Angels in
America: Glossary
Pages 1-15 | 16-56 | 57-89 | 90-116
Note: Page numbers refer to the paperback edition of Angels in America published by the Theatre Communications Group.
| Page Number, Line, Character |
Definition, Source, Contributor
|
|
Page 59 "Ma cherie bitchette" -Belize |
French--my beloved darling Contributor: LR |
|
Page 59 "Comme la merde!" -Belize |
Like shit! Contributor: MO |
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Page 59 "Belle reeve" -Belize |
Refers to the Mississippi homeplace in
Tennessee Williams' Streetcar Named Desire Source: St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture Contributor: LR |
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Page 60 Emotional lability "This is a very strange drug, this drug. Emotional lability for starters." -Prior |
Labile, adj: 1. Open to change;
adaptable: an emotionally labile person. 2. Chemistry.
Constantly undergoing or likely to undergo change; unstable:
a labile compound. Contributor: Raz |
|
Page 60 "Ce n'est pas pour la joyeux noel et la bonne annee...ma pauvre bitchette." -Belize |
French--It's not for merry Christmas and happy
New Year's...my poor darling. Contributor: LR |
|
Page 60 "Comme ca." |
French--like that Contributor: MO |
|
Page 61 Florence Nightingale's storm troopers, "betray my concupiscence to Florence Nightingale's storm troopers?" -Prior |
Concupiscence: a strong desire, especially
sexual desire; lust. Florence Nightingale (1820-1910)-the lady with the lamp- was the pioneer of modern nursing. In response to an invitation from Queen Victoria, and despite the limitations of confinement to her room, Florence Nightingale played the central role in the establishment of the Royal Commission on the Health of the Army, of which Sidney Herbert became chairman. As a woman, Nightingale could not be appointed to the Royal Commission, however she wrote the commission's 1,000-plus page detailed report that included detailed statistical reports and was instrumental in the implementation of its recommendations. During the Vietnam War, Florence Nightingale served as an inspiration for many US Army nurses and sparked a continuing renewal of interest in her life and work. Source: Wikipedia.org Contributor: Raz |
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Page 61 "Ma bebe" -Belize |
French--My baby Contributor: MO |
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Page 61 "Je t'adore, ma belle negre" -Prior |
French--"I love you, my beautiful black" Contributor: MO |
|
Page 61 "Men are beasts, the absolute lowest." -Belize and Prior |
Belize and Prior "do" Blanche Dubois, Amanda
Wingfield, and Katharine Hepburn. "Prior's and Belize's theatrical exaggeration of their gay identity through parodic "girlfriend" talk and performative allusions to gay film and theater icons mockingly critiques their marginalization by the dominant culture."
Contributor: LR |
|
Page 61 Dimentia, "I can't be bothered with dimentia" -Belize |
In the later stages of AIDS, the disease
infects the brain causing forgetfulness, clumsiness and loss of vision.
This is commonly referred to as dementia. Contributor: Raz |
|
Page 62 Countenance, "I am glorious, glorious; me heart, my countenance and my message." -Angel |
Appearance, especially the expression of the
face. Contributor: Raz |
|
Page 62 "with the rule, sword and broom and Truth!" -Angel |
A line from Shakespeare's
Macbeth Contributor: LR |
|
Page 63 Affirmative action, "Affirmative action? Take it to court." -Martin |
Also called positive discrimination (British
English) or employment equity, is specific consideration given to groups
considered by some to be victims of social discrimination. This may
consist of preferential access to education, employment, health care, or
social welfare. In employment, affirmative action requires that
institutions search for minority candidates. Critics often object to
the use of racial quotas and gender quotas in affirmative action. In
fact, quotas are illegal in the United States, except when a judge issues an
order for a specific institution to make up for extreme past discrimination.
