Angels in America Chapter Summary & Analysis - Part 2: Act 4, Scene 7 Summary

Part 2: Act 4, Scene 7 Summary

The same night, Harper and Joe are in bed. She asks him why he closes his eyes during sex. She says she knows it is because he imagines he is with a man. He confirms this. She says that when she is with him she stops imagining, though the reality she gets from him is part of her imagination. He gets up and says he has to collect some things he left behind. She demands that he look at her. He says he sees nothing, which seems to be what she expected him to say. He leaves and she says goodbye.

Part 2: Act 4, Scene 7 Analysis

Harper's rhetorical questions are aimed at getting Joe to speak the truth about his relationship with her. They are still, and she forces him to confront their reality. This reality is ironically based on the fantasy of a functioning, heterosexual marriage. She has realized that what she thought was...
(read more)