Lorraine Hansberry Is An African American Play Writer Who

Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun opened in a New York theater March 11, 1951. This play, although based on Hansberry’s own life and personal experiences was also inspired by Langston Hughes’s poem “Harlem”. Hansberry used this play to tell the story of a 1950’s African American family trying to better themselves. She also used this play to shine a light on the issue of racism that were prominent during this time frame. This highly successful play “ran for 530 performances and was nominated for the 1960 Tony Award for best play”, and has had several adaptations made in its honor(Aurora). Despite the fact that these adaptations were made to equal the original play there are many differences between them and their predecessor.

“What happens to a dream deferred?” (Hughes l. 1) Langston Hughes asks in his 1959 poem “Dream Deferred.” He suggests that it might “dry up like a raisin in the sun” (Hughes ll. 2-3) or “stink like rotten meat” (Hughes l. 6); however, at the end of the poem, Hughes offers another alternative by asking, “Or does it explode?” (Hughes l. 11) This is the view Lorraine Hansberry supports in her 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun, in witch she examines an African-American’s family’s struggle to break out of the poverty that is preventing them from achieving some sort of financial stability, or the American Dream. It focuses on Walter’s attempt in “making it,” or “being somebody.” She also analyzes how race, prejudice, and economic insecurity

The title of the play itself, A Raisin in the Sun, directly references the poem Harlem written by Langston Hughes. Written in 1951, the poem targets one of the most common themes of that time period: the limitations of the American Dream for African Americans. In the poem, Hughes wonders if a “dream deferred” dries up “like a raisin in the sun” (Hughes 1). In other words, Hughes wants to know whether or not delaying dream will make the dream lose its “juice.” Hansberry alludes to the poem to explore the same notion Harlem addresses through Walter Lee Younger, a black man whose struggles throughout the play to achieve his dream. Walter is, by definition, a dreamer. He dreams of being wealthy, he dreams of being important, and he dreams of being a leader, but his goals are often deferred as a result of racial inequalities. However, one dream at the end of the play is fulfilled: the Younger family moving into Clybourne Park. The Youngers defy the societal norm of the time. Instead of backing down when Lindner tries to prevent them from moving, the Younger family fights back. Critics, when evaluating the ending of A Raisin in the Sun, compare the “explosive ending” of the poem to the “unexpectedly happy ending” of the play (Gill 1). Upon hearing the word “explosive,” a negative connotation is created because the word is often used to describe a dangerous weapon. However, it juxtaposes the

Lorraine Hansberry’s play “A Raisin in the Sun,” was a radically new representation of black life, resolutely authentic, fiercely unsentimental, and unflinching in its vision of what happens to people whose dreams are constantly deferred.

    Lorraine Hansberry faced many obstacles in her life which has made her  write this book A “Raisin in the Sun.” As said in Blooms Literature “She was the youngest of four children whose parents were well-educated, middle-class activists centrally engaged in the fight against racial discrimination. Early figures in the Civil Rights movement.” In the book “A Raisin in the Sun,” the first play written by an African American she made through experiences of  black people who live on Chicago’s South Side, Hansberry used members of her family as inspiration for her characters. Lorraine Hansberry life had comparisons in this book dealing with poverty

Throughout Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, we see the positive and negative effects of chasing the American Dream. Hansberry expresses her different views on the American Dream through the characters and she portrays the daily struggles of a 1950 black family throughout A Raisin in the Sun. In this play, she is able to effectively show the big impact that even small decisions can make on a family. Hansberry shows the many different attachments that come with the fulfillment of this American Dream. Throughout A Raisin in the Sun, each family member has their own pursuit of happiness, which is accompanied by their American Dream.

It symbolizes her family in a way. When the family is down, the plant is down. Mama is constantly in protection of the plant, in hopes of holding on to her dream. Walter in comparison is always looking to be somebody and make it in life. Walter sees wealth as the only solution to this. He longs for financial support. He becomes corrupted by society -to find his identity through money. Walter tells his mother, "I want so many things"(60). This shows his greediness.

In Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun, the author reveals a hard-working, honest African-American family struggling to make their dreams come true. Langston Hughes' poem, "Harlem," illustrates what could happen if those dreams never came to fruition. Together, both Hansberry and Hughes show the effects on human beings when a long-awaited dream is thwarted by economic and social hardships.

Response to A Raisin in the Sun The play, A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, depicts a black family living in the south side of Chicago. After Lena, the head of the family, receives a check for 10,000 dollars, the family members attempt to make their dreams come true. The poem, “Harlem” by Langston Hughes is displayed before the play.

