Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches Betrayal Quotes

Prior has hidden the fact that he has a lesion from Louis. He knows Louis very well and senses that the difficult realities of living with a person with AIDS might drive Louis to abandon and betray him. It seems that Prior's fears are justified.

Louis is struggling with his instinct to abandon Prior. He's already feeling guilty about the act of betrayal he will eventually commit.

Louis is contemplating deserting Prior, and he's feeling incredibly guilty. Prior admits that he wouldn't forgive Louis if he did this. The kiss on the forehead shows Prior's immense love for Louis, perhaps making the betrayal all the worse.

Whoa, check out the levels of messed-upedness here. Louis feels really guilty about betraying Prior, so what does he do? He betrays him some more, with some random dude in the park.

Just a second ago, Louis insisted that the anonymous man in the park wear a condom. But now the condom has broken, and he's begging the man to continue. Could the guilt over his betrayal of Prior be driving him to this risky behavior? Does he feel like he deserves to get AIDS?

This is what Louis says when he admits to Prior, who's still in the hospital, that he's moved out of their apartment. What do you think is the difference between betraying someone you love and failing them?

Joe admits that he knew he was gay when he married Harper. He seems to have sincerely thought that it was something he could fight and control. Harper, however, feels lied to and betrayed. What do you think? Is Joe guilty of betrayal, for hiding his homosexuality and marrying his wife in the first place?

After Harper disappears, Joe decides that there's just no way he can take the job in Washington. Roy feels totally betrayed by this – he was counting on Joe to help protect him from getting disbarred. However, the things Roy wants Joe to do at the Justice Department are totally against Joe's principles. If he did what Roy wanted, Joe would be betraying himself. Not to mention the fact that he'd be abandoning his wife, who he knows is probably wandering the streets of New York in a hallucinatory daze.

It sounds like Louis is still feeling pretty guilty over his betrayal of Prior. It's like Joe's touch almost hurts him. When he takes Joe home with him, is this the ultimate betrayal, or is it Louis just doing what he has to do to stay alive?

When Joe goes home with Prior, it could be seen as the ultimate betrayal of his wife and the beliefs that he's held to his entire life. It could also be seen as the first time in his life that he's not betraying himself.