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 1984.
 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.