Lorraine Vivian Hansberry

(May 19, 1930 – January 12,

1965) was an American

playwright and writer.

Hansberry inspired Nina

Simone's song "Black”. She

was the first black woman to write a play performed on Broadway.

Her best known work, the play A Raisin in the Sun, highlights the

lives of Black Americans living under racial segregation in

Chicago. Hansberry's family had struggled against segregation,

challenging a restrictive covenant and eventually provoking the

Supreme Court case Hansberry v. Lee. The title of the play was taken

from the poem "Harlem" by Langston Hughes: "What happens to a

dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?"After

she moved to New York City, Hansberry worked at the Pan-Africans’

newspaper Freedom, where she dealt with intellectuals such as

Paul Robeson and W. E. B. Du Bois. Much of her work during this time

concerned the African struggle for liberation and their impact on

the world. Hansberry has been identified as a lesbian, and sexual

freedom is an important topic in several of her works. She died

of cancer at the age of 34.Lorraine Hansberry was the youngest of

four children born to Carl Augustus Hansberry, a successful real-

estate broker, and Nannies Louise (born Perry) a school teacher.

The Hansberry’s were routinely visited by prominent Black

intellectuals, including W.E.B. Du Bois and Paul Robeson. Carl

Hansberry's brother, William Leo Hansberry, founded the African

Civilization section of the history department at University.

Lorraine was taught: ‘‘Above all, there were two things which

were never to be betrayed: the family and the race. ‘Hansberry

graduated from Betsy Ross Elementary in 1944 and from Englewood

High School in 1948.She attended the University of Wisconsin–

Madison, where she immediately became politically active and

integrated a dormitory. She was the only girl I knew who could whip together a

fresh picket sign with her own hands, at a moment's notice, for any cause or occasion,"

said classmate. She decided in 1950 to leave Madison and pursue her

career as a writer in New York City, where she attended The New

School. She moved to Harlem in 1951 and became involved in

activist struggles such as the fight against evictions. In 1951,

she joined the staff of the black newspaper Freedom, edited by

Louis E. Burnham and published by Paul Robeson. At Freedom, she

worked with W. E. B. Du Bois, whose office was in the same

building, and other Black Pan-Africanists. At the newspaper, she

worked as "subscription clerk, receptionist, typist and editorial

assistant" in addition to writing news articles and editorials.

She worked not only on the US civil rights movement, but also on

global struggles against colonialism and imperialism. Hansberry

wrote in support of the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya, criticizing

the mainstream press for its biased coverage. Hansberry often

clarified these global struggles by explaining them in terms of

female participants. She was particularly interested in the

situation of Egypt, "the traditional Islamic 'cradle of

civilization,' where women had led one of the most important

fights anywhere for the equality of their sex."In 1952, Hansberry

attended a peace conference in Montevideo, Uruguay, in place of

Paul Robeson, who had been denied travel rights by the State

Department. On June 20, 1953, she married Robert Nemiroff, a

Jewish publisher, songwriter and political activist. Hansberry

and Nemiroff moved to Greenwich Village, the setting of The Sign in

Sidney Burstein’s Window. Success of the song "Cindy, Oh Cindy", co-

authored by Nemiroff, enabled Hansberry to start writing full-

time. Hansberry was a closeted lesbian, a theory supported by her

secret writings in letters and personal notebooks. She was an

activist for gay rights and wrote about feminism and homophobia,

joining the Daughters of Billets and contributing two letters to

their magazine, The Ladder, in 1957 under her initials "LHN." She

separated from her husband at this time, but they continued to

work together.A Raisin in the Sun was written at this time and

completed in 1957.Opening on March 11, 1959, Raisin in the Sun

becoming the first play written by an African American woman to

be produced on Broadway. The 29-year-old author became the

youngest American playwright and only the fifth woman to receive

the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play. Over the

next two years, Raisin was translated into 35 languages and was

being performed all over the world. Hansberry wrote two

screenplays of Raisin, both of which were rejected as

controversial by Columbia Pictures. Commissioned by NBC in 1960

to create a television program about slavery, Hansberry wrote The

Drinking Gourd. This script was called "superb" but also rejected.

