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The Piano Lesson Sparknotes

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This article explores the underlying elements of The Piano Lesson as a slave narrative. Using historical and African American criticisms to examine these elements, Boan shows the dual narratives that are present throughout the play. The evidence is quite compelling and Boan makes several intriguing points. The main and largest point focuses on Boy Willie and how he fits into the whole picture. The article is quick to observe the apparent dual narratives in The Piano Lesson. The first being the traditional narrative of the play and the second is the quote unquote slave narrative. By combining historical criticism and African American criticism Boan examines the slave narrative as an additional current in the play’s plot. Boy Willie being at …show more content…

He seems to be pushed around in one form or another and in the end quite literally. There is that underlying fight going on throughout the entire play. The past fighting back, so it is never forgotten. Boy Willie is trying to escape the crushing weight of his family’s legacy by trying to conquer it in one foul swoop by purchasing that land he puts his identity on that plan and the conflict between him and Berniece arises. This shows Willie being a slave to the past as well but on a different level he wants to change the past by getting rid of it entirely with the piano. Though it does not make sense because he is contradicting himself it is the psychological motives behind it that equally fascinating though Boan doesn’t go that far into it. There is a distinction that Wilson points in his play and that is the difference between the siblings fighting over the piano. They have limited vision to the others point of view and not unlike how slave narratives sometimes blur lines and males and females aren’t distinguishable. The climax being that through this distinction the slave narrative appears to push along the plot in that it makes it more obvious. The play focuses on Berniece but there is major conflict with Boy Willie, the elements of the slave narrative melting the two and the play moves onward; a seamless combination that goes almost

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