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The Bethesda Fountain
In the late 80s and early 90s, the President of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, instituted a series of liberal reforms in his country, which were collectively referred to as “perestroika.” These reforms allowed for greater freedom of speech, more international business investment, etc., and were hailed as proof that the Soviet Union was finally embracing the “Western values” of freedom and democracy. In a broader sense, perestroika could also be said to symbolize change in all its excitement, uncertainty, and danger. While many were optimistic about Gorbachev’s reforms, it was pointed out that perestroika wouldn’t necessarily “cure” Russia of its human rights problems. By titling the second half of his play “Perestroika,” Kushner sets the tone for a play about precisely this combination of excitement and danger: we get the sense that something is about to happen (some prophecy, some cure for AIDS, some resolution to the plot), but we don’t know—and don’t know if we want to know—what this something is.
Perestroika Quotes in Angels in America
The Angels in America quotes below all refer to the symbol of Perestroika. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Perestroika: Act 1, Scene 1 Quotes
The Great Question before us is: Can we Change? In Time? And we all desire that Change will come.
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At the beginning of Part II of the play, we're introduced to a strange, comical figure, Aleksii Altedilluvianovich Prelapsarianov, who presides over the Kremlin in Moscow. In an ironic call-back to the opening scene of the play, Aleksii seems to be organizing a funeral--but this funeral is for the Soviet Union, not an individual person. By the late 1980s, it was clear to many that the Soviet Union was on its last legs: after decades of instability, it was finally going under.What, we might well ask, does the collapse of the Soviet Union have to do with Kushner's play--a play Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi ear
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Perestroika Symbol Timeline in Angels in America
The timeline below shows where the symbol Perestroika appears in Angels in America. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Epilogue
...out that the Cold War is over: Gorbachev has brought in a new era of Perestroika and peace. Hannah is more skeptical, however. She wonders what’s going to replace Communism in...
(full context)
