Sidelights The first African-American woman to have a play produced on Broadway, Lorraine Hansberry dedicated both her short life and her literary output to pursuing racial and sexual equality in the United States.
Written during the Civil Rights Era, her works reflect the non-militant approach of such black leaders as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Although published as the women's movement of the 1960s and 1970s was only beginning to rally supporters, Hansberry's plays portray strong female characters who stand up for themselves in a male-dominated society.
"Ultimately life-and love-affirming," her works "Focus on the bonds and conflicts of family and romantic relationships," according to Leslie- Ann Skolnik in Feminist Writers, "The pursuit
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/ Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? / Or fester like a sore-and then run?" Because the play explored a universal theme-the search for freedom and a better life-the majority of its audience loved it.
"In spite of its difficulty," maintained Carter of the play, "It should be considered a major work for its fascinating characters, witty dialogue, and superb portrayal of the social and intellectual currents of its time." Hansberry would return to illuminating the conditions faced by her fellow African Americans in Les Blancs, which, although unfinished at her death, would be produced in 1970.
Martin Goffried hypothesized in Women's Wear Daily that "Hansberry's tragically brief playwriting career charted the postwar steps in the racial movement, from working within the system to a burgeoning distrust of white liberals to the association with Africa in Les Blancs that would evolve, after her death, from the ashes of passive resistance into the energy and danger of militant activism." Writing in Beautiful Are the Souls of My Black Sisters, Jeanne L. Noble examined the author in a similar sociological light, wondering where, in the political continuum of the late-twentieth century, Hansberry would stand in comparison with newer breeds of black
painting in Chicago and Mexico, before she realized she had no talent for it. Moving to
“All adventures, especially into new territory, are scary”, Sally Ride (http://www.brainyquote.com). This, of course, is true for the inspirational astronaut we know today. Sally Ride changed society’s views on women, and made it into American history books. She impacted modern day space exploration and young women by being the first American woman in space as shown by her work for NASA and her dedication toward young women and girls pursuing careers in science and math.
Georgia Douglas Johnson was a playwright of the Harlem Renaissance whose social commentary delved into the hardships of African Americans in the early 20th century. As an African American woman of the time, Johnson often brought to light the difficulties of her race and gender. In Johnson’s play Plumes she invites her audience into an everyday kitchen, with two hardworking early 20th century African American women trying navigate their way through a racially oppressive and patriarchal society. Johnson uses the characters’ desires to provide for those that they love, as an illustration to the adversity of everyday life of the African American in her time, particularly the African American woman. In this paper, I will explore the complications
This is reflected in the literature of the African-American as a special bond of love and loyalty to the mother figure. Just as the role of motherhood in African-American culture is magnified and elevated, so is the role of the wife. The literature reflects this by showing the African-American man struggling to make a living for himself and his family with his wife either being emotionally or physically submissive. Understanding the role of women in the African-American community starts by examining the roles of women in African-American literature. Because literature is a reflection of the community from which it comes, the portrayal of women in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937) and James Baldwin's Go Tell it on the Mountain (1952) is consistent with the roles mentioned above.
This paper examines the drastic differences in literary themes and styles of Richard Wright and Zora Neale Hurston, two African--American writers from the early 1900's. The portrayals of African-American women by each author are contrasted based on specific examples from their two most prominent novels, Native Son by Wright, and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Hurston. With the intent to explain this divergence, the autobiographies of both authors (Black Boy and Dust Tracks on a Road) are also analyzed. Particular examples from the lives of each author are cited to demonstrate the contrasting lifestyles and experiences that created these disparities, drawing parallels between the authors’ lives and creative endeavors. It becomes apparent that Wright's traumatic experiences involving females and Hurston's identity as a strong, independent and successful Black artist contributed significantly to the ways in which they chose to depict African-American women and what goals they adhered to in reaching and touching a specific audience with the messages contained in their writing.
Novels that are written by pronounced authors in distinct periods can possess many parallels and differences. In fact, if we were to delve further into Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening, we can draw upon many similarities. Now of course there are the obvious comparisons, such as Janie being African American and poor, unlike Edna who is white and wealthy, but there is much more than just ethnicity and materialistic wealth that binds these two characters together. Both novels portray a society in which the rights of women and their few opportunities in life are strictly governed, usually breaking the mold that has been made for them to follow The Cult of True Womanhood. These novels further explore these women’s relationships and emotions, proving that throughout the ages of history women have wanted quite similar things out of life.
works deserve literary and scholarly attention from all people because of the universal themes confronted, view of individuals at all levels of society, and the representation of diversity and complexity of the African American female at the turn of the century.
Women have always been viewed based on what is on the outside instead of what is on the inside. They were never handed anything but had to fight for what they believed to have. Sadly, though it’s been a struggle for women and for black women especially who want equality and a chance to do as they please. Criticized based on body parts and the color of their skin. Just as a resource stated, “ What did it mean for a black woman to be an artist in our grandmother’s time? It is a question with an answer cruel enough to stop the blood...the agony of the women who might have been poets, novelists, essayists and short story writers, who died with their real gifts stifled within them” ( Walker 2). Why is that? There is need to question society. The unfairness is out of control and the unexpected should be the expected. With the book Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston it breaks the chain of black women not credited for their extraordinary work. The Black Feminist Art shouldn’t be stopped in order to inspire young black girls to become more than what their hearts desire. Zora Neale Hurston did it, through the character Janie Mae Crawford and of reality intertwined. By writing a book not expected to be written by a black woman with a dialogue and concept so well crafted, it proves that women should be happy in any shape or
In the book A Raisin in the Sun, the time period is set in 1955. A time in America where African Americans still dealt with a constant struggle between them and the rest of the country. It touches on subjects that were very sensitive especially at the time the work was released. Even though the setting of the book was in the north, Lorraine Hansberry seemed to want to show that things weren’t that much better in the north than they were in the south at that time. Segregation was still being implemented in the law system, and there was a missing sense of equality among everyone. It shows that Lorraine Hansberry took what was going on around her environment and portrayed those situations into her work. The three events listed include Rosa Parks
Miller, Jordan Y. “Lorraine Hansberry.” The Black American Writer: Poetry and Drama, II. Student Resource Center. Gale Group Databases. Collin County Community College Library, Plano TX. 28 February 2011 .
At the age of 34 though, Lorraine Hansberry was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and would die from it (BHS). Before her death she a second play about a liberal's experience dealing with politics and activism called The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window (A&E Networks). But the reviews for the play were mixed, and the play became a bust.
Dubois, WEB. Comp. Henry Louis. Gates and Nellie Y. McKay. The Norton Anthology of African American Literature. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2004. 694-695. Print.
It is important to not that the direction of Brooks’s literary career shifted dramatically in the late 1960’s. While attending a black writers’ conference she was struck by the passion of the young poets. Before this happened, she had regarded herself as essentially a universalist, who happened to be black. After the conference, she shifted from writing about her poems about black people and life to writing for the black population.
McKay, Nellie. "Black Theater and Drama in the 1920s: Years of Growing Pains." The Massachusetts Review 28.4 (1987): 615-626. JSTOR. Web. 31 Mar. 2014
...subordination and attempts to imitate and placate the powerful. For others, for Walter and Beneatha, oppression provokes a refusal to go along. In this context, it is worthwhile to consider the poem from which the play takes its title. When the dream of freedom is deferred, "does it dry up like a raisin in the sun ...or does it explode" (Hughes 534). Hansberry answers, in this play, that it does both and leaves it to the reader's judgment where to place sympathy and where condemnation.