Part 1: Act 1, Scene 8 Summary

A split scene, which begins with Harper and Joe at home.

She has deliberately burned his dinner, and admits that she has taken many pills today. She demands to know where he has been. He seems like a stranger to her. She feels she is being punished for marrying him by the disturbing dreams she has, in which they have sex. He says that her addiction makes her unattractive, and that this puts him off sleeping with her. She eventually asks if he is gay, and he denies it, unconvincingly.

The focus shifts across the stage, where we see Louis and Prior in bed. Louis is discussing his idea of the afterlife. Prior is joking with him, but he's preoccupied with his thoughts of hell. Prior starts talking about all his symptoms. Louis gets upset with Prior's jokes, so...