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The Piano Lesson By August Wilson

1287 Words6 Pages

August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson” is a play that explores themes of family, cultural history, and grief. The play follows Boy Willie, an enthusiastic and impulsive man looking to sell the family’s heirloom in exchange for the very land his ancestors labored upon as slaves. At the center of this African-American drama is a piano, the family’s heirloom that represents their cultural heritage. A closer look at Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson” showcases the influence and importance of music regarding African American heritage. This essay will explore the roots of African-American music and the genres that influenced Wilson in the making of “The Piano Lesson.”

African-American music first received its roots in the beginning stages of the forced uprooting …show more content…

The Bible say: 'Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.'" Gospel music was born from the traditional hymns and spiritual songs the Africans sang during the slave era. The spirituals were songs of hope sung by the enslaved people before freedom/emancipation. The traditional hymns were introduced in the United States by the Europeans who had settled in North America. (Williams) Slaves were brought from Africa to America by force and were converted to Christianity by their slave owners. Often the owners required slaves to attend church, usually in separate services that were held only for slaves. As the slaves performed backbreaking and monotonous work day in and day out, they began to raise their voices in song. Some slave spirituals began as variations on Christian hymns, but over the years many original compositions were created. Most of these songs were passed down orally, or by word of mouth, since very few slaves had access to methods of writing music. The American slaves were living lives of hopelessness, extreme physical pain, and brutality. Singing was a way of coping with awful circumstances. Their spirituals sang of a beautiful life after death as a way to inspire and uplift each other. (Musician Guide) While “The Piano Lesson” is portrayed years and years after slavery, the connection between African Americans and Christianity is still prevalent and intensely felt throughout the play. Avery, the minister in “The Piano Lesson,” plays an integral role throughout the play representing one of the core themes in the play:

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They both believed that it was a form of music that connects the youth to their past and identifies who they are. August Wilson’s play “The Piano Lesson” influenced by the blues and so was Romare Bearden’s painting “The Piano Lesson”. These both showed a piano and portrayed how the piano is important to African culture and

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Instead he began to propagate the belief that sharing religion with the slaves would “lay them under stronger obligations to perform the greatest diligence and fidelity”. Though a number of protestant religions moved throughout at the time the Baptist church eventually took ahold of the south to become the most practiced religion. Frey discusses briefly the African culture that made some influence on the lifestyle of the African slaves. Most of the African cultural practices were bogged down or destroyed by the slave owners and American society.

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August Wilson’s play, The Piano Lesson, expresses the idea that African-Americans must embrace where they've come from before they will truly be able to move forward with their life. In relation to this the piano in the play represents the Charles families years of slavery to the Sutter family, as well as a symbolic representation of the strength and resiliency of the family. Music serves the function of representing the past, present, and the future, through the family piano. The music in “The Piano Lesson” serves as a solution to the characters’ problems and an escape from their hardships. The characters were able to reconcile their pasts through the illustration of music.

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These meetings often included freedom hymns, religious sermons by slaved and ex-slaved men, and many other forms of worship. Some slave owners were content on allowing slaves to marry and be with their families because they

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Even after the abolition of laws to protect African Americans from slavery it has proven to be only but a false promise to protect them against discrimination and racism, and leaving them with doubt in their hearts of future suffering for generations to come. Furthermore, the subject of slavery is subject that the author want to use to make one understand what suffering an African American person continue to experience. In addition, Austin Wilson has been a great historian towards the suffering of African Americans. Moreover, Austin Wilson’s play make us comprehend the severity of the discrimination and racism.

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As stated in Slave Religion, “most slave preachers were hampered by illiteracy in a religion that placed such importance on the written word of the Bible. White folks would sometimes read a biblical verse for the preacher, and he would proceed to preach from it to his fellow slaves” (Raboteau 233). As illiteracy put a barrier between the Bible and the preacher, the Word of the Lord had to be memorized as it was spoken to them. There are many preachers who could recite hymns with great accuracy and correctness, though there is always room for the interpretation of the preacher thus creating a variation among worship.

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Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Or: A Closer Look At The Form and Construction Of Storytelling To The Tune Of The Blues Throughout history, many cultures have passed down stories through oral tradition. Though the manner in which spoken word is delivered has changed over time, the fundamental core of the timeless tradition has stayed the same; Words have power. They can be used to spread joy, hope, and keep entire cultures alive. August Wilson’s play, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, focuses on the power of the blues to tell the stories of numerous African-American individuals, as they struggle to find meaning and justice in an unfair society dominated by a hateful majority.

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