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A Raisin In The Sun Character Analysis Essay

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Beneatha’s Choice In the year Lorraine Hansberry’s play, “A Raisin in the Sun”, was written women weren’t meant for anything more than taking care of home. Beneatha a main character in the play wants to be a doctor. Beneatha’s family wants her to get married. Beneatha is dating two men Joseph Asagai and George Murchison. George is a black man who comes from a family with money who wants Beneatha for show. Joseph is a college student from Africa, who cares for Beneatha. Beneatha shouldn’t marry either man. Beneatha shouldn’t marry George because he’s chauvinistic. For example, George tells Beneatha to go change, because they were going to a play not being in one. George then tells Beneatha that she shouldn’t be proud that she looks eccentric. George belittles Beneatha whenever they are together. George doesn’t care for Beneatha’s feelings or her dreams. Beneatha needs someone who will be understanding of her finding out who she is and her wanting to become a doctor. Beneatha doesn’t need a man who feels he is better just because he is a man. If Beneatha were to marry George, the women she is and …show more content…

Joseph concern is for Africa, what he can do for his country. In Act I Joseph plays on Beneatha’s emotions by telling her that her hair is mutilated. Beneatha then keeps pulling at her hair because she is bothered by this comment. If Joseph cared for Beneatha as he spoke, He would accept her as she is. Instead Joseph is trying to change her to benefit his self-image. Beneatha is naïve about Afrocentrism’s so therefore she is following what Joseph tells her is facts. Beneatha is lost in a world were men are the head, she wants to become a doctor, yet Beneatha has everyone telling her what she should or shouldn’t be doing. If Beneatha accepts Joseph proposal she will not only lose her family, but lose her focus on her dreams. In addition, Beneatha will be living for others as oppose to living for

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Beneatha is a confident person and she wants to figure out and explore who she is. While arguing with Mama and Ruth about marriage and her future, Beneatha says, “I am going to be a doctor and everybody around here better understand that!” (50). During the argument Beneatha is very assertive of her beliefs and what she wants to do. She is very adamant that she wants to be a doctor

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Beneatha’s Experience With Sexism Women and Men are the two genders that society measures on what they should do and how they should behave. Women, particularly, have faced discrimination for the majority of the years including the present day. In the book, A Raisin in the Sun, Beneatha is described as a diligent and devoted college student, on the path to becoming a physician. Lorraine Hansberry portrays the sexism Beneatha encounters for wanting to become a doctor through her peers' disparaging comments.

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Back in the 1950s, women would be a stay at home mom and take care of the house and kids. However, Beneatha does not want to fit this stereotype. She tells Ruth and Lena that "[she is] not even worried about who [she is] going to marry yet. If—[she] ever gets married" (Hansberry 75). Beneatha gets shamed for not wanting to marry before her schooling.

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Hansberry makes the characters have a tough life so when they achieve what they want, it’s a greater reward than someone who had an easy life. The main reason Beneatha changed so much during this play because of how people treated her. Beneath goes through major changes in the play. One of the main reason she does is because of Asagia. Asagia is a friend of Beneatha and is from Nigeria.

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Beneatha is the most educated person in the family. Her dream is to medical school and become a doctor. Beneatha almost gives up her dream of becoming a doctor when Walter lose her money but Asagai offers for her to go be a doctor in Africa. Another dream she has is to have her cultural identity and be a part of the African heritage. Much of her desire to express her African heritage comes from Asagai who says she is assimilated and acts white.

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Walter, believes Beneatha should give up on her dream of becoming a doctor. In the story, he states, ¨If you so crazy ´bout messing ´round with sick people- then go be a nurse like other women- or just get married and be quiet...¨(Hansberry 38). Her attitude towards his response was very fitting for the situation. She is tired of his attitude toward his dream and lets him know by telling him to give up. It seems as if Walter was the reason for Beneatha 's dream to become deferred.

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The 1950s were oppressive and degrading towards the culture and identity of African Americans. This principle is especially personified through the drama, A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry. As a black female author in this time period, she was easily able to capture the racism and forced stereotypes poignant within the lives of the minorities. Beneatha, a fictional character in the play, represents the ambitious and suppressed black female intellectual who is stripped of her identity at every turn. The men in her life are as different as black and white, and in essence that is what they are.

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Beneatha’s dream of becoming a doctor, is often affected by some of her family members’ decisions. She begins to lose hope, thus enabling her to become a realist.

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All of the things that make Asagai’s relationship with Beneatha healthy, come from his upbringing; his upbringing that was lesser than George’s. Beneatha’s relationship with Joseph Asagai is healthier than Beneatha’s relationship with George Murchison because Asagai has a more positive view on the world. One key to a healthy relationship is having positive conversations ("MindPerk RSS"). In Act three, when Asagai comes

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She wants to become a doctor and get the education she needs to become one. Throughout the play she proves that her independence means a lot to her. Beneatha wants to be free and have her own life, just like the American Dream. In the play she says to Mama and 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” (Hansberry32).

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She defies the ideal life for a woman and expresses her opinion loud and clear. Beneatha throughout the play finds herself and her African American roots. Walter does not approve of Beneatha’s hopes to become a doctor he tells her, “If you so crazy ‘bout messing ‘round with sick people---then go be a nurse like other women---or just get married and be quiet. . .” (1.1.125) These social issues that the characters faced in their lives made them out to be the people that they were meant to be.

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Beneatha dreams to be a doctor, which is a male-dominated profession. She says, “I am going to be a doctor and everybody around here better understand that!” (Hansberry 33). This shows her feminist attitude in the play when Beneatha takes a largely optimistic stance when facing troubles of entering a male-dominated profession, implying that she is a ‘non-conformist’. Additionally, Beneatha refuses to “just get married and be quiet” (Hansberry 22), as her chauvinistic brother, Walter Lee, expects her to be.

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His sister, Beneatha, wants to become a doctor and Walter isn't very supportive of her decision. Walter's wife, Ruth, is the recipient of the majority of Walter's anger and sexist remarks. In Act 1 Scene 1, the audience learns that Beneatha, a colored woman, wants to become a doctor and attends medical school. Beneatha and Walter begin to banter with each other about Mama’s money.

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In Act 1, Beneatha’s quest to find her personal identity is seen in the way she expresses herself, her ambitions, her roots and the way she deviates from what is acceptable in her family. She tries to find ways to express herself such as trying different hobbies. In the past, Beneatha has been a part of a play-acting group, horseback-riding club, and in Act 1 starts guitar lessons (47). She also has the ambition to become a doctor which is looked down upon by her brother, Walter Lee (38). Additionally, her African roots are important to her search for identity.

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