An Analysis Of Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun
Hansberry's Raisin in the Sun is set in a one-bedroom apartment shared by three generations of the Younger family: Walter and Ruth, their son Travis, Walter’s sister Beneatha, and their mother Lena.
The Younger family is waiting for a $10,000 life insurance check resulting from the father’s recent death. The windfall represents a kind of liberation to the family with the central conflict over how to spend the money. Mama (Lena) puts down a payment on a house in an all-white neighborhood (Clybourne Park), while Walter wants to invest in a liquor store. Mama relents, with the condition that they carve out $3,000 for Beneatha’s college education.
On moving day, a chance to make up for the lost money comes when a white representative offers the family a sum of money to prevent them from integrating a white neighborhood. Walter kicks
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Centered around a total of 10 leading and featured roles for African-American actors, A Raisin in the Sun made its Broadway debut on March 11, 1959. Up until then, there had only been 10 dramas authored by black playwrights (all men) and only one, Langston Hughes' Mulatto, lasted a year.
Hansberry's Broadway production starred Sidney Poitier and quickly became a hot ticket, running over 500 performances. Touring and international productions followed and a film version was released in 1961 (with the screenplay written by Hansberry — at her insistence — as part of the stipulations of selling the film rights).
The play was nominated for four Tony awards and was named the “best play” by the New York Drama Critics' Circle, making Hansberry the first African-American and youngest person to win the
Changes In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun
984 Words | 4 PagesI also find that the characters in A Raisin in the Sun are over exaggerating the situation they are in given the archetypal standards they represent. Each character is representation of something generational, a gender or race issue, and it's a testament to Hansberry's writing that the characters don't come across as mouthpieces for the story. They are living, breathing human beings. It's not impossible at all to imagine the Younger family crowded together in their tiny roach-infested apartment on the south side of Chicago struggling, striving, and dreaming. “Who the hell told you you had to be a doctor?
Langston Hughes And Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun
1974 Words | 8 PagesI also choose to write about the play A Raisin in the Sun written by Lorraine Hansberry. My reason for choosing the poem as well as the play. While doing research, its noted that Lorraine Hansberry took the title of the story. From a line in Langston Hughes poem “Harlem”. Both readings were written in a time of immense promise and hopefulness.
Hansberry And The Great Depression
333 Words | 2 PagesWhen Walter Lee’s father, Big Walter dies, the family receives a $10,000 life insurance check and with that money the Younger’s move into Clybourne Park, a white neighborhood, Lorraine Hansberry’s family also moved into a white neighborhood, Washington Park, on 6140 S. Rhodes Avenue; Hansberry could have possibly had this in mind while writing this story. Lorraine Hansberry was well off financially for African Americans at the time, let alone all races during the great depression, so she never really got a feel for what living poor was like but Hansberry did see many poor children and this could be a factor for writing the play about the Younger family with their many financial struggles, like not even being able to have their own shower ; she
A Raisin In The Sun Film Analysis Essay
1668 Words | 7 PagesA Raisin in the Sun PBA Unit 2 Cinematography and filmmaking are art forms completely open to interpretation in many ways such lighting, the camera as angles, tone, expressions, etc. By using cinematic techniques a filmmaker can make a film communicate to the viewer on different levels including emotional and social. Play writes include some stage direction and instruction regarding the visual aspect of the story. In this sense, the filmmaker has the strong basis for adapting a play to the big screen. “A Raisin in the Sun” is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959.
A Raisin In The Sun Analysis
809 Words | 4 PagesA Raisin in the Sun Money is one of the things in the world that a person can become obsessed with. In the story “A Raisin in the sun” the author Lorraine Hansberry shows how a family is changed by the lust of money. A widow, Lena, her son Walter Younger, his wife Ruth and daughter Beneatha all lived under the same roof. Lena just lost her husband and is receiving a check for his death. With the money, Lena wants to buy a new house for the whole family to live in but everyone else in the family sees a different type of opportunity.
Redlining In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun
539 Words | 3 PagesHansberry’s drama draws on her own experiences growing up in segregated Chicago, for example, redlining was often used in Chicago to discriminate against [colored people] who were moving into new neighborhoods. “Redlining is the practice of denying key services (like home loans and insurance) or increasing their costs for residents in a defined geographical area... It was almost exclusively a tool to force blacks (and other minorities) into particular geographic areas. ”(Jamelle Bouie, How We Built the Ghettos, page 1). This ties to Hansberry’s play, a Raisin in the Sun, by the Younger family lived in a very cramped and poor area.
The American Dream In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun
1664 Words | 7 PagesThe triumph to freedom for african americans was a rigid war that lasted hundreds of years. Often times in this war, african americans were alone and were treated like foreigners in their home country. Walter’s battles with segregation and inequalities, such as receiving lower income than white families, are represented in Hansberry’s play and in Simone’s poem. It is difficult for Walter to see why other people behave in the way that they do, and he often does not respond well to disagreements between him and his family, making him feel even more alone. Walter said in an argument with his mother about her buying the house, "You run our lives like you want to.
Raisin In The Sun Character Analysis
1500 Words | 6 PagesIn 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.
A Raisin In The Sun American Dream Essay
699 Words | 3 PagesIn A Raisin in the Sun, a play written by Lorraine Hansberry, the audience was able to obtain a sense of the struggle for the American dream. We are introduced to the Youngerś a black family living in the Southside of Chicago around the 1950’s. Each member of this family has their own meaning to what is the American dream. A Raisin in the Sun teaches us that even though life might be full of conflicts, it is important to not give up on our dreams.
A Raisin In The Sun Beneatha Character Analysis
614 Words | 3 PagesA Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry is a play which contains many different obstacles that the characters face. One character, Beneatha, faces an obstacle that is out of her control. This obstacle is gender inequality. Throughout A Raisin in the Sun, gender inequality is experienced by Beneatha and reflects the struggles women faced in the 1950s. One of the issues that Beneatha faces in the play is her relationships with two men in her life, George Murchison and Joseph Asagai.
What Does The Plant Symbolize In A Raisin In The Sun
1105 Words | 5 PagesA Raisin in the Sun is a play, which consists of three acts for a total of six scenes. From the very beginning, the plot line begins with the Younger family waking up, going about their morning as they normally do. The family living in the small apartment consists of Mama, Beneatha, her daughter, Walter, her son, Ruth, Walter’s wife, and Travis, Walter and Ruth’s son. The apartment that accommodates this family consists of a small kitchen, containing one small window, a living room, which also serves as Travis’ room, and two bedrooms, one for Walter and Ruth, the other shared by Mama and Beneatha. In the kitchen window lays a potted plant, second to only family in Mama’s most prized possessions.
Black Women In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun
714 Words | 3 PagesThe 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
What Is A Reader Response In A Raisin In The Sun
702 Words | 3 PagesReader 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.
Reaction Paper On A Raisin In The Sun
825 Words | 4 PagesA Raisin in the Sun "Education has spoiled many a good plow hand" (Hansberry 103). This quote is significant because it is applying that education is better than being a hard-worker. A Raisin in the Sun, written by Lorraine Hansberry, is taken place in South Side, Chicago between World War II and the present. The main focus of this play is about a poor African-American family who has a chance to escape this lifestyle with a ten-thousand-dollar life insurance check, but is not desired to live in a "white" neighborhood.
Death Of A Salesman Willy's Dream
1465 Words | 6 PagesThe Youngers defy the naysayers by taking their place as typical Americans. Though comfortably middle class, Hansberry’s own family mirrors the Youngers. When Hansberry
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