However some feel quotas exist in more subtle ways. Source: Wikipedia.org Contributor: Raz |
| New Deal Socialism, "The end of New Deal socialism" -Martin |
A period of political, economic, cultural, and
social ferment that spanned President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's first two
terms in office, the New Deal Era (1932-ca. 1940) takes its name from the
slogan that Roosevelt first used in his acceptance speech at the 1932
Democratic National Convention and later adopted to describe his
administration. This era saw an unprecedented level of federal
intervention to regulate economic life and provide basic welfare to citizens
in response to the Great Depression. This redefinition of government
in turn facilitated the realignment of both major political parties, the
rise of unionism among mass-production workers, demands for progress by
women and minorities, and the growth of populist influences in culture. Source: Oxford Companion to United States History Contributor: LR |
| Ipso facto secular humanism "The end of ipso facto secular humanism" -Martin |
Ipso facto: essentially or "what boils down
to" Secular humanism: is a prominent branch of humanism and being that it is grounded in secularism, in order to avoid the dogmatic aspects of traditional religious cultures. Secular humanists may be atheists who reject all supernaturalism, or simply anti-dogmatists who see existing localized religions as based in division rather than inclusion, and hence are anti-thetical to the core principles embodied in humanism. Secularists may or may not be opposed to religion per se, but as a social movement it is especially concerned with religious law, whereby a strict doctrine conflicts with the more general concept of religious freedom. Regarding political matters, secular humanism seeks to keep the government separate from the influence of any particular religion in order that rules developed under secularism may be universally applied. Secular humanism can be (over) simplified thus: (1) Humans matter and can solve human problems, (2) Science, free speech, rational thought, democracy and freedom in the arts go together, and (3) there is no supernatural. Source: Wikipedia.org Contributor: Raz |
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Page 64 Bolsheviks & St. Petersburg, "How often do you think a handful of Bolsheviks turned St. Petersburg into Leningrad in one afternoon?" -Roy |
Bolsheviks, after the Communist Revolution,
changed the names of cities to reflect the names of their leaders. Roy
is saying that they transformed a city in one afternoon through
camaraderie.
Contributor: Raz |
|
Page 64 Marx and Engels, "Comrades. Who do for each other. Marx and Engles. Lenin and Trotsky. Josef Stalin and Franklin Delano Roosevelt." -Roy |
Marx and Engels: Socialist economic thinkers Lenin and Troksky: Bolsheviks, Communist Revolutionaries Stalin and F.D. Roosevelt: Defeated Hitler by allying together. All worked with each other (as comrades) to create some great change. Contributor: Raz |
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Page 65 "New York Bar Association" -Roy |
A bar association is a body of lawyers who, in
some jurisdictions, are responsible for the regulation of the legal
profession. In the law, the bar is also known as the community of persons
engaged in the practice of law ("members of the bar"). In the United States,
some state bar associations are operated by their respective state
governments which make membership in their state's bar association a
requirement to practice before that state's courts; such states are said to
have a "mandatory" or "integrated bar". Membership in such associations is
synonymous to being admitted to the bar or being licensed to practice law in
that state or being admitted to practice before the courts of that state. Source: Wikipedia.org Contributor: Raz |
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Page 67 Brahmin "genteel gentlemen Brahmin lawyers, country-club men" -Roy |
In India and Nepal, Brahmins, being members of
the highest caste, historically enjoyed high social status - notwithstanding
the degree of their economic affluence. Source: Wikipedia.org Contributor: Raz |
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Page 67 "Antitrust suits. Deregulation. Environmental control. Complex cases like these need Justice Department cooperation..." -Roy |
The US term for policies designed to restrict
monopoly and promote competition. The Antitrust Division of the US
Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission are the main agencies
for antitrust policy. The name comes from the US use of trusts to describe
large firms formed by amalgamation. US antitrust measures frequently work by
making practices such as price discrimination illegal. Source: Dictionary of Economics Contributor: LR |
