By: Larry Kramer Powerpoint by: Briallen Sanchez-Thurber

General Information Originally Published in 1985 Won 3 Tony Awards: Best Revival of a Play, Best Featured Actor in a Play, Best Featured Actress in a Play

Title The title for this play came from the poem “September 1, 1939” by W.H. Auden. It basically says that the normal person craves to be loved. It is all a person needs or they die. That is the basic idea of the play. Sometimes people are in the worst situation and all they have is love to rely on.

Setting “The Normal Heart” takes place in Ney York City between July 1981 and May This play is based on actual events and the time in which this play was set is the time that the AIDS epidemic started to occur. New York is significant because its where the AIDS breakout became a real problem. New York was also where the author resided at the time of these events.

Themes The main theme in the play is intolerance. No one will listen to Ned and his counterparts because the public thinks that homosexuals are sick people. People are afraid to help them because it might hurt their business and frankly they don’t think that they are worth helping.

Conflict The main conflict is that the main character, Ned Weeks, is trying to raise awareness about the AIDS epidemic affecting the homosexual community. But the problem is that no one is listening or doing anything about it. On top of that many of the characters lovers are getting sick which is taking a toll on all the characters.

Protagonist & Antagonist The Protagonist is Ned Weeks. He sacrifices so much to help the public understand what the homosexuals are going through and tries to reach out to get support for his organization. Although there are many antagonists the main one that I found is the New York Mayor. He refuses to donate any money to Ned’s organization. He also refuses to acknowledge them even though there is speculation that the mayor is gay.

Summary The play opens with some homosexuals getting diagnosed with a newly discovered disease. With this new epidemic starting, Ned Weeks starts an organization that will raise awareness about the epidemic and its effect on the community. Meanwhile, starts falling in love with a New York Times writer names Felix Turner. Ned turns to his brother Ben for help but he is ashamed of his brothers’ sexuality and refuses to help him. The organization then elects this guy, Bruce Niles, as the President. Bruce is more of a friendly approachable person than Ned is. Ned gets furious but realizes that they are still working toward the same goal. Later, Ned finds out that Felix has been diagnosed with AIDS. The organization then tries to get the mayor on board, but when Ned gets fired up the mayor is taken aback by his behavior, he refuses to help them. Because of this the rest of the members all decide to kick Ned out. Dr. Emma Brookner tries to get government funding but fails. As Felix is getting weaker, he visits Ned’s brother, the lawyer, to help write his will. At that moment Ben realizes how important Felix is to Ned. Felix is on his death bed and Emma marries both of them. After the ‘I do’s’ are said, Felix dies by Ned’s side.

Characters Ned Weeks- The main character who is a very headstrong and confrontational person. He is in love with Felix. Dr. Emma Brookner- The doctor who is diagnosing people with AIDS. She is trying to do more research to find the cause of AIDS. Felix Turner- He is a writer at the New York Times. He is in love with Ned. Later he gets diagnosed with AIDS. Ben Weeks- Ned’s older brother. He is a lawyer. Ben does not approve of Ned’s homosexuality and refuses to help Ned with his organization.

My Thoughts I loved this play. I loved how it showed the struggle that the gay community went through. The play has such raw emotion that you just feel for every character. This play is also based on true events that the author experienced which makes the story even more heartbreaking.