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A Raisin In The Sun Gender Analysis

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The members of the younger family all have cherished ambitions, throughout the play A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry’s use of metaphors, hyperboles, and symbols reveal a great deal about the nature of the characters’ deepest wishes and hopes for the future and how gender and race can show the unjust in societal expectations. The first written words of this play are the poem by Langston Hughes, Harlem, which is about what happens when a dream is set on the back burner. Gender and race play the role of societal expectations. In the 1960’s a revolution of American ideals was beginning to evolve that would change the way people looked at women and African Americans in the years to come, the rise of feminism and left over ideals of the civil …show more content…

She supports them in everything, Beneatha becoming a doctor is harder because she is a black female, during this time the medical field was still mostly male oriented. Even though Beneatha's relationship with her mother is largely one of conflict because of their many differences, but it is not a strained relationship. They always end up hugging and supporting each other afterwards. She will always love her mother even if they do not always get along. Beneatha is a very strong and stubborn character, mostly so when it comes to her brother Walter Lee. Beneatha is struggling to become a doctor because the medical professions, was not for women. Beneatha uses her stubbornness to get her through the tough, profession she was dreaming about. Even Beneatha's name hints at the subtle undertones of feminism, if you say it like beneath her. Chicago in the time period of the play was still segregated. Many aspects of life make it challenging to achieve a dream, but most of them you can change. Gender and race you cannot change, which I believe are the two biggest points of discrimination. So what happens to a dream deferred? In my personal opinion a dream can never really die, it can only be saved for a later day, when you have lived enough to remember what it’s like to

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587 Words | 3 Pages

A Raisin in the Sun is an inspirational book/play that tells the overcoming story of an African-American family Going through the terrible struggles of Chicago in the 1950’s. Greg Kincaid once said “No matter how much falls on us, we keep plowing ahead. That's the only way to keep the roads clear.”. This explains Beneatha younger, a young woman who tries to find herself while dealing with others scrutinizing and being treated like a child in her family. In conclusion, Beneatha younger is an overpowering character that is shaping her life through independence, an education, and growing closer to her

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919 Words | 4 Pages

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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878 Words | 4 Pages

Saad Moolla Ms. Noha Enligh III 15 January 2015 Literary Analysis Essay The play, “ A Raisin in the Sun” authored by Lourraine Hasenberry holds a very unique title that refers to Langston Hughes’s poem “A Dream Deferred.” Langston’s poem is about dreams and what happens to those dreams are not fulfilled. Hassenberry wrote her play about a poor African American family by the name of the Yongers. Mrs. Younger, Walter Lee, and Beneatha all have there own individual dreams.

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600 Words | 3 Pages

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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921 Words | 4 Pages

Walter uses his male privilege to put Beneatha down. Beneatha battles being underprivileged at home and in society by defying odds and choosing her own path. According to the matrix of domination, Beneatha being an African American woman shows that in order for her to have full privilege she has to deal with both the isms. The social construction of difference has produced racism and sexism and connected them and society has used them to justify

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866 Words | 4 Pages

Beneatha wants to study to become a doctor, but instead Walter Lee wants to spend his family’s insurance money so he can open a liquor store with Willy and Bobo his friends and be a man. Since Walter Lee and his family were in a bad position and were very poor it was Walter Younger’s responsibility to keep the family together and he saw this a very big responsibility. He frequently complained about being a chauffeur and ridding rich people, every day when he woke up in the morning. He would always fight with his wife Ruth, Mama and his sister Beneatha. For instance (Hansberry 32-34) he says to Ruth his wife “You tired, ain’t you?

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1601 Words | 7 Pages

“A Raisin in the Sun,” written by Lorraine Hansberry in 1959, was the first play ever produced on Broadway by an African-American woman and was considered ground-breaking for it’s time. Titled after Langston Hughes’ poem “Harlem,” sometimes known as “A Dream Deferred,” the play and the subsequent film adaptations are honest examinations of race, family, poverty, discrimination, oppression and even abortion in urban Chicago after WWII. The original play was met with critical praise, including a review by Brooks Atkinson of the New York Times where he wrote, “For A Raisin in the Sun is a play about human beings who want, on the one hand, to preserve their family pride and, on the other hand, to break out of the poverty that seems to be their fate. Not having any axe to grind, Miss Hansberry has a wide range of topics to write about-some of them hilarious, some of them painful in the extreme.” The original screen adaptation released in 1961 was highly acclaimed in its own right, and was chosen in 2005 for preservation in the United States of America National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for its cultural and historical significance.

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910 Words | 4 Pages

Beneatha’s dream to become a doctor connects to the American Dream through freedom. She wants to be able to achieve her own life and make a living for

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1127 Words | 5 Pages

They do all put in work to pay for her schooling though. School was difficult for black students as they were not always accepted in all schools. “In September 1957 Arkansas Democratic Governor Orval E. Faubus became the national symbol of racial segregation when he used Arkansas National Guardsmen to block the enrollment of nine black students who had been ordered by a federal judge to desegregate Little Rock 's Central High School¨(Faubus). The Whites were definitely trying to keep the blacks from getting the proper education to be successful this is why her family is sceptical about her become a doctor. The family is somewhat supportive of Beneatha’s dream in the sense that they pay for her schooling.

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816 Words | 4 Pages

A Raisin in the Sun addresses major social issues such as racism and feminism which were common in the twentieth century. The author, Lorraine Hansberry, was the first playwright to produce a play that portrayed problematic social issues. Racism and gender equality are heavily addressed throughout the play. Even though we still have these issues today, in the 1950’s and 60’s the issues had a greater part in society. Racism and gender have always been an issue in society, A Raisin in the Sun is an important piece of American history during that time period.

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1502 Words | 7 Pages

Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun presents the rise of feminism in America in the 1960s. A Raisin in the Sun is feminist because, with the feminist notions displayed in the play, women establish their rights to fulfil their individual dreams which diverge from traditional conventions of that time. Beneatha Younger, Lena Younger (Mama) and Ruth Younger are the three primary characters displaying evidences of feminism in the play. Moreover, Hansberry creates male characters who demonstrate oppressive attitudes towards women yet enhance the feminist ideology in the play. A Raisin in the Sun is feminist because, the play encourages women to develop an identity for themselves, particularly through education and career.

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779 Words | 4 Pages

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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1499 Words | 6 Pages

Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun presents the rise of feminism in America in the 1960s. Beneatha Younger, Lena Younger (Mama) and Ruth Younger are the three primary characters displaying evidences of feminism in the play. Moreover, Hansberry creates male characters who demonstrate oppressive attitudes towards women yet enhance the feministic ideology in the play. A Raisin in the Sun is feminist because, with the feminist notions displayed in the play, women can fulfil their individual dreams that are not in sync with traditional conventions of that time.

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825 Words | 4 Pages

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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845 Words | 4 Pages

Just within the recent decades, men and women started to fight against the gender stereotypes and started to challenge their roles in a family and in the society. The play, A Raisin in the Sun, portrays the lives of African–Americans during the 1950s. Lorraine Hansberry, a writer and a social activist, reinforced the traditional gender roles, especially female’s, by depicting how the Youngers interact and how they act in an economical struggle. Throughout the play, A Raisin in the Sun, she uses Walter Lee Younger, Ruth Younger and Lena Younger to reinforce the traditional role of fathers, wives and mothers within a family.

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