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Page 70 Iridium, "And...um...iridium, I think" -Louis |
A platinum family metal, iridium is white,
resembling platinum, but with a slight yellowish cast. Due to its extreme
hardness and brittle properties, iridium is difficult to machine, form, or
work. Iridium is the most corrosion-resistant metal known. Iridium metal is
generally non-toxic due to its relative unreactivity, but iridium compounds
should be considered highly toxic. Source: Wikipedia.org Contributor: Raz |
|
Page 71 "Maureen and Mike and little orphan Patti and Miss Ron Reagan Jr., the you-should-pardon-the-expression heterosexual" -Louis |
“Ron's attempts at professional ballet caused
his parents to speculate about his sexuality, according to the Dinesh
D'Souza book, Ronald Reagan: How an Ordinary Man Became an Extraordinary
Leader. [T]he Reagans initially were nervous, not because they objected to
that particular career (dancing) but because they suspected that his choice
of profession might suggest that he was a homosexual," according to D'Souza.” Source: http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewSpecialReports.asp (Source is no longer active) Contributor: Raz |
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Page 71 Tallulah, "(Doing Tallulah): Well, darling he never sucked my cock but..." -Louis |
Tallulah Bankhead: actress b.1902, d.1968 Contributor: Raz |
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Page 71 Zeitgeist "What's it like to be the child of the Zeitegeist?" -Louis |
The spirit of the time; the taste and outlook
characteristic of a period or generation: "It's easy to see how a
student...in the 1940's could imbibe such notions. The Zeitgeist
encouraged Philosopher-Kings" (James Atlas) Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=Zeitgeist Contributor: Raz |
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Page 71 American Animus, "To have the American Animus as your dad?" -Louis |
Animus: A feeling of animosity; ill will. Contributor: Raz |
|
Page 75 Maudlin, "Oh now really. This is Maudlin." -Hannah |
a. [From Maudlin, a contr. of Magdalen, OE.
Maudeleyne, who is drawn by painters with eyes swelled and red with
weeping.] 1. Tearful; easily moved to tears; exciting to tears; excessively
sentimental; weak and silly. 2. Drunk, or somewhat drunk; fuddled; given to
drunkenness. effusively or insincerely emotional; "a bathetic novel";
"maudlin expressions of sympathy"; "mushy effusiveness"; "a schmaltzy song";
"sentimental soap operas"; "slushy poetry"
Contributor: Raz |
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Page 82 Radon gas, "My sister-in-law Libby thinks there's radon gas in the basement" -Hannah |
Radon exhausts naturally from the ground,
particularly in certain regions, especially but not only regions with
granitic soils. Depending on how houses are built and ventilated, radon may
accumulate in basements and dwellings. In most cases, simply increased
ventilation suffices in reducing the danger. Other measures, such as
blocking fissures and vents through which radon reaches from the ground, may
have to be taken. Source: Wikipedia.org Contributor: Raz |
|
Page 86 The pestilence "Pills. For the pestilence, I too..." -Prior |
A usually fatal epidemic disease, especially
the Bubonic Plague. Contributor: Raz |
|
Page 87 Incipience "declare her fabulous incipience" -Prior |
adj. incipient-beginning to exist or appear Contributor: Raz |
|
Page 88 Adonai-chant -Prior |
Hebrew for Lord. Used in Judaism as a
spoken substitute for the ineffable name of God. Contributor: Raz |
| "Olam ha-yichud" |
olam: world ha: the (a prefix) Contributor: Raz |
| "Ha-adam, ha-gadol" |
ha adam: the ground or earth or land ha gadol: the great or the Big, or The Greatness Contributor: Raz |
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Page 89 Jeane Kirkpatrick "you know, Jeane Kirkpatrick for God's sake will go on and on about freedom" -Louis |
An American conservative political scientist
and member of the neoconservative movement. After serving as Ronald Reagan's
foreign policy adviser in his 1980 campaign, she was nominated as the U.S.
ambassador to the United Nations. An ardent anticommunist, she is famous for
her "Kirkpatrick Doctrine," which advocates U.S. support of anticommunist
governments around the world, including rightwing dictatorships. Along with
Empower America co-directors William Bennett and Jack Kemp, she called on
the Congress to issue a formal declaration of war against the "entire
fundamentalist Islamic terrorist network" the day after the September 11th
attacks on the World Trade Center. Source: Wikipedia.org Contributor: Raz |
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Page 89 Venusians "mating habits of Venusians" -Louis |
Of, relating to, or characteristic of the
planet Venus. Contributor: Raz |