Lorraine Hansberry was an African American playwright and author best known for her work A Raisin in the Sun. Hansberry grew up in a household that valued education and social justice activism, which deeply influenced her writing and worldview. A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry's most famous play, made its Broadway debut in 1959 and was the first play written by an African American woman to be produced on Broadway. Hansberry's writing is characterized by its powerful portrayal of African American life in addition to her exploration of social and political issues. She was an advocate for civil rights and used her platform as a writer to address racial and economic issues. A Raisin in the Sun remains a timeless classic of American literature. A …show more content…
Walter's conflict with societal expectations and aspirations leads to tensions within the family and tests his relationships with his loved ones. Mama's struggle with her children's conflicting dreams and values reflects the complexities of parental love and support. Beneatha struggles with accepting and finding her identity and the idea of cultural assimilation. These conflicts create not only confrontations but resolutions that shape the characters' growth and relationships. The dynamic between Beneatha and Mama highlights the tensions between tradition and progress, in addition to the bond between a parent and child. “Mama: What is it you want to express? Beneatha: I am a snob! Don’t worry- I don’t expect you to understand” (Hansberry 48). Beneatha represents the younger generation's pursuit of self-discovery, while Mama represents tradition and familial responsibility. Beneatha's character grows as she begins to assert her individuality and aspirations, challenging Mama and the rest of the family’s expectations. Their relationship reflects generational tensions and the struggle between new and old, yet ultimately highlights the continuing bond between parent and
This show takes place in the dilapidated, two-bedroom apartment of Walter and Ruth Younger, their son Travis, Walter’s mother Lena, also known as “Mama”, and his sister Beneatha. This award winning production of the 2014 revival of A Raisin In The Sun shows the talented Denzel Washington fill the shoes of Walter Younger, the story’s main character. He stars alongside LaTanya Richardson Jackson, who plays the part of Ruth. The 1859 classic depicting the lives of this African-American family’s life in South Side Chicago during the 1950s. Walter is barely getting by financially, due to his low income as a limousine driver, desperately has the desire to become wealthy--who doesn’t?. Walter plans to invest in his own liquor store which he will run alongside his good friend Willy, and plans to do so with his portion of his mother’s insurance check; did I mention that the check was for $10,000! Mama puts down money for a house --a house, in an all-white neighborhood, with a lawn, that her grandson will be able to play on. This has always been a dream of her and her husband, and now that he is gone, she only wants it more.
AP English Literature and Composition MAJOR WORKS DATA SHEET Title: A Raisin In the Sun Author: Lorraine Hansberry Date of Publication: 1951 Genre: Realistic Drama Biographical Information about the Author Lorraine Hansberry was born in Chicago on May 19, 1930. She grew up as the youngest in her family. Her mother was a teacher and her father was a real estate broker.
Walter is seen as struggling to become the head of the family throughout the book and this comes to a head at the end of the story when he gets to his lowest point. Felder goes over the male characters in each sitcom and analyzes how they all have the same roles acting as head of the family, in charge and in control. The women were expected to be soothing and calming, as Felder writes “It was her husband, Jim, who ultimately solved the many problems concerning the couple’s three children… often appeared overly authoritarian and frequently lost his temper with his sons… these negative “masculine” character traits were countered by the soothing “feminine” presence of his wife” (Felder 156). As Walter loses control of his life after he lost the money, the women of the family ridicule him for not taking control like he is expected to. Beneatha and Mama have a conversation about the way Beneatha was treating her brother and adds this: “That’s what I thought you said. You feeling like you better than he is today?... Yes? What you tell him a minute ago? That he wasn't a man? Yes? You give him up for me? You done wrote his epitaph too- like the rest of the world? Well who give you the privilege?” (Hansberry 108-109). Beneatha ridicules her brother because he wasn’t able to take the role he was expected to. He wasn’t able to control the family or handle the problems like he was expected to even though that is what every man of the family ‘needs’ to do. The influence of these gender roles is so prevalent as Mama stops Beneatha from ridiculing her brother, Walter’s inability to take the role that is expected of him completely breaks him down and pushes him to his
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is a dramatic play written in 1959. The play is about an African American family that lived on the Chicago South Side in the 1950’s. Hansberry shows the struggles and difficulties that the family encounters due to discrimination. Inspired by her personal experience with discrimination, she uses the characters of the play, A Raisin In The Sun, to show how this issue affects families. Hansberry faces housing discrimination due to her race, which affects her family.
Poverty doesn't have to effect the people's personalities that I consumes like most of the Youngers. Mama, Ruth, and Beneatha did not let being poor make them envy any one who had money. Walter on the other hand was sick of the way he and his family had to live. He was fed-up and was desperate to make money any way he could think of for his family.
“A Raisin in the Sun” is set at in an area where racism was still occurring. Blacks were no longer separated but they were still facing many racial problems. The black Younger family faced these problems throughout the play. The entire family was affected in their own way. The family has big dreams and hope to make more of their poor lives. Walter, the main character, is forced to deal with most of the issues himself. Ruth, his wife, and Travis, his ten-year-old son, really don’t have say in matters that he sets his mind to. Beneatha, his sister tries to get her word in but is often ignored. Lena (Mama) is Walter’s mother and is very concerned about her family. She tries to keep things held together despite all of the happenings. Mama’s husband had just recently died so times seemed to be even harder. They all live in a small apartment when living space is very confined (Hansberry 1731). They all have dreams in which they are trying to obtain, but other members of the family seem to hold back each other from obtaining them (Decker).
Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, centers on an African American family in the late 1950s. Hansberry directs her work towards specifically the struggles faced by African Americans during the late 1950s. Through the dialogue and actions of her characters, she encourages not only a sense of pride in heritage, but a national and self-pride in African Americans as well.
Our environment shapes our personalities and decisions in all aspects, one way or the other. This is also true for fictional characters in books. The author of A Raisin in the Sun described the play to be set in southside Chicago during the 1950s. This setting in A Raisin in the Sun created by Lorraine Hansberry creates an outline of characteristics for Walter, Beneatha, and Mama to exhibit throughout the play.
A Raisin in the Sun The creativity of Hansberry played a crucial role in the development of African-American drama since the Second World War. A Raisin in the Sun was the first play by an African-American author to be set on Broadway and was honored by the circle of New York theater critics. Drama of A Raisin in the Sun (1959) brought Hansberry to the Society of New York Critics Award as the best play of the year. A Raisin in the Sun shows the life of an ordinary African-American family who dreams of happiness and their desire to achieve their dream.
Walter and Beneatha’s relationship is very complex. The spiraling tension between the two siblings causes confrontation to form and creep into the Younger household. Walter needs his family to respect him as the man of the family, but his sister is constantly belittling him in front of his mother, wife, and son. This denigrating treatment taints Walter’s view of himself as a man, which carries into his decisions and actions. Beneatha also subconsciously deals with the dysfunctional relationship with her brother. She desires to have her brother’s support for her dream of becoming a doctor, yet Walter tends to taunt her aspiration and condemns her for having such a selfish dream. Mama as the head of the family is heartbroken by the juvenile hostility of her adult children, so in hopes to keep her family together she makes the brave move of purchasing a house. Mama’s reasoning for the bold purchase was,“ I—I just seen my family falling apart….just falling to pieces in front of my eyes…We couldn’t have gone on like we was today. We was going backwards ‘stead of forw...
A Raisin in the Sun is written by a famous African- American play write, Lorraine Hansberry, in 1959. It was a first play written by a black woman and directed by a black man, Lloyd Richards, on Broadway in New York. The story of A Raisin in the Sun is based on Lorraine Hansberry’s own early life experiences, from which she and her whole family had to suffer, in Chicago. Hansberry’s father, Carol Hansberry, also fought a legal battle against a racial restrictive covenant that attempted to stop African- American families from moving in to white neighborhoods. He also made the history by moving his family to the white section of Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood in 1938. The struggle of Lorraine Hansberry’s family inspired her to write the play. The title of the play comes from Langston Hughes’s poem which compares a dream deferred too long to a raisin rotting in the sun. A Raisin in the Sun deals with the fact that family’s and individual’s dreams and inspirations for a better life are not confined to their race, but can be identified with by people with all back grounds.
In the words of Jim Cocola and Ross Douthat, Hansberry wrote the play A Raisin in the Sun to mimic how she grew up in the 1930s. Her purpose was to tell how life was for a black family living during the pre-civil rights era when segregation was still legal (spark notes). Hansberry introduces us to the Youngers’, a black family living in Chicago’s Southside during the 1950s pre-civil rights movement. The Younger family consists of Mama, who is the head of the household, Walter and Beneatha, who are Mama’s children, Ruth, who is Walter’s wife, and Travis, who is Walter and Ruth’s son. Throughout the play the Youngers’ address poverty, discrimination, marital problems, and abortion. Mama is waiting on a check from the insurance company because of the recent passing of her husband. Throughout the play Walter tries to convince Mama to let him invest the money in a liquor store. Beneatha dreams of becoming a doctor while embracing her African heritage, and Ruth just found out that she is pregnant and is struggling to keep her marriage going. The Youngers’ live in a very small apartment that is falling apart because of the wear and tear that the place has endured over the years. Mama dreams of having her own house and ends up using part of the insurance money for a down payment on a house in an up-scale neighborhood. The Youngers’ meet Mr. Lindner, who is the head of the welcoming committee. Mr. Lindner voices the community’s concerns of the Youngers’ moving into their neighborhood. Is the play A Raisin in the Sun focused on racial or universal issues?
An Analysis of A Raisin In the Sun & nbsp; "A Raisin In The Sun" is a play written by an African-American playwright - Lorraine Hansberry. It was first produced in 1959. Lorraine Hansberry's work is about a black family in the Chicago South Side. the Second World War. The family consisted of Mama(Lena Younger), Walter.
Lorraine Hansberry, an American playwright and writer, was born on May 19, 1930. Hansberry was the first African American woman to write a play performed on Broadway. Hansberry is best known for writing the domestic drama Raisin in the Sun. Raisin in the Sun portrays critical elements of social and political issues by shining a light on problems that African American families have faced throughout history. One of the worst problems African American families face is racism.
Lorraine Hansberry’s iconic piece, “A Raisin in the Sun,” written more than six decades ago, persists as a profound examination of human challenges and cultural problems that transcend time. Using vibrant characters and compelling confrontations, Hansberry explores topics like racial prejudice, economic inequality, and the quest for the American Dream. This prompts readers to ponder the continued significance of these themes in today’s times. At the core of “A Raisin in the Sun” lies the Younger family’s quest for betterment amidst facing numerous obstacles rooted in systemic racism and economic adversity. The struggles they encountered, including housing discrimination, limited educational opportunities, and limited economic constraints,