him to elevate AIDS and all the cultural discourses surrounding it, to a historical lens through which to examine what it means to be both American and human at this point in history.
I think Kushner uses religion to give his play an overarching "spiritual" theme---in the sense of more than just material conditions, the beliefs and aspirations people have which motivate them in both positive and negative directions (and possibly both at once). It is tied to his theme of human life as defined by moving, changing, "immigrating." And the two religions he bookends the play with----Judaism and Mormonism---have migration and diaspora as common elements (also one is ancient and "old world" and one is new and "new world.")
ReplyDeleteThat Prior eventually rejects his "celestial mission" and instead chooses to remain defiantly mortal is part of how Kushner is placing human struggle at the center of what it means to be human, both historically and personally. And it allows him to elevate AIDS and all the cultural discourses surrounding it, to a historical lens through which to examine what it means to be both American and human at this point in history.