Andre's Mother Play Analysis

Andre’s Mother by Terrence McNally discusses some deep topics using an issue prevalent in modern society. The play takes place at the funeral of Andre, a gay man who died of AIDS. Readers see how different characters react to his death, from his lover to his mother. The funeral itself and the fact that Andre was gay present two major themes that are distinct but also connected. These themes are shown through the interactions between characters and the use of symbols. These aspects of the play work together to explore ideas related both to grief and acceptance. One major theme in this play is that different people grieve in different ways in order to accept a loss and be at peace. The four people at the funeral each let go of the past in their own ways.

If they can’t, then they can miss out on important parts of life. This is shown through Andre’s mother and the information readers receive about her. She was absent for a good portion of her son’s life because her son was afraid that she wouldn’t accept him for being gay. She missed out on her son’s playing Hamlet, which was his biggest dream. Cal even says that she knew nearly nothing about him since Andre never said anything. There was so much she didn’t know about her son because he couldn’t tell her the truth. Cal likens her to a comic strip mother. He says that “ ‘[Lulu’s mother] was almost anonymous in her remoteness’ ” (McNally lines 61-62). That’s exactly how Andre’s mother was both in her son’s life and in this play. She had no name and no dialogue, which shows how she must’ve been in Andre’s life—detached and almost nonexistent. At the very end of the play, when she kisses her balloon, it shows how she truly loved her son and didn’t care about his sexuality. Despite feeling so bad and not wanting to let go, it was too late for her. She would never be able to get her son back and tell him how she