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Similarities Between Raisin In The Sun And Hamlet

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Gender
The terms gender and sex are often used interchangeable; however, the definition and concept of these two terms are not substitutable. The term gender refers to the society’s definition of which, what could be described as a female to male categories. The term sex refers to the chromosomal differences in a person’s body of a male and female. William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, is a historical tragedy play. Hamlet was written in the early 1600’s, which includes characters of the royal family and its subordinates. While Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, is a domestic tragedy play. A Raisin in the Sun was written in 1959 that includes the characters of African American middle class citizens. The societies of both plays demonstrated …show more content…

Both authors’ characterized males as the head of the family and that they are the one who should protect the females. In William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, social behaviors for males are to be manly, true to themselves, and controlling. For example as Polonius a kings men stated to his son Laertes, “And, above all, be true to yourself” (Shakespeare 1376). Polonius the head of his family is telling his son to go explore and find friends, which are either female or male and to test out whom they are. He is telling his son to be friendly with people, but to not become too attach to them, while being in dominate of the society by being true to himself. Moreover, Polonius is also being in control of his daughter, stating what she can and cannot do, in order to protect her from Hamlet. In addition, the masculinity of gender is also shown in Raisin in the Sun. Hansberry exemplifies how males are suppose to be the on in dominate of the society and how they should do what is best for their women. The protagonist of Raisin in the Sun, Walter stated, “ I tell you I am a man- and I think my wife should wear some pearls in this world!” (Hansberry 1530). This statement refers to what the protagonist deemed as manly, which is earning an income for the family and how he should support his women. Walter wants to do what is best for his

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1449 Words | 6 Pages

The play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry debuted on Broadway in 1959, and the movie was made in 2008. “A Raisin in the Sun” is about the Younger family, the fifth generation of lower-class African-Americans living in Chicago’s Southside. They are faced with problems such as racial discrimination, poverty, and conflicting dreams. As the family decides on how to spend the insurance check of $10,000 from Walter’s father’s death, these problems cause many conflicts to rise. Reading the 1959 play and the 2008 movie, I have realized certain similarities and differences in how the story plays out.

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284 Words | 2 Pages

In both plays, "A Raisin in the Sun" and "Trifles," we are introduced to an earlier time in America were "equality" was just a word. Though both plays focus on the oppressed mind, I personally enjoyed "Trifles" a lot more than "A Raisin in the Sun. " The play "Trifles" had an abundance of suspense, the theme was darker and the setting was far more grim. These I belive are the initial ingredients to a story that focuses on a time during

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1500 Words | 6 Pages

In the play Raisin in the Sun written by Lorraine Hansberry takes place on the southside of Chicago where Walter and his family are racially profiled and show us how the survive throughout their struggles. The central struggles for the younger family in their search for the American dream is mostly poverty and being racially profiled against for their actions. Hansberry challenges the traditional gender roles and issues of dominance throughout the play when Mama gives Walter lee the rest of the money at the end of the play. He becomes all excited and was supposed to save some for himself and put the rest of the money to Beneatha 's education. Instead, he gave all that money to Willy another character in the play which later on that he stole from him.

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714 Words | 3 Pages

The author’s plays theorize constructive models of "universal" femininity. The some of the critics label “A Raisin in the Sun” as an "American classic" either because of its American-ness or because of its African American-ness. I believe that the play was considered an American classic because Lorraine Hansberry brought light to the everyday struggles that African Americans suffered due to their race. In the past, many African Americans wanted better future; consequently, they were profited by some Caucasians due to

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702 Words | 3 Pages

Reader Response: 3 “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, is a play about a black families experience in 1950s South Side Chicago. The story revolves around what happens to the family when Lena Younger, the matriarch of the family, receives a ten thousand dollar life insurance check upon the death of her husband. Everyone from the family has different plans for what they want to do with the money. Lena Younger serves as the head of the family. She is Walter and Beneatha’s caring mother so they and Ruth call her Mama.

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651 Words | 3 Pages

Misogyny, by definition, is the dislike towards women for a particular motive. In William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Shakespeare elucidates his misogynistic tendencies through the characters in the play—particularly Hamlet. The role of women in Hamlet is little short of misogynistic as Hamlet consistently displays throughout the play evidence of misogynistic behavior through his views of women being cruel, adulterous, and frail. Fundamentally, there are merely two female characters in Hamlet; Ophelia and Gertrude. Though Ophelia does not intend on wounding Hamlet emotionally, she does so for being submissive to her father which conforms to the misogynistic attitude of women being powerless and pathetic as Ophelia is under control by

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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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950 Words | 4 Pages

Walter was introduced as a man who cared about nothing other than his business. He had sacrificed his sister’s dream of becoming a doctor, and held the power to wipe out Mama’s dream for a better home. Walter sees the gender roles as boundaries keeping him from loosening up to his family. He is given the insight that men must be powerful, wealthy, and demanding for them to truly be the head of the household. However, Walter sees past these gender roles, and not only challenges these rigid roles, but he also regains his family’s trust along the

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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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1441 Words | 6 Pages

Feminism has gained a new definition a new understanding of female roles since the Elizabethan Era. Hamlet, a play written by William Shakespeare, is about a young prince, Hamlet, being visited by his father’s apparition urging him to avenge his death by murdering Prince Hamlet’s uncle, Claudius. All the while, Hamlet is enraged by his mother’s hasty marriage to Claudius and is showering his supposed love, Ophelia, with gifts and words of affection. Queen Gertrude and Ophelia are blindly obedient to male authority due to the influence of the social standards that require women to be submissive to men. Queen Gertrude and Ophelia’s actions and outcomes as characters are affected by male influence, the social norms of this time, and the females’ consequences of following these norms.

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937 Words | 4 Pages

Hamlet the misogynist "When a man gives his opinion he is a man. When a woman gives her opinion she is a bitch. "- Bette Davis Throughout time society has used woman as a scapegoat for societal issues that have occurred.

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779 Words | 4 Pages

In the play, A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, there are many examples of sexism throughout its entirety. The character, Walter, demonstrates the acts of a sexist human being. Walter is sexist to not only women in general, but to the women in his family. Not taking into consideration of other people’s sayings and their feelings, Walter generally only thinks about himself, says what he believes, and truly only cares about money. Walter constantly is fighting with all of the women in the family as well.

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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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1259 Words | 6 Pages

Beware/ Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in, / Bear ’t that th ' opposèd may beware of thee./ Give every man thy ear but few thy voice" (Act I, Scene III, 60 -69). , depicting a more liberal character. The differentiated treatment which can be seen in the interaction between Polonius and his children allows the audience to understand the stereotypical views that have been instilled in society and how a women must act in order to be deemed 'pure ' or a 'good girl '. Another instance that depicts the differentiated treatment of men and women can be seen when looking at a dialogue between Hamlet and his mother.

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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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