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Critical review of a raisin in the sun
Literary critique of a raisin in the sun
Al literary essay about the raisin in the sun
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The play, A Raisin in the Sun, has a very strong view of feminism in the 1960’s. The way that the females are portrayed and talked to in this play is not only an example of how the relationship between a man and a woman in society is unequal, but reflects a particular patriarchal ideology. Throughout this play, as the characters strive to achieve their dreams, the relationships that we see can be seen as feminist and as sexual stereotypes.
Feminism is a perspective that views gender as one of the most important bases of the structure and organization of the social world. Feminists argue that in most known societies this structure has granted women lower status and value, more limited access to valuable resources, and less autonomy and opportunity to make choices over their lives than it has granted men. (Sapiro 441)
A Raisin in the Sun anticipates the massive changes in gender relations-principally, the rise
What are you talking about, Ruth? Listen, I’m going to be a doctor. I’m not worried about who I’m going to marry yet – if I ever get married.”
Beneatha wants to make her very life a challenge to gender stereotypes.
ASAGAI: “For a woman it should be enough.”
BENEATHA: “I know – because that’s what it says in all the novels that men write. But it isn’t. Go ahead and laugh – but I’m not interested in being someone’s little episode in America or –” (With feminine vengeance)” – one of them!” (ASAGAI has burst into laughter again) “That’s funny as hell, huh!”(Hansberry).
Asagai argues that love should be enough for women, but Beneatha argues that she needs more- a career, for instance. She is determined to find her fullness as an individual and to not be defined by the man she marries. Walter Walter constantly criticizes Beneatha’s dream of being a doctor. He treats it as though his dream is anymore feasible. He’s portrayed by Hansberry to be fairly pathetic and helpless. It seems like he needs women to help him move into his
Beneatha wants women to have the same rights and the same expectations that men have. In the setting of A Raisin in the Sun, women are not expected to go to medical school and to become a doctor. If anything, they are “supposed to” become a nurse, or be a stay-at-home mom. Beneatha’s dreams to be a doctor often contradict what other people expect her to do with her life, but she doesn’t care what they say. She identifies as an anti-assimilationist, showed in A Raisin in the Sun when she says, “(Wheeling, passionately, sharply) I am not an assimilationist!”. She is accused of being an assimilationist by Asagai and passionately denies it. She thinks that being an African-American assimilationist would be an insult to her culture and thinks that African Americans should embrace their native culture. Her position on this matter often get in the way of her relationships with other people. This is shown in A Raisin in the Sun when George says “Oh dear, dear, dear! Here we go! A lecture on the African past! On our Great West African Heritage! In one second we will hear all about the great Ashanti sculpture of Bénin - and then some poetry in the Bantu - and the whole monologue will end with the word heritage! Let’s face it, baby, your heritage is nothing but a bunch of raggedy-assed spirituals and some grass huts!”. George wants Beneatha to leave behind her heritage and embrace what Americans are doing. He wants her to abandon her family history and be an assimilationist. Beneatha is willing to fight against this mindset and this shows that she is willing to fight for what is right. Beneatha would much rather prefer to embrace her heritage and be proud that she is African rather than submit herself to American culture and leave behind her
Throughout the plays, the reader can visualize how men dismiss women as trivial and treat them like property, even though the lifestyles they are living in are very much in contrast. The playwrights, each in their own way, are addressing the issues that have negatively impacted the identity of women in society.
A Raisin in the Sun is a set in 1950s after the Second World War which was an age of great racism and materialistic in America. It is about a black family living in south side of Chicago and struggling through family and economic hardships, facing the issues of racism, discrimination, and prejudice. The family consists of Lena Younger known as Mama; Walter Lee Younger who is an intense man, Ruth Younger who is wife of Walter Lee, Travis Younger who is son of Ruth and Walter, and Beneatha Younger who is Walter’s younger sister. The whole family lives in a two bed room apartment and don’t have money to live a better life. youngers are tired from their struggle to ...
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...
The play, A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, begins with an African American family about to receive a check from their father’s death. The check makes the family think about what each person would do with the money and they all have different ideas. Whenever we find out what Walter Lee and Beneatha each want to do with that money, we learn more about their different views on gender and what they believe a man and women "should” do. The family lives in Chicago in the 1950’s, which from my research about this time and location, I’ve learned it’s like everywhere else during this time; the men think they control everything and everyone. During this time, these men and women were raised like this, so they didn’t know any different. It’s hard for us to read about this stuff because women are much more independent these days than they were even just 10 years ago. Walter and Beneatha have different views on how men and women should act. Walter’s relates more to the time period they are in and Beneatha is more modern.
A Doll House, by Henrik Ibsen, and A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, both have central themes of search of self-identity within a social system. This is demonstrated by women characters from both plays breaking away from the social standards of their times and acting on their own terms. In most situations women are to be less dominant than men in society. These two plays are surprisingly different from the views of women in society and of the times and settings that they take place in.
Adventure is the first value that Beneatha and I share. I am always interested into traveling and going to different places, which is same with Beneatha. I love to go to different countries and especially to England because I love their accent and I like to speak like British people. Thus, Beneatha has the same value she loves traveling. In the play, she wanted to go to Africa to the extent that when Asagai asked her if she wanted to
Women were still viewed as housewives and men were saw as the main provider for their families. Characteristics of the Genre A Raisin in the Sun is considered to be realistic drama. It is consider... ... middle of paper ... ... caring, smart Setting Significance of opening scene
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.
Notwithstanding the verity that this act develops in pessimism, the Youngers recapture assurance and determination to chase their fantasy as it extends. Asagai recommences Beneatha’s gallantry and perception of triumph. His heart-to-heart of colonial Africa and his stated notion that the reigning authorities be compelled to cascade envisages the uprising that was to arise in those provinces in the decades subsequent to the 1950s. Asagai’s contention that when Beneatha appears in Africa she will attain the hysterical desire as if she has been away for only a day is a contention that America can’t at any time be a region of dwelling for blacks, no matter how long they have lingered there.
“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).
A Raisin in the Sun is a play telling the story of an African-American tragedy. The play is about the Younger family near the end of the 1950s. The Younger family lives in the ghetto and is at a crossroads after the father’s death. Mother Lena Younger and her grown up children Walter Lee and Beneatha share a cramped apartment in a poor district of Chicago, in which she and Walter Lee's wife Ruth and son Travis barely fit together inside.
A Raisin in the Sun is a play set in the south side of Chicago during the 1950s. During this time the civil rights movement was happening and racial tension was at a high. Many African
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.
In A Raisin in the Sun, Mama illuminates the fact that woman can exist and can do positive things in the world on there own. By Mama’s role, she shows that women can live on their own without the guidance of men. Mama’s strong; bold attitude overcame the aspirations of the struggle between men and women, which led to clarifying the book as a guide to the upbringing of the women’s movement. Through Mama’s desires, the play A Raisin in the Sun examines the expressions, the emotions and the feelings of what woman had to cope with during the 1950’s and 1960’s. Mama’s dreams and her attitude designed a new path for woman to walk on. Through Mama’s conduct this play reveals a positive attitude towards the women’s movement and represents that woman can survive on their own.