McNally Andre’s Mother

Even coming from a Catholic background, Terrence McNally, a aerial forgewright, never felt that cosmos a homosexual was wrong. He quotes, It seemed very natural to me. I think something as natural as sexual attraction is not to be fought. He goes on to avow that he defined God on his own terms and that the ane message he got from be in Catholic school was that we atomic number 18 all created equally in Gods image, therefore, he was sacking to be okay (Shulman). In 1988, McNally became one of the first writers to confront gayness in his concisely play titled Andres fuss.Later, in 1997, he wrote head Christi, which altered the story of Jesus Christ in a gay setting. This created controversy among the conservative, religious crowd provided he did not strain up there (Fulton). He went on to make a enduring impact on the lives of some people, making his plays become successful and highly populated in attendance. McNally treats the play Andres Mother in a shockingly ordinary look in order to normalize the discomfit of homosexualism given the conviction period in which it was written. Andres Mother is a short play portraying the hardships that come with suffering from the finis of a loved one.Most people are familiar with the 5 face process of dealing with a deathdenial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptation (Axelrod). This process takes built in bed no matter whom it was that died, whether it be a family member, friend, mutual friend, or hearty other. Small distributor points such as age, race, or sexual taste would not affect the progression be attain it is a universal process. In this short play, Andre, who recently passed, was gay, and Cal, Andres lover, must cope with this major loss. McNally chooses to deal with homosexuality in the circumstance of a death because it is a relatable feeling of numbness.Both Arthur and centime seemingly have very little to do with the play. However, they actually play essential roles in McNallys representation of his personal view on homosexuality. Arthur and penny both come from Cals side of the relationship, Arthur being Cals acquire and Penny his sister. Both relatives know astir(predicate) Cals relationship and are exceptionally accepting. McNally intentionally puts them into the play for that reason. He shows that regardless of the time period that this play was written in, there are still expiration to be understanding people. In my clumsy way, Im trying to grade how overmuch I liked Andre. And how much he helped me to know my own boy.Cal was unceasingly two hands full but Andre and I could talk about anything under the sun. My wife was very fond of him, too (McNally 967). This is Arthur voicing his internal thoughts. It adds a lot to the play by showing that Cals father not only accepts his sons relationship, but is also cheerful for him that he can be happy truly being himself. Penny likewise makes it obvious that she accepts her brothers relationship when she says, God free me for wishing you were straight every time I laid eye on you. But if any man was going to have you, Im beaming it was my brother (McNally 968).She is surely expressing her approval of Andre but to a greater extent importantly, McNally added this line in for a bit of comic relief. Homosexuality is a controversial topic, but by putting this in there, McNally is trying to make light of the turn out by making a joke. Andres Mother was written in the 1900s, a time when homosexuality was still a disgrace to some(prenominal) people. The fact that McNally chose to address Andre and Cals relationship was a questionable and unpopular thought at first. Especially since he went into such major detail with it, having Cal speak to Andres pose about how important Andre was to him.Since this play was think for a big audience, it confirms that McNally was trying to spread his perspective on homosexuality. Him being gay, gives him emotional ties to the subject matter that he intends and wishes to extend to the general cosmos of people. Although the play deals with AIDS, a commonly associated disease with gay people, the main subject area of the play has nothing to do with AIDS. In fact it has everything to do with the acceptance of a person and the happiness that comes with realizing that the person is not afraid of being who he/she is. Andres mother was never give a severalize throughout the play. McNally purposefully did so to emphasize her feelings toward the death of her son.Andre never told his mother about Cal out of fear that he would not be judge by her. The end of the play shows that Andres mother comes to a realisation that being gay doesnt change anything about a person. This helps McNallys point that a gay person is still a person, and more importantly, a vulnerable person who doesnt deserve what they have to go through because they cannot change who they are. Due to the nature of McNallys past and the manner in which Andres Mother was written, it is clear that he is attempting to ignore the encompassing spread controversy that is associated with the theme of homosexuality. He does this by taking a risk and performing a play that it is not socially delightful to do so.It shows a lot about McNallys character because he is not afraid to be different and promote something that could potentially cause him to lose many viewers. And he did an extraordinary job in doing so because he became a very successful playwright and was even praised for his courageousness (Terrence McNally). By recognizing McNallys character choice and the fact that this was written in the late 1900s when homosexuality was not viewed as acceptable, it is tangible to say that McNally was trying to normalize the subject of homosexuality in his play, Andres Mother.