Beneatha Younger: An Examination of Identity and Purpose in A Raisin in the Sun In the early 1900s, women were expected to stay at home with their children and do housework. They had limited opportunities to be anything other than the traditional 1950s housewife. However, as time passed, women began to get fed up with the monotony of the simple life. In the historical drama, A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry personifies the beauty of ambition through the values, goals, and identity of Beneatha Younger, ultimately illuminating the struggles of a feminist in the mid-1900s. Hansberry reflects on Beneatha’s values through her thoughtful dialogue and interactions with others. Near the start of the play, Beneatha and Walter have a heated conversation …show more content…
. “ (Hansberry 38). Throughout the story, Beneatha stays strong about what she believes in, though her family tries to convince her to conform to the expected roles of the time. Independence, hard work, understanding, connection, and knowledge are all values that Beneatha holds strong. Within her mature facade, she needs concrete morals that aid her in understanding her place in the world. Throughout the play, Hansberry displays Beneatha’s drive for her goals. Despite her family’s protests, she is determined to become a doctor. During a debate with Ruth and Mama over breakfast, Beneatha explains herself: “Listen, I’m going to be a doctor. I’m not worried about who I’m going to marry, if I ever get married” (Hansberry 50). The two are not amused, as the only guaranteed ‘happy life’ for a woman involves marriage to a wealthy man. However, Beneatha is determined to become a doctor. Although there isn’t a guarantee of success, she wants people to help herself. She sticks firmly to her goals and doesn’t let anyone tell her otherwise. Beneatha Younger is a woman who lives for herself. Throughout the play, she discovers what living means to her. When she meets Joseph Asagai, she realizes that having someone by her side might not be as extensive of a burden as she previously
Lorraine Hansberry, in her play A Raisin in the Sun, tells the story of the Youngers, a poverty-stricken family of five. The author uses a large sum of inherited life insurance money to symbolize the downfall of two of the characters, Beneatha and Walter, due to their dreams.
Young. Ambitious. Dependant. A woman with big dreams will put everything aside to make them come true. Can her family support these dreams? In A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry portrays an African American woman in her mid-twenties in the 1950s with big hopes of becoming a doctor. Beneatha Younger, a childish, dependant, young woman, devoted to becoming a doctor, open minded, yet sometimes disrespectful. Ultimately, Beneatha’s need for her family’s support holds them back throughout a difficult time.
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is a play about the Younger family, a black family trying to achieve their goals, and help their family financially. Walter’s dream is to open a liquor store, Mama’s dream is to buy a house, and Beneatha’s dream is to become a doctor. While some may argue that Walter’s dream may provide an immediate and steady income, statistics say that 60% of local businesses fail within the first 18 months (Engel n.p.). Some may also argue that Mama’s dream is more important; however, if they buy a house, and don’t have enough money to pay the bills, the Younger family would be back to where they were before. Beneatha's dream of becoming a doctor would benefit her family in the long run, promote the idea of women becoming doctors, and help to end racial differences.
This role is that of the liberated and independent woman who has struggled and fought to be more than a body or bearer of children. The woman who embodies this role in A Raisin in the Sun is Beneatha. Beneatha has ambitious future plans: "I'm going to be a doctor" (Hansberry 50). She wants to go to college and reach out beyond herself to heal other people. Believing that she can achieve what she desires, her determination allows her to reach above her limitations.
“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).
Beneatha Younger’s dreams to be a doctor often contradict what other people think is best for her, showing that she is willing to take risks. Her relationship with George becomes tense when he discovers that she aspires to become a doctor. This is shown when he says “As for myself I, want a nice... simple... sophisticated girl... not a poet, OK?” George does not like the change that Beneatha advocates for. Another instance, when he says “It’s simple. You read books, to learn facts, to get grades, to pass the course, to get a degree. That’s all,
Even though south side chicago had a low amount of hope, the characters of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, Walter, Beneatha, and Mama found a way to dream big. It led them to doing what they thought was right, eventually molding Walter into a greedy man during most of the play, Beneatha into an aspiring woman that demands respect, and Mama into an improvising woman who loves her
The idea of family is a central theme in Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun. Hansberry alludes to the Old Testament book of Ruth in her play to magnify “the value of having a home and family”(Ardolino 181). The Younger family faces hardships that in the moment seem to tear them apart from one another, but through everything, they stick together. The importance of family is amplified by the choices of Walter and Beneatha because they appear to initiate fatal cracks in the Younger family’s foundation, but Mama is the cement who encourages her family to pull together as one unit. The hardships of the family help develop a sense of unity for the Younger household.
