In this new day and age, our society has become more accepting of different cultures and their involvement in media and entertainment. Our society hasn't always been like that, and its evident in the play A Raisin in the Sun which was released in 1959 on Broadway in New York by Lorraine Hansberry. In regards to the play, she was known as the first African-American playwright. Many audiences today see the play as a view into what life was like for those who were colored, without focusing about them being colored. The main reason behind the play's significance was the era that it was released in, and the responses that it received from critics. Not only has the play received varying recognition, but it has had memorable performances both on Broadway …show more content…
At this time there was still some segregation ,but it was slowly being phased out by the civil rights movement that was gaining momentum. As mentioned during class, while they were filming the movie in 1961,the neighborhood was outraged that there African Americans there, further showing the separation between the two communities. This was a hard perspective to change, and it is best said by Mr. Lindner during the play, “You just can't force people to change their hearts, son.” (Hansberry 496) Now you would expect all the critics and their reviews of the play would be follow that exact same attitude, but it wasn't entirely like that at all. Many critics “have praised the play's 'universality' ….other reviewers...praise for it's particularity” (Bernstein 1). Today a review by critic similar to that doesn't seem all that significant, but back then it held plenty of importance compared to other plays that featured African-Americans. In other plays, they were just characters that didn't face situations that were relatable to everyone watching. According to Gerald Weales [a well known American Drama critic] Lorraine Hansberry was a awarded a New York Drama Critic's Award for her play, but an
One of the first ideas mentioned in this play, A Raisin In the Sun, is about money. The Younger's end up with no money because of Walter's obsession with it. When Walter decides not to take the extra money he is offered it helps prove Hansberry's theme. Her theme is that money can't buy happiness. This can be seen in Walter's actions throughout the play.
The play depicts the feelings and thoughts of the people of their time. Their feelings are different then what we see today in our lives. The family had to deal with poverty and racism. Not having enough money and always being put down because of the color of their skin held them back from having a lot of self-respect and dignity. I think that Mama was the one who had the most pride and held the family together.
Ever since her rise to fame, Lorraine Hansberry has opened the eyes of many and showed that there is a problem among the American people. Through her own life experiences in the twentieth-century, she has written what she knows and brought forth the issue that there is racial segregation, and it will not be ignored. Her most popular work, A Raisin in the Sun, not only brought African Americans to the theater, but has given many of them hope (Mays 1461). Within this work, we find a “truthful depiction of the sorts of lives lived by many ordinary African Americans in the late 1950s” (Mays 1462). Though there is realism within her work, the idealism is never far away at all. Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun allows one to see that progress is made through an idealistic view of the world and that hope is the root of many changes people search for in life.
A Raisin in the Sun In the book “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, there were characters whose dreams were stated, some of which were shattered by greed and misfortune and others which would eventually come true. The first dream that came about was Walter’s dream of one day owning and maintaining a liquor store. He would do anything to attempt to get his dream to come true, but his mama wanted anything but that to happen. His mama had a dream of her own, though, she dreamed of one day owning her own house, where her whole family could stay comfortably.
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is a dramatic play written in 1959. The play is about an African American family that lives in 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.
The civil rights movement brought enlightenment towards the abolishment of segregation laws. Although the laws are gone does segregation still exist in fact? “What happens to a dream deferred, does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?'; said, in a poem by Langston Huges. The story, A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry showed segregation and its affects upon all races. This essay will show how Assimilationists and New Negroes fought for their own identity in the mid twentieth century. Whether they were being true to themselves or creating carbon copies of oppression was determined by one’s view upon society.
Have you ever found money coming between you and your family and disrupting love and life? Money can destroy families and change them for the worse. In the Raisin in the Sun, the author Lorraine Hansberry, uses events of her life to relate and explain how the Younger family, of Chicago's South side, struggles and improves throughout the book. One main cause for their family's problems is because of money and how it causes anger to control the family. The play deals with situations in which the family is dealing with unhappiness from money. Walter, the man of the house in the Younger family, tries impressing Travis, his son, too much with money instead of teaching him the more important lessons of life. Walter also dreams to invest in a liquor store and make a lot of money and becomes overwhelmed and badly caught up in his dream. Lastly, the Younger family is much too dependent on the check their Mama is receiving. The family has lost the fact that their mama tries to tell them, before, freedom was life but now money seems to have the controlling factor in life. When money becomes an obsession for a family, problems occur.
“A Raisin in the Sun” is one the worlds all time most famous play. Not only did Lorraine Hansberry provided a well thought out and entertaining play, she also displayed messages of life for the world to see. Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” will live on forever and continue to teach others of the difficulties that African American faced during the 1960’s Civil Rights era.
The 1950 's through 1960 's where very important to the civil rights movement. African Americans were fighting to end all segregation and prove they were equal to all other races. Lorraine Hansberry 's play A Raisin in the Sun first appeared in 1959 "- and remains- the quintessential civil rights drama" (Baraka). Hansberry took the roof off the average black house hold and have us a chance to be a fly on the wall. The Younger family faced everyday struggles fighting to survive. Receiving an insurance check for the passing of late Walter, the remaining family members had a chance at a better life. An interesting character from the play, Walter lee, is like most black man trying to come up in the world. Walter gambles the money away trying to
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.
The chasing of a mirage is a futile quest where an individual chases an imaginary image that he or she wants to capture. The goal of this impossible quest is in sight, but it is unattainable. Even with the knowledge that failure is inevitable, people still dream of catching a mirage. There is a fine line that separates those who are oblivious to this fact, and to those who are aware and accept this knowledge. The people who are oblivious represent those who are ignorant of the fact that their dream will be deferred. This denial is the core of the concept used in A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. The perception of the American Dream is one that is highly subjective, but every individual dream ends in its own deferment.
The play A Raisin in the Sun was written by an African American female by the name of Lorraine Hansberry. It was seen to be the most historically accurate because of its realistic viewpoint of the African American situations of this time. James Baldwin, a friend of Hansberry and a fellow writer, “labeled the play as a “historical achievement” of the greatest importance... the unprecedented way that A Raisin in the Sun brought African Americans into the theater and onto the stage.” (“Chapter 30: Cultural and Historical Context, 1925). Baldwin continued to say “never before, had so much of the truth of black people's lives been on the stage” and “A Raisin in the Sun was a historical achievement precisely because of it's realism and contemporaneity, its truthful depiction of the lives of many ordinary African Americans in the late 1950s. In a sense, the play made history by accurately reflecting a historical and cultural reality previously ignored by dramatists” (1925).
One of the most notable African American play writes can arguably be considered “A Raisin in the Sun,” by Lorraine Hansberry. Lorraine shows you a personal glimpse into the lives of a proud black family attempting to overcome adversity in the present day, of which the play occurs. Many individuals have reviewed her play and provided different meanings and plots behind Hansberry’s play. Yi-Chin Shih sees Hansberry’s play as self-identity through two specific dance scenes. While David Cooper sees Hansberry’s play as idealism between two specific characters. In this paper, I will show contrasting examples of the scholarly reviews I choose and their different
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.
blacks ignored theater because theater ignored them (p.1461).” Martin Luther King played a big part in the racial battle to being all equal.... ... middle of paper ... ... Times were very hard and according to some historical context, Chicago housing authorities were forced to abandon their efforts to move black families into the Airport Homes housing project in which they planned for round 1946(p.1536).