Ma Rainey's Black Bottom Sparknotes

1. The situations the characters in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom are introduced to very much resemble the plight of African Americans in society in the late 1920s. Two of the characters that the play focuses on represent different mindsets that the African American people had at the time. Ma Rainey is portrayed as having a higher than thou view of others, While Levee is a little sneakier in his approach.
Throughout the first act, Sturdavant can be seen talking about how he won’t put up with Ma Rainey’s attitude. When she finally appears in the second act, the audience gets a good view of that harsh prima donna attitude that Ma Rainey is apparently famous for. While this attitude may just seem like a stereotypical celebrity archetype, Ma Rainey’s motivation behind it is much nobler. She is sending a message to the men like Sturdavant and those above him. This message is that they cannot take advantage of her or any other African

Americans. Ma Rainey also has a desire to give African Americans a voice. This is shown both literally and fioguratively when she insists on giving stuttering Sylvester a speaking role in her recording.
On the other hand there is Levee. He is a very brash character, but unlike Ma Rainey he chooses to take a back seat when it comes to racial inequality. He puts a smile on his face and responds respectfully, all while he is thinking of how he can take advantage of his white superiors. This mindset is explained further on page thirty-five and thirty-six when Levee tells the story of how his father got his revenge on white men who forced him off of his land. This mindset, while it seems stable, ends in both the death of Levee’s father and Levee’s career, proving that sometimes it’s better to take the head on approach.

3. The ending of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom might seem to come out of nowhere to most people. The play, for the most part, is a relatively calm story about the recording industry and the plight of African Americans both inside and outside the recording booth. But, in the final scene, the action is turned up to eleven when Levee pulls a knife on his fellow musician Toledo and the play comes to close when Levee leaves Toledo with a fatal stab wound.
From the beginning of the play Levee is the center of most of the conflict that takes place throughout Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.

His motivation throughout the play is to play his own compositions with his own band. Levee is portrayed as a brash, energetic, and ambitious character who will do anything to attain his goal. We learn just how determined Levee is at the end of act one. In this scene Levee tells the sad story about how his family was forced off of their land and what his father did in order to get his revenge. He says, “And that taught me how to handle them. I seen my daddy go up and grin in this cracker’s face… All the while he’s planning how he’s gonna get him and what he’s gonna do to him. (Wilson 36)” This quote shows that Levee will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. That includes acting subservient toward Sturdavant and others above him. We find out later in the play that while this approach might sound good to Levee it ultimately led to not only the death of his father, but also the probable death of Levee’s

career.
In the final scene, Levee is approached by Sturdavant, who previously promised Levee that he could record some of his songs, and informs Levee that people don’t like his kind of music. Levee is left angry and embarrassed as his cocky façade finally cracks. All of the memories of him being undermined and crushed flood back to him. In this furious state, Levee isn’t able to think rationally and takes out all of his anger on the nearest person. Unfortunately for Toledo, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.