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Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

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Lorraine Hansberry was an African-American play writer, and the first black female author to have a play performed on Broadway. Langston Hughes was an African-American poet. While Hansberry was spending time in Harlem, she met Hughes. His poem, Dream Deferred, inspired Lorraine Hansberry to write her play, Raisin in the Sun. Her play is a response to “What happens to a dream deferred?”(Hughes 1). Hansberry shows what it is like for a black family to live in poverty during the 1950s, and how when your dream is set aside, there are negative consequences that come with it. In her play, Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry uses Walter, Ruth, and Beneatha to show the negative consequences that occur when you put off your dream. First, Hansberry uses Walter to show the negative consequences that occur when you put off your dream. Walter Lee Younger is husband to Ruth, …show more content…

Ruth is wife to Walter, and Mother to Travis. Ruth is an emotionally strong woman, and takes care of the apartment. Living in a two bedroom apartment with five people, Ruth’s dream is to live in an actual home with her family. Finding out that she is pregnant, Ruth struggles with the fact that she might not be able to provide for the new baby she is about to bring into the world, and considers getting an abortion. Mama says to Walter, “Son- do you know your wife is expecting another baby? That's what she wanted to talk to you about… I think Ruth is thinking ‘bout getting rid of that child” (Hansberry 74-75). This shows how because Ruth’s dream is set aside, she is worn down, and has to accept the fact that she might not be able to provide for another baby. This connects to the line in Hughes’ poem “Maybe it just sags like a heavy load” (Hughes 9-10). Her dream being deferred crushes her into feeling like she can’t move. The fact that Ruth can’t provide for a new baby weighs heavily on her, impacting her

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1427 Words | 6 Pages

Historical Analysis: A Raisin in the Sun is a play about the author’s life. The segregation life and the event of moving into a white neighborhood are events from the life of Lorraine Hansberry, the author. The events that occurred in the play along with real life events relate to the Civil Rights Movement and feminist topics. Lorraine Hansberry moved into an all white neighborhood just like the Younger family moved into Clybourne Park. The author did not modify the major events of her own life but rather added a series of complications and details to fit the play such as the event of Walter losing the investment money.

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1155 Words | 5 Pages

When Ruth’s father dies it leaves her emotionally unstable. She becomes unable to express emotion to others and expects her family to be able to show the same care and love to her that her father did. She took her families caring spirits for granted just like she did with her father. This portrays Ruth’s inability to show true love. Also, she is incapable of performing normal motherly tasks for her family.

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878 Words | 4 Pages

Mama refuses to is to provide him the amount of money that is required to fulfill his dream. The most evident obstacle is the prejudice that people of color are forced to deal with. The pressures and constraints created by racism and poverty create desperation, confusion, despair, anger, and tension throughout the entire Younger household. Such is evident in distinct dialogue between the family members. Ruth (His wife) states, “Oh Walter—ain’t you with nobody!”

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668 Words | 3 Pages

In Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, Mama and Walter Younger both have great dreams but encounter at least one barrier to their success. Mama dreams of the day when her son, Walter Jr., becomes similar to her husband; however, Walter rejects Mama’s dream by denying the aspects of a happy family and by being materialist. Likewise, Walter has a dream of being a wealthy and powerful businessman, but his hastened, unrealistic route to money stands in the way of his dream. Throughout the play, Mama displays her dream of her son, Walter Jr., becoming a non-materialistic, family man similar to her late-husband, Walter Sr. When Ruth, Walter’s wife, decides to abort her child, Mama expresses to Walter that she is “waiting to hear

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677 Words | 3 Pages

The play “A Raisin in The Sun” written by Lorraine Hansberry, centers on the vast struggles faced by African-Americans in the 1950’s and 60’s. The Youngers are a working-class family with humble origins and dreams that reach beyond the stars. Throughout “A Raisin in The Sun”, Hansberry illustrates her ability to manipulate text like a surgeon manipulates a scalpel, with delicate, subtle, and precise motions she nurtures a tremendous amount themes that branch and expand from the major concern, deferred dreams, faced by Walter Younger. As the only ‘man of age’ in the household, Walter finds himself in an undeniably stressful position considering the period in question.

