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Gender Roles In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

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In Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun “Act 2, Scene Two” from pages 108-109, Walter has a conversation with his son Travis about his big plans for their future. In Walter’s monologue towards the end of the scene, he paints a picture of an ideal future where his “business transaction” will solve all their problems. In doing so, Walter assigns roles to each of his family members that reflect the gender of each individuals. Gender roles are particularly prominent throughout the play. The gender role constantly reiterated is a man should be the primary provided for his family. This is present in Walter’s attitude towards his status in the family. He feels emasculated by the fact that his job alone does not yield enough for his family to live comfortably. Everyone in Walter’s family has to work in order to prove sufficient income and Walter looks down on himself for not being the sole provider for his family. The fact that his wife and especially his mom has to work because his income is unable to fully support them …show more content…

He says “...I’ll come home and I’ll be pretty tired, you know what I mean, after a day of conferences...an executive’s life is hell, man-” (Hansberry 108). Walter continues to dream about working in an “executive‘s” position once his investment towards the liquor store brings in the bank. He will become the breadwinner of this family making it so that his family can rely on his sole income. With this Walter takes his role as the “man” of the family. In this situation, Walter desire for dominance is exposed because if he is the one earning the money, he is able to use it any way he wants. When the Younger family received the life insurance money as a result of the passing of Mama’s husband, Walter had little say in how the money was going to be used because it did not belong to him. Walter’s power of authority was lost as a result of

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