Differences in generations can cause people to have different viewpoints in life. A Raisin In The Sun is a play set in the 1950s written by Lorraine Hansberry. The Youngers are a black family who lives in a cramped apartment in the South Side of Chicago. When Mama receives a check of insurance money, members of the family are divided in their own hopes of what it will be used for. Mama, Ruth, and Beneatha are the three women of the Younger household and their generational differences clearly show through their actions. The difference between generations is why Mama is the most devout, Ruth is an agreeable person, and Beneatha is outspoken and has modern views.
During the French Revolution which lasted from 1789 until 1799, the French government experienced three different types of rule: the National Assembly, the National Convention, and the Directory. This ten year period in France saw tremendous change from the government trying to give the revolution a purpose for happening when the people of the country became angry. Five years after the end of the revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte declared himself as the emperor of France, and reigned as such for the next ten years, the same amount of time the revolution occurred for. Even though Napoleon only lead one type of government during his ten year reign as emperor, he brought about more positive change than the three different governments of the French Revolution. Both of these ten year period in French history were supposed to bring
Beneatha’s dream is to become a doctor. She believes that her dream was deferred when she was born since she is coloured and a female. Although she fights this, her dream is deferred even more when Walter looses the money which she needed to get into medical school.
Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun is a modern tragedy in which the protagonist, Walter Lee Younger, is unable to find the fulfilling life he wants so badly. A contrasting view of the quest for that fulfilling life is offered in the character of Beneatha (whose name seems a play on her socioeconomic status, i.e. she-who-is-beneath), who serves as a foil against which the character of Walter is defined. Both Walter and Beneatha, representing the new generation of blacks coming of age after World War Two, are in conflict with Mama, who represents the previous generation and its traditions. The character of George Murchison is also opposed to both Beneatha and Walter, since he symbolizes assimilation on the white man's terms. Walter and Beneatha are also in conflict with their environment, a society where they are marginalized and subject to daily humiliation because of what is called their race (not, in fact, a biological distinction but a cultural construct).
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's A Raisin in the Sun is a play about segregation, triumph, and coping with personal tragedy. Set in Southside Chicago, A Raisin in the Sun focuses on the individual dreams of the Younger family and their personal achievement. The Younger's are an African American family besieged by poverty, personal desires, and the ultimate struggle against the hateful ugliness of racism. Lena Younger, Mama, is the protagonist of the story and the eldest Younger. She dreams of many freedoms, freedom to garden, freedom to raise a societal-viewed equal family, and freedom to live liberated of segregation. Next in succession is Beneatha Younger, Mama's daughter, assimilationist, and one who dreams of aiding people by breaking down barriers to become an African American female doctor. Lastly, is Walter Lee Younger, son of Mama and husband of Ruth. Walter dreams of economic prosperity and desires to become a flourishing businessman. Over the course of Walter's life many things contributed to his desire to become a businessman. First and foremost, Walter's father had a philosophy that no man should have to do labor for another man. Being that Walter Lee was a chauffeur, Big Walter?s philosophy is completely contradicted. Also, in Walter?s past, he had the opportunity to go into the Laundromat business which he chose against. In the long run, he saw this choice was fiscally irresponsible this choice was. In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, Walter Lee's dreams, which are his sole focus, lead to impaired judgement and a means to mend his shattered life.
Beneatha is Mama's youngest child. She aspires to become a doctor. Mama wants Beneatha to become what she wants so she decided to put aside some of the insurance money for Beneatha's schooling. Beneatha struggles as a young independent woman who has yet to find her identity. She finds herself trying new hobbies and dating two very different men. During a conversation with one of those men, Asagai, Beneatha is forced by Asagai to realize that she is not very independent at all. In fact she has been depending on the insurance money to get her through school. After this realization, Beneatha gains thoughts on how to achieve her dream of becoming a doctor (Kohorn). She presents her mother with her decision of getting married and how she "plans to find her roots in Africa" with Asagai (Silver).