In 1961, Hansberry was set to replace Vinnette Carroll as the

director of the musical Kicks and Co, after its try-out at

Chicago's McCormick Place. It was written by Oscar Brown, Jr. and

featured an interracial cast including Lonnie Sattin, Nichelle

Nichols, Vi Velasco, Al Freeman, Jr., Zabeth Wilde and Burgess

Meredith in the title role of Mr. Kicks. A satire involving

miscegenation, the $400,000 production was co-produced by her

husband Robert Nemiroff; despite a warm reception in Chicago, the

show never made it to Broadway. In 1963, Hansberry participated

in a meeting with attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, set up by

James Baldwin On March 10, 1964, Hansberry and Nemiroff divorced

but continued to work together. While many of her other writings

were published in her lifetime says, articles, and the text for

the SNCC book The Movement the only other play given a

contemporary production was The Sign in Sidney Burstein’s Window. The Sign

in Sidney Burstein’s Window ran for 101 performances on Broadway and

closed the night she died. Hansberry was an atheist. According to

historian Fanon Che Wilkins, "Hansberry believed that gaining

civil rights in the United States and obtaining independence in

colonial Africa were two sides of the same coin that presented

similar challenges for Africans on both sides of the Atlantic."

In response to the independence of Ghana, led by Kwame Nkrumah,

Hansberry wrote: "The promise of the future of Ghana is that of

all the colored peoples of the world; it is the promise of

freedom." Hansberry said Blacks "must concern themselves with

every single means of struggle: legal, illegal, passive, active,

violent and non-violent.... They must harass, debate, petition,

give money to court struggles, sit-in, lie-down, strike, boycott,

sing hymns, pray on steps—and shoot from their windows when the

racists come cruising through their communities."In a Town Hall

debate on June 15, 1964, Hansberry criticized white liberals who

couldn't accept civil disobedience, expressing a need "to

encourage the white liberal to stop being a liberal and become an

American radical." At the same time, she said, "some of the first

people who have died so far in this struggle have been white

men."Hansberry was a critic of existentialism, which she

considered too distant from the world's economic and geopolitical

realities. Along these lines, she wrote a critical review of

Richard Wright's The Outsider and went on to style her final play

Les Blancs as a foil to Jean Genet's absurdist Les Nègres. However,

Hansberry admired Simone de Beauvoir's Sexing 1959, Hansberry

commented that women who are "twice oppressed" may become "twice

militant". She held out some hope for male allies of women,

writing in an unpublished essay: "If by some miracle women should

not ever utter a single protest against their condition there

would still exist among men those who could not endure in peace

until her liberation had been achieved."Hansberry was appalled by

the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki which took place

while she was in high school, and expressed desire for a future

in which: "Nobody fights. We get rid of all the little bombs—and

the big bombs." She did believe in the right of people to defend

themselves with force against their oppressors. Hansberry’s ex-

husband, Robert Nemiroff, became the executor for several

unfinished manuscripts. He added minor changes to complete the

play Les Blancs, which Julius Lester termed her best work, and he

adapted many of her writings into the play To Be Young, Gifted and

Black, which was the longest-running Off Broadway play of the

1968–69 season. It appeared in book form the following year under

the title To Be Young, Gifted and Black: Lorraine Hansberry in Her Own Words.

