A Comparison Of Happiness In Harlem Duet And A Raisin In The Sun

Happiness is something all people hope to achieve in their lifetime. However, the struggle to achieve happiness varies with each individual. In Djanet Sears’ Harlem Duet and Lorraine Hansberry’s a Raisin in the Sun, both Othello and Walter struggle to achieve happiness because they are limited by the different perspectives of race and their need to prove their masculinity. Ultimately, both characters overcome these obstacles, achieving their happiness but at a cost of something rare in their lives.

Both of the characters’ and their respective society’s perspective of race hinder them from achieving their happiness. In Harlem Duet, Othello is hindered by his own perspective of race as he views the whites as the most dominant race.

This influences his idea of happiness as he strives to become like a white person for his happiness, when he says to Billie “my Mama used to say, you have to be three times as good as a White child to get by, to do well” (73). Othello believes he needs conform to white ideals to succeed. Consequently, he ends up doing three times the work of white people because he views his own race as inferior. This impacts Othello because he has to make choices that will allow him to be successful and noticeable in the dominant white society. As a result, Othello’s view of the dominant white race influences his definition of happiness, as it causes him to prioritize his own recognition in society to achieve happiness over loving and being loved. In the end, he decides to marry off with Mona to gain acceptance into the white society rather than with Billie for love and happiness, which further shows how his perspective of the white race influences his idea of happiness.
Society’s view of race also hinders Othello’s ability to achieve happiness. Due to how society see black people as a foreigner, it causes Othello to feel inferior in his workplace because he feels he is only there since he is black. This negatively affects his decisions towards achieving happiness. This is evident when Othello tells Billie about how white people think of him at his job, he states “Every day I have to prove to them that I can do my job. I feel that any error I make only goes to prove them right” (54). He has to make decisions that prove his capabilities to the whites because of how negative they treat the blacks. This factor affects his ability to achieve happiness because he feels as if he needs to earn acceptance into the dominant white society by making life-changing decisions. He first does this by marrying a white woman named Mona instead of Billie. This decision later leads to his downfall in Shakespeare’s Othello. Overall, society’s perspective of race hinders Othello’s search for happiness instead of contributing to it as it causes his death.
Furthermore, In Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, Walter’s perspective of race negatively influences himself, as it causes him to become jealous of the rich whites.

When he speaks to Ruth about their son, he feels as if all he has to tell him are "stories about how rich white people live" which show how his view of white dominance influences his decisions as he strives to live like a white man. Due to Walter’s jealousy of the rich whites, he becomes addictive towards money. This is similar to Othello since they both make decisions based on trying to be like a white man because of the dominant white race. Othello does this by marrying a white women to gain acceptance and Walter tries to do this by becoming rich like most of the whites. Overall, their perspectives influence their choices in a negative way because they prevent them from seeking happiness. Due to their view of the dominant white society, they strives to become like a white rather than to search for their own happiness. In addition, the society’s perspective of race influences Walter. He has to make decisions that accept him because of how poorly society treated blacks. This is visible when he talks to Lena about his job, he states “A job, a job Mama? I open and close doors all day. I drive around a man all day that looks right through me. Now say yes sir, no sir, shall I take the drive sir, am I the best trained monkey you ever seen sir. Mama that ain’t no kind of job Mama.” Walter feels inferior because he sees

that society isolates him for his skin colour. This leads to him complaining to his family and having to prove his worth to the whites. Because of how society treat blacks, it impacts Walter’s personality and causes him to lose direction in seeking happiness. Similarly, the perspective of the white society also affects Othello because he also loses direction in seeking happiness. They both rather associates themselves to proving their worth to the whites than to seek their own happiness. Overall, society’s perspective of race hinders them from achieving happiness because of the inferiority they have to deal with from the white people.
Another factor that hinders them in their search for happiness is their insecurities towards their masculinity as both characters feel the need to provide in order to protect their masculinity. In Sears’ Harlem Duet, Othello feels as if he needs to provide for a dependent woman which influences his decisions to achieve happiness. This is evident when he tells Billie the reason why he loves Mona, he states “I Love you. It’s just… When I’m with her I feel like… a man. I want… I need to do for her…” (Sears 63), as it shows that his need to provide causes him to leave Billie for Mona, who is a woman that he can provide for. Therefore, Othello's need to provide hinders his ability to seek happiness because he associates proving his masculinity too much.
Furthermore, Othello also feels the need to protect his masculinity by proving it which impacts his choices towards seeking happiness. Othello feels the need to prove his masculinity by marrying a white woman who understands him. For instance, while talking with Billie, he states “The white woman I loved saw me – could see me. Look, I’m not a junkie. I don’t need more than one lover to prove my manhood.” (Sears 71) Othello feels the need to marry a white person in order to prove his masculinity. As a result, he associates himself with proving his own masculinity. Thus, Othello’s need to protect his masculinity hinders him from achieving his happiness.
Likewise, in Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, Walter also feels the need to provide, which consequently hinders him from realizing where his true happiness is; being a part of a united family.

An example is when Walter talks to Bena about what a man should do, he states “I tell you I am a man – and I think my wife should wear some pearls in this world!” Walter feels the need to provide expensive jewellery for his wife even though Ruth does not care about the money. Walter loses sight of happiness as he obsesses over the need to provide for his wife. Likewise, it links back to Othello as they both feel the need to provide for their wives. Their needs to provide for their wives holds them back from achieving their happiness as they both associates themselves with becoming a man. Another point is that when Walter leaves Ruth after being unable to prove his masculinity, he begins to care immensely about protecting it. For example, when Lena is talking to his son after he finds out Ruth is pregnant, she says to Walter, “Well- son, I’m waiting to hear you say something… I’m waiting to hear how you be your father’s son. Be the man he was…” His passion of protecting his masculinity causes him to run away from his wife Ruth when she needed him the most. As a result, Walter concerns himself with protecting his masculinity more rather than achieving happiness. This is similar to Sears’ Othello as he wants to protect his masculinity by marrying a woman who needs him and Walter protects

his masculinity by deciding to temporarily leave Ruth. Overall, both these characters associates themselves with having to protect their masculinity so much that it hinders them from achieving happiness. Their need to protect their masculinity causes them to lose sight of their true happiness.

In the end, both Othello and Walter achieve their happiness by overcoming the different perspectives of race and their need to prove masculinity. Ultimately, both characters achieve happiness but at the cost of giving something away. In this case, Sears’ Othello loses his life in Shakespeare’s Othello only to achieve happiness momentarily meanwhile Hansberry’s Walter loses his dream of being rich to achieve happiness with his family.