H. What happens to a dream deferred? The revered Langston Hughes pondered this question in a time when forces of inequality pulled the dreams of some down - namely those of blacks and women. B. Lorraine Hansberry was a paradigm for the person whose dreams were left largely ignored by society. Racism and sexism are two problems that plagued Hansberry for most of her life, but also two hurdles that she overcame. T. In her play A Raisin In The Sun, t Lorraine Hansberry expresses her voice through her characters, by having them serve as beacons against sexism and racism, leaving a positive legacy on society; although some may say

America in the 1950s was still a racially segregated country, and African Americans were still carrying the past weight of slavery and do to which they were seen as second class citizens. Despite the fact that the Supreme Court had overturned segregation and established it by law as being unconstitutional (Brown vs Board of Education, 1954), racial segregation still continued to persist through forms of employment, education, and housing. The civil war was long gone yet many still felt limited in their ability to achieve “The American Dream”. Langston Hughes wrote “Harlem” in 1951, a poem addressing the limitations of the American dream for African American individuals. Although the poem is particularly simple, it paints a mental picture of what it looks and feels like to defer dreams. The poem itself does not mention specific examples of a dream, but instead focuses on potential outcomes to the deferral of a dream, ranging from “Does it dry up/ like a raisin in the sun?” or “does it explode?” (Hughes, 1951). Lorraine Hansberry, an African American writer, used the poem Harlem as the foundation for her play A raisin in the sun, which portrayed the distress and troubles of a poor African American family, fighting to prevail the racial prejudice and limitations that they face. Together, both Hughes Harlem and Hansberry’s A raisin in the sun depict the consequences faced by people when a greatly anticipated dream is disenchanted by socioeconomic hardships.

The last critic that will be evaluated is Margaret B. Wilkerson. During the time that her critical study was composed, Margaret B. Wilkerson was the Director of the UC Berkeley Center for the Study, Education, and Advancement of Women. Wilkerson critical analysis is titled A Raisin in the Sun: Anniversary of an American Classic. Wilkerson’s critical analysis discusses the “various social, historical, and artistic factors that have contributed to the play’s contemporary relevance and popularity, with particular focus on script revisions.” (Wilkerson 442) Wilkerson states that critics claimed that plays about the Black experience were seen as unattractive and of temporary or limited appeal to the theatre audiences. A Raisin in the Sun was different because the play was created at the right time. Wilkerson stated, “The Play’s phenomenal reception can be attributed, in part, to its timeliness, for this dram reflects that moment in U.S. history when the country was poised on the brink of cataclysmic social and legal upheavals that would forever change its character.” (Wilkerson 442) Hansberry happen to respond to Langston Hughes poem “A Dream Deferred” by making a play about the struggles and frustrations of a working-class Black family living in the South Side of Chicago post World-War II. It is three generations of family members living under one roof. The apartment is a two-bedroom apartment that is shared by five people so it is not only crowded but unsanitary because of

“A Raisin in the Sun” and "Harlem (A Dream Deferred)," written by Lorraine Hansberry and Langston Hughes, respectively, represent the complimentary themes of dreams. “A Raisin in the Sun” depicts a family’s struggle for survival. The Younger family who lives in Southside, Chicago, fights for their civil rights during the 1960’s. They each have dreams and goals. Hughes illustrates, in “Harlem” that sometimes dreams dry up like raisins in the sun. Two stories analytically provide unexpected irony at the end. Jason Miller’s article, “Foreground and Prereading,” references these pieces to illustrate ideas and obstacles in the character’s lives – defining how obstacles strengthen the family’s perseverance while demonstrating how dreams and hopes can be deferred but are not soon forgotten.

Lorraine Hansberry, the author of the play A Raisin in the Sun, indicates that she had always felt a need to put her life experiences in the black neighborhood in writing. In his book, she depicts in a realistic manner of the African-American life. The play portrays black characters combined with themes and conflicts naturally and realistically. A Raisin in the Sun provided a twist in the American art as it highlighted on key issues which were unfolding in the U.S in the 1950s. Despite the economic boom experienced after World War II, there was growing racial tension and domestic tension.

Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, centers on an African American family in the late 1950s. Hansberry directs her work towards specifically the struggles faced by African Americans during the late 1950s. Through the dialogue and actions of her characters, she encourages not only a sense of pride in heritage, but a national and self-pride in African Americans as well.