She left behind an unfinished novel and several other plays,

including The Drinking Gourd and What Use Are Flowers?, with a range of

content, from slavery to a post-apocalyptic future. Raisin, a

musical based on A Raisin in the Sun, opened in New York in 1973,

winning the Tony Award for Best Musical, with the book by

Nemiroff, music by Judd Woldin, and lyrics by Robert Britten. A

Raisin in the Sun was revived on Broadway in 2004 and received a Tony

Award nomination for Best Revival of a Play. The cast included

Sean Combs ("P Ditty") as Walter Lee Younger Jr., Phylicia Rash

ad (Tony Award-winner for Best Actress) and Audra McDonald (Tony

Award-winner for Best Featured Actress). It was produced for

television in 2008 with the same cast, garnering two Awards. The

Lorraine Hansberry Theatre of San Francisco, which specializes in

original staging’s and revivals of African-American theatre, is

named in her honor. Singer and pianist Nina Simone, who was a

close friend of Hansberry, used the title of her unfinished play

to write a civil rights-themed song "To Be Young, Gifted and

Black" together with Weldon Irvine. The single reached the top 10

of the R&B charts. A studio recording by Simone was released as a

single and the first live recording on October 26, 1969, was

captured on Black Gold (1970).Lincoln University's first-year

female dormitory is named Lorraine Hansberry Hall. There is a

school in the Bronx called Lorraine Hansberry Academy, and an

elementary school in St. Albans, Queens, New York, named after

Hansberry as well. On the eightieth anniversary of Hansberry's

birth, Ado Andoh presented a BBC Radio 4 programme entitled

"Young, Gifted and Black" in tribute to her life. In 2013

Hansberry was inducted into the Legacy Walk, an outdoor public

display which celebrates LGBT history and people. This makes her

the first Chicago-native honored along the North Halsted

corridor. In 2013, Lorraine Hansberry was posthumously inducted

into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.

Works

A Raisin in the Sun (1959)

A Raisin in the Sun, screenplay (1961)

"On Summer" (essay) (1960)

The Drinking Gourd (1960)

What Use Are Flowers? (written c. 1962)

The Arrival of Mr. To dog – parody of Waiting for Go dot

The Movement: Documentary of a Struggle for Equality (1964)

The Sign in Sidney Burstein’s Window (1965)

To Be Young, Gifted and Black: Lorraine Hansberry in Her Own Words (1969)

Les Blanks: The Collected Last Plays / by Lorraine Hansberry. Edited by

Robert Nemiroff (1994)

Toussaint. This fragment from a work in progress, unfinished

at the time of Hansberry's untimely death, deals with a

Haitian plantation owner and his wife whose lives are soon

to change drastically as a result of the revolution of

Toussaint L'Ouverture. (From the Samuel French, Inc.

catalogue of plays.)

A Raisin in the Sun Introduction

In A Nutshell

A Raisin in the Sun, written by Lorraine Hansberry and produced on

stage in 1959, marks a watershed moment in American theater. On

the face of it, A Raisin in the Sun was not destined for success. With

only one white cast member, an inexperienced director, and an

untried playwright, Hansberry had difficulty finding financial

backing for the play at a time when theater audiences were

overwhelmingly white. It was an immediate success, however, and

after several tours, it opened on Broadway, making it the first-

ever Broadway play written by an African-American woman. What

makes Hansberry’s writing remarkable is not only her accuracy in

capturing the racial dynamics of her time, but her foresight in

predicting the direction black culture would take in subsequent

years. The play's setting covers a pivotal time period for race

relations in America – after WWII and before 1959. When Americans

fought in World War II, they were fighting to uphold equality for

all…which exposed the hypocrisy of the very unequal conditions

for blacks back home. Americans were only beginning to address

these inequalities at the time Hansberry was writing, and she did

a great job at capturing the mood of her time through only one

family.

As discussed in the "What’s Up with the Epigraph?" section, the

Younger family’s fulfillment/non-fulfillment of their dreams

mirrors how black Americans as a whole had gained some

concessions while still being oppressed in other respects. A

character like Beneatha, however, is way ahead of her time. The

play opened in 1959, remember, which is before all the feminists

started demanding their rights, and before black Americans began

embracing Africa as part of their identity. Beneatha embodies

both movements before they ever existed. One last note: A Raisin in

the Sun is part of broader shift in black art towards depicting

working-class, ordinary African-Africans. Previously, black

intellectuals did not use literature, art, or the stage to

portray working-class African-Americans for fear they would

perpetuate undesirable stereotypes. Both poet Langston Hughes and

Lorraine Hansberry thought this was ridiculous; they felt that

writing about lower class African-Americans would actually debunk

the stereotypes. By focusing on the dreams and aspirations of one

particular working-class black family, moreover, Hansberry was

able to show audiences the universality of black aspirations

while also demonstrating that their race posed a significant

barrier to achieving those goals.

A RAISIN IN THE SUN SUMMARY

Set in the aftermath of World War II, the Younger family is

facing its own war against racism in the Chicago slums. America’s

complicated history of racial tension between black Americans and

white Americans is ingrained into the Younger’s’ everyday lives.

Single mother (and grandmother) Lena Younger, her daughter

Beneatha, and her son Walter (plus his wife Ruth and their son

Travis) squeeze into a run-down two-bedroom apartment. According

to our count, that’s five people in a space built for three. Not

only do these characters feel confined by their physical home

space, they also feel restricted by the social roles they’ve been

assigned. For example, socially-progressive Beneatha (Bennie)

studies to become a doctor, despite the financial strain it puts

on the low-income family. Walter works as a chauffeur for a white

man, but he dreams of opening a liquor store with his buddies and

making more money for his family. His wife Ruth draws no

attention to her own desires, cleaning up after the rest of the

family members as well as the houses where she works. Toward the

beginning of the play, we learn that Ruth is pregnant, which only

complicates the family situation. The family is not affluent

enough to provide for another life, so Ruth prepares to abort her

child.

But the Younger’s have a chance at a new beginning. Ten thousand

dollars is coming in the mail, and Lena must decide what to do

with it. Bennie hopes for tuition money, Walter hopes for the

down payment on his liquor store, and Ruth just wants her family

to be happy. Then three huge events happen: 1) Lena decides to

buy a house for the family…in a white neighborhood, 2) Lena

entrusts the rest of the money to Walter, advising him to save a

good amount for Beneatha’s schooling, and 3) Walter loses all the

money in the liquor store scam. Morale goes from the highest of

highs to the lowest of lows. When a white man, Karl, comes to buy

out the Younger’s’ new house, Walter figures that giving in to

The Man is the only way to get some money for his family. In the

play’s climactic moment, Walter must decide between standing up

for his family’s rights and standing up for his ego and role as

the breadwinner of the family. Fortunately for the Younger’s, and

for Broadway history, Walter sides with his family’s rights and

declines Karl’s offer. The family will move into their new home.

A Raisin in the Sun Act One,

Scene One Summary

The play opens in an apartment worn down from generations of

ownership. It’s in the South Side of Chicago, and it’s a

three-room apartment – there’s a bedroom for Mama and

Beneatha, a bedroom for Ruth and Walter Lee, and their son

Travis sleeps on a couch in a living room.

Ruth Younger is preparing for the day. She wakes up and

feeds her son Travis and husband Walter.

While Travis is in the bathroom, which is also the bathroom

the neighbors use, his parents discuss the check coming in

the mail.

What check, you ask? Don’t worry; you’re not supposed to

know what they’re talking about just yet.

The family doesn’t seem all that happy. Ruth in particular

is indifferent and irritable.

Travis requests fifty cents for school, but Ruth insists

that he go without. Ruth succeeds in teasing him into giving

her a kiss good-bye.

Travis asks for permission to carry groceries at the

supermarket after school for money. Then his daddy hands him

a dollar while staring pointedly at Ruth in a how-do-you-

like-this kind of way.

Ruth is not a happy camper.

After Travis leaves, Walter brings up a business plan he and

his friends are concocting, which triggers an argument

between the married couple.

Walter says that he wants to partner up with his friends

Willy Harris and Bobo to open up a liquor store. It sounds

rather shady, but Walter continues dreaming of it as a way

out of poverty.

Ruth keeps telling him to eat his eggs.

Water gets angry; he wants his wife to nod, smile, and

support him.

Beneatha Younger, also referred to as Bennie, emerges from

the left bedroom.

She wants to use the bathroom but those dratted neighbors

and their bodily functions prevent her from doing so.

So she stands around and chats with her brother Walter, by

which we mean Walter tells her, "woman, what kind of woman

studies medicine?" He also points out that her tuition money

will cut into the insurance check.

Aha! Insurance check. We find out that the big Check they’re

all waiting for is from when Mama’s husband (also known as

Bennie and Walter’s father) passed away. It’s for $10,000,

which this family could come up with about a million

different uses for.

Bennie argues that the check belongs to Mama, and Walter

leaves for his job as a chauffeur. After asking Ruth for

carfare (his money went to Travis, remember?), he leaves for

work.

Lena (a.k.a. Mama) enters and makes a beeline for a plant

she keeps outside the kitchen window (which, by the way, is

the only window in the apartment).

Despite Ruth’s earlier argument with Walter, she backs the

liquor store idea to her mother-in-law. Ruth argues that

Walter needs this chance.

Mama points out that Ruth looks dead tired and she should

stay home from work; Ruth says they need the money.

Mama says they’re all too obsessed with money.

Ruth argues that the money belongs to Mama, and suggests

that she take a trip to Europe or South America. Mama isn’t

keen on the idea. She says some of the money will definitely

go towards Beneatha’s education, and then that some of it

could also go towards the down payment on a house.

Mama reminisces about her husband, whom she refers to as Big

Walter, and their big dreams of buying a house. We learn

that Big Walter was a hard-working man who loved his

children but was never able to fulfill his dreams.

Beneatha re-enters and mentions guitar lessons, setting off

her mom and Ruth on her case about "flitting" around trying

too many activities. Beneatha claims her right to express

herself.

The ladies discuss Beneatha’s romantic prospects and her

date with George Murchison that night.

Beneatha thinks he’s shallow, but the other women in her

family approve of him, mainly because he’s got money.

Beneatha concludes the discussion by announcing that she’s

not worried since she doesn’t even know if she’ll get

married, which Lena and Ruth really wanted to hear. Not.

Beneatha continues on to announce that she does not believe

in God, and that only humans can make miracles happen. For

which Mama gives her a big fat SLAP.

Mama asserts her right as head of the household and makes

Beneatha repeat her faith in God.

Beneatha then leaves.

The two mothers in the family are alone, and Ruth tries to

mollify Mama’s worries about her children. Mama is

overwhelmed by their ambitions – Walter cares only for

money, and Beneatha is too intellectual.

Mama goes to water her plant, voicing her desire to one day

have a garden and a back yard.

When she turns around, she finds Ruth lying semiconscious.

A Raisin in the Sun Act One,

Scene Two Summary

It’s the next morning. Lena and Beneatha clean the house

with Travis in the room. Travis complains about the

insecticide Beneatha is using and requests to go outside.

He leaves after asking about his mother’s whereabouts; his

relatives tell him that Ruth is on an errand.

Walter takes a call from his friend Willy Harris and

promises that he’ll soon have the money for their liquor

store.

We find out Ruth has gone to the doctor’s (that’s good,

because falling and lying semi-conscious didn’t sound the

actions of a healthy woman to us).

Mama (subtly) suggests that Ruth is pregnant.

Travis plays outside and keeps a lookout for the postman.

Beneatha gets a phone call from Joseph Asagai, a Nigerian

schoolmate. She invites him over, despite knowing that her

mother hates it when people see the house all messy. Bennie

warns Mama not to ask her friend ignorant questions about

Africa.

Ruth returns and the mood is somber after she announces that

she is two months pregnant. Mama and Bennie ask her if she

planned the pregnancy, and if so, where is the baby going to

live? Ruth suggests that she did not go to a traditional

doctor.

Ruth looks out the window to find that Travis and other kids

are not playing tag, not kicking a ball around, but chasing

a rat in the street. As you might guess, the ladies aren’t

thrilled with this and call him back up.

Ruth is on an emotional roller coaster and alternates

between screaming and sobbing. Mama takes her to go lie down

just as the doorbell rings.

Beneatha answers the door to find Joseph standing there. We

find out Beneatha and Joseph were romantically involved

before he left for Canada. He clearly still cares for her.

He presents her with Nigerian robes and vinyl records. In

the next breath, he calls her hair mutilated because she

straightens it. Bennie argues that she is not an

assimilationist.

Mama puts on a polite and proper demeanor in the guest’s

presence; she parrots Beneatha’s words from earlier about

Africa.

Joseph leaves, having charmed both women.

The mail arrives and Mama doesn’t seem to know what to do

with herself. She asks Ruth to clarify just which doctor she

went to, and it becomes clear that Ruth went to see about

getting an abortion.

Walter bounces in, eager to win them over with his liquor

store plan.

Both ladies have the pregnancy on the brain, but Walter is

not in the mood to listen. Exasperated, Ruth finally leaves.

Frustrated that his mother and wife refuse to listen to him,

Walter gets all pouty. And then wants to deal with it in the

most responsible way possible: by getting drunk.

Before he leaves, Mama stops him and in the following

conversation, the generation gap and difference in

priorities are evident. Mama emphasizes that things used to

be worse, that racism was a threat to everyday existence,

but that all Walter cares about now is money. Walter admits

that he’s frightened of a future of nothingness.

Mama tells Walter that he better shape up because his wife

is not only pregnant but also thinking about aborting the

baby.

Ruth re-enters, saying that she’s already put down a five-

dollar deposit to get the abortion. Mama challenges Walter

to be the man that his father was.

Great. Walter’s really cheered up now. He peaces out to the

bar.

A Raisin in the Sun Act Two,

Scene One Summary

Beneatha puts on a Nigerian record and appears in Nigerian

garb. She is radiant and singing with Ruth (who is ironing)

as her audience.

Drunk, Walter returns home and digs the Nigerian music. He

starts dancing around shouting nonsense words, and we learn

that he’s tapping into old myths and conceiving of himself

as a fine African warrior.

George Murchison enters to pick up Beneatha en route to the

theatre. He asks her to change and she takes off her

headdress, revealing her new haircut.

It’s a big ’fro! Others in the room express their shock and

disapproval, and Ruth hustles Beneatha off to change into

more suitable attire.

Walter tries to talk business with George, who brushes him

off. Walter is offended and begins to insult George. George

remains indifferent and compliments Beneatha when she

reemerges in a dress.

After they leave, Ruth tries to make nice with Walter. Not

having it, Walter takes his bitterness out on Ruth.

Things calm down and timid conversation leads to a kiss.

Mama enters, coming back from a mysterious day outside of

the home. She tells Travis that she bought a house. The rest

of the family can obviously hear her.

Walter turns away from her, outraged…and it only escalates

when Lena announces where the house is located: in an

otherwise white neighborhood.

Shocked, Ruth is the first to recover and embrace the happy

prospects of moving into an actual house.

Mama asks for Walter’s understanding, but – happy-go-lucky

guy that he is – he thanks her for crushing his dreams.

A Raisin in the Sun Act Two,

Scene Two Summary

Beneatha and George return from another date. George wants

to kiss, but Beneatha wants to discuss social issues.

George says there’s no point to such political mumbo-jumbo.

Beneatha is not impressed.

Lena returns with groceries and offers Beneatha useful

advice.

Ruth enters right before Mrs. Johnson, a neighbor, pops by.

She shares some recent neighborhood news of some white

Americans bombing African-Americans out of their houses. She

obviously overstays her welcome…but not before she mooches

some coffee and snacks from the Younger’s.

Mrs. Arnold, Walter’s employer, calls inquiring as to his

absence for the past three days. This is news to Ruth and

Lena. Walter proudly shares that he has been driving around

while playing hooky with Willy.

Lena has a heart-to-heart chat with her son. She apologizes

if she has ever done him wrong and reaffirms her faith in

him. To put her money where her mouth is, she hands over an

envelope with $6,500. She directs Walter to reserve $3,000

for Beneatha’s schooling, and the rest to be saved in a

checking account under Walter’s name.

Shocked, Walter in turn has a heart-to-heart with his own

son, sharing the vision he has in seven year’s time: a world

in which the business transaction he’s about to make will

have enabled a higher standard of living, one in which

Travis can choose to be anything he wants to be. Yet, the

American Dream!

A Raisin in the Sun Act Two,

Scene Three Summary

Before curtain rises, we can hear Ruth singing "Hallelujah!"

Taking care of last minute packing, Ruth is in a good mood.

She tells Beneatha about how she and Walter went to the

movies together for the first time in a long time. And they

even held hands.

Walter comes in and seduces Ruth into a slow dance. The mood

is jolly…until a man appears at the door, introducing

himself as Karl Lindner, a member of the Clybourne Park

Improvement Association.

Through niceties and stammering, Karl basically says that

the current people in the neighborhood don’t want the

Youngers to move in because of the color of their skin in

Fact, they don’t want them there to the point of offering to

buy the house for more than it was sold for!

Mr. Lindner tells the Youngers that the residents of

Clybourne are working-class and have worked hard, and that

they’re ready to protect their dreams.

Isn’t that ironic.

Karl claims the whole proposal is really just in the

Younger’s’ best interest.

They tell him to scram. Effectively.

When Mama arrives, the adults relay the episode and then

present her with the gift of gardening tools. Travis chimes

in and presents her with a gaudy gardening hat. Mama is

overcome. Prior to this, she has only received presents at

Christmas.

They continue packing; someone knocks at the door.

Walter is joyful with expectation and answers the door to

find Bobo.

Unfortunately, it becomes clear that Bobo is not happy to be

there. Ruth doesn’t know what’s going on but she senses

danger immediately.

Finally Bobo drops the bomb: Walter’s supposed friend,

Willy, disappeared with all their liquor store money.

Walter tries the deny, deny, deny defense and is all pumped

to track down Willy. Bobo points out that it’s really a lost

cause.

By now the family has entered the room and has heard

everything.

Lena asks Walter if all of it is gone – even Beneatha’s

portion and Walter confesses that he never created the

checking account.

Lena starts beating him on the head, guilt-tripping him

about how he just flushed his dad’s life’s work down the

drain in one day.

Lena turns to God and asks for strength.

Erican Dream!

A Raisin in the Sun Act Three

Summary

The mood in the house is spiritless. Asagai shows up at the

door, jolly and naïve to what has happened. He asks Beneatha

to go with him back to Africa and encourages her to hang

onto any remaining faith in idealism.

Walter leaves and returns, only to announce that he is going

to put on a show for The Man. It turns out that in true

Walter fashion, he has called Karl Lindner back… to accept

the offer. He gives a speech about how you can dream about

making a difference, but in the end, it’s a dog eat dog

world. That’s right, he sells out. Big time.

The women are – as you might imagine – outraged.

It seems that Walter has truly dragged the family down to

rock bottom.

Beneatha expresses her disgust for her brother.

Surprisingly, Lena stands up for her son, saying that just

when people seem to deserve compassion the least is when

they need it the most.

Karl arrives, and Walter struggles to form sentences.

Knowingly giving into racism tends to produce that effect.

Especially when your son is looking at you.

After a lot of stammering, Walter rejects the offer. He says

that the family isn’t out to fight any big causes or cause

trouble.

Everyone (except Karl) breathes out a collective sigh of

relief.

With that, moving day is back on. The apartment is bustling

once more with life, with Beneatha and Walter arguing over

whom she should marry.

Ruth and Lena share a maternal moment, glowing with pride

from Walter’s strong stand.

Lena has a last moment to herself in the apartment, then

takes the plant and goes downstairs.

A Raisin in the Sun Themes

The American Dream

The long-standing appeal of A Raisin in the Sun lies in the fact that

the family's dreams and aspirations for a better life are not

confined to their race, but can be identified with by people of

all backgrounds. Even though what that "better life" may look

like is different for each character, the underlying motivation

is universal. The central conflict of the play lies in Walter's

notion of this American dream. Walter buys into the middle-class

ideology of materialism. The notion of the self-made man who

starts with nothing and achieves great wealth through hard work

seems innocuous enough, but the idea can become pernicious if it

evolves into an idolization of wealth and power. In the

beginning, Hansberry shows how Walter envies Charlie Atkins' dry-

cleaning business because it grosses $100,000 a year. He ignores

Ruth's objection to his potential business partner's questionable

character and dismisses his mother's moral objection to achieving

his goals by running a liquor store. The liquor store is a means

to an end, and Walter is desperate for his dreams to come to

fruition. That same Machiavellian ethic is demonstrated when

Walter plans to accept Mr. Lindner's offer. Walter is not

concerned with the degrading implications of the business deal.

It is simply a way to recover some of the lost money. However,

Hansberry challenges Walter's crude interpretation of the

American dream by forcing him to actually carry out the

transaction in front of his son. Walter's inability to deal with

Mr. Lindner marks a significant revision of his interpretation of

the American dream, a dream that inherently prioritizes justice

and equality over money.

Female Gender Identity

Three generations of women are represented in A Raisin in the Sun.

Lena, who is in her early thirties, becomes the default head of

the household upon the passing of her husband, Walter Sr. Raised

in the South during an era where blacks' very lives were in

danger because of the prevalence of lynching, Lena moved to the

North with the hopes of leading a better life. The move up North

was significant in that she had hopes of a better life for

herself. Although Lena is ahead of her times in some respects,

her dreams and aspirations are largely linked to her family's

well-being, rather than to her own. Scholar Claudia Tate

attributes Lena's low expectations for her individual self to

gender conditioning - a term used to describe the expectation

that a woman's goals and dreams be linked to her family alone.

Lena tolerates her husband's womanