Love and Marriage Illustrated in Raisin in the Sun, A Doll's House and Is Love an Art

In the late 1800’s through early 1900’s women and men were did not “tie the knot” like the women and men do in today’s day. In today’s world, women and men get married because they have many things in common, they are in love with each other, and they choose to get married to one another. In many stories written back then, readers can expect to read about how marriages were arranged and how many people were not having the wedded bliss marriage proclaims today.

Take a look at Ruth and Walter in “Raisin of the Sun.” Ruth is portrayed as a quiet, thoughtful woman, who would do everything and anything for her family. Ruth was even thinking about having an abortion to make her husband happy. Walter was a man with a dream. Walter always had his eyes set on the prize and would do anything to get it. In the play “Raisin in the Sun”, Ruth, Walter and the family lived during hard times when money was not so easy to get and there was still some animosity between the white people and black people.

Ruth and Walters marriage was easy to understand. The story did not portray that the marriage was arranged; however their marriage certainly saw better days. In the beginning of the story, readers will shortly learn that Ruth does not like to talk about problems and Walter wished she would talk about them. Instead, Ruth shoots down any thought Walter has.

Walter stated in the story, “There you are, man say to his woman: I got me a dream. His woman say: Eat your eggs. Man say: I got to take hold of this here world, baby! And woman will say: Eat your eggs and go to work” (Hansberry 822). If Ruth and Walter talked about their issues openly and freely, they would not have had such a bad communication problem. Marriages are hard to keep...

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...e permanent state of being in love, or as we might better say “standing” in love” ( Fromm 1260). This story can really make readers think about love and what it means to fall in love. Love can be different for everyone, and there are all different kinds of love. For example, think about a mother and her baby. The love between a mother and child cannot be measured.

When readers think about the characters in both stories and the principles that Fromm is stating in his story “Is Love an Art,” they might feel as though all the characters could have learned how to love. Love is not something that is learned overnight. In order to love someone else you must first love yourself. Both, Ruth and Nora did not love themselves so how were they ever going to love someone else? William Shakespeare once said, “Love all, trust a few, and do wrong to none” (Shawn Robinson).