AIDS = Purgatory: Prior Walter's Prophecy and Angels in America

Ghosts come from Purgatory, "the middle space of the realm of the dead." In Angels in America, the two characters who see ghosts are victims of AIDS, themselves occupying a kind of middle space. While their visions can be seen as fever-, medication-, or stress-induced, both Prior Walter and Roy Cohn are, in fact, sanctified by their proximity to death, and the liminal "space" of AIDS functions as a metaphor for Purgatory throughout the play. In this magical world, Prior Walter is a pilgrim. AIDS is not only death but a precondition for life, as Prior learns on his prophetic journey. He sees because he has AIDS; he survives because he sees; and in the end, he shares his vision with humanity.