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571 Words | 3 Pages

Lorraine Hansberry was a great writer of the 20th century that was friends with a great poet by the name of Langston Hughes. Langston Hughes wrote a poem called Dream Deferred which asked the question of what happens when a person's dream is deferred. Lorraine Hansberry wrote Raisin in the Sun to answer this question. In Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry uses the characters of Big Mama, Walter and Beneatha to show all of the negative effects that come from deferring your dream.

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1344 Words | 6 Pages

In Lorraine Hansberry’s play “A Raisin In The Sun,” the characters deal with a death in the family. The death of the father cause the family to get his money, which they have no idea what to with. The daughter Beneatha wants to use some of the money for college. Beneatha’s brother Walter, wants to use that money for a business. Lastly, momma wants to use that money to get out of the place they live and move to a white neighborhood.

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1222 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout Lorraine Hansberry’s, A Raisin the Sun, there is a positive message about the quest for the American dream. She was able to express her different views through the play through her characters as she depicts the daily struggles of a black family in the 1950s, at the start of the Civil Rights Movement. A Raisin in the Sun, effectively showed the impact of decisions, no matter how small, can affect a whole family. Hansberry shows the many different aspects of the road to actually achieving the American Dream. The story of each family member affects the story as they receive money, lose over half of the money, and bring themselves into a better neighborhood to increase their wellbeing.

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1097 Words | 5 Pages

Racism and Assimilation in Chicago: Selling Your Soul to the System Author Lorraine Hansberry explores racism and assimilation in her 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun. The play focuses on the Younger family, who are trying to make the most out of bad circumstances. The family gets a life-changing opportunity after their father dies and they recieve $10,000 in life insurance money. Each member of the family has their own idea of how to spend the money, from starting a business to becoming a doctor. However, all their goals seem unattainable due to the extreme African-Americans faced in pre-civil-rights Chicago.

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806 Words | 4 Pages

“What happens to a dream deferred?” asks Langston Hughes during the Harlem Renaissance. A question a dreamer might ask before it becomes a reality. This quote is from the first line of a poem titled “Harlem” written by poet Langston Hughes, published in 1951. This poem lays the inspiration for A Raisin in the Sun, published in 1959, written by Lorraine Hansberry, a female African-American playwright. The main characters, the Younger family, a working-class African-American family residing on the South side of Chicago, all have various dreams for their desires and to escape generational poverty.

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1260 Words | 6 Pages

This scene “reveals Ruth 's independence, expressing her right to choose and to assert control, yet it also depicts the desperation of a working-class woman who cannot afford to have another child.” (Bloom) Mama greatly opposes Ruth getting an abortion. Her conservative views and religious beliefs do not allow her to consider this as an option. She remembers the

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858 Words | 4 Pages

Reflection on Lorraine Hansberry Lorraine Hansberry, (born May 19, 1930, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.—died January 12, 1965, New York, New York), American playwright whose A Raisin in the Sun (1959) was the first drama by an African American woman to be produced on Broadway. Hansberry was interested in writing from an early age and while in high school was drawn especially to the theatre. She attended the University of Wisconsin in 1948–50 and then briefly the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Roosevelt University (Chicago). After moving to New York City, she held various minor jobs and studied at the New School for Social Research while refining her writing skills.

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674 Words | 3 Pages

This is done through the implementation of the character of Mama by Lorraine Hansberry. Mama provides an anchor for the Younger family in times of despair such as when Ruth is debating whether to get an abortion and when

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881 Words | 4 Pages

Although traditional, Ruth does not always accept her generalised role as a woman. She does not always agree with what Walter says and does and in turn shows the reader that Walter does not always have power over her. An example from Act I can be used when she asks Walter: “What kind of eggs do you want?” (Hansberry, 2011, p. 11) and Walter responds saying: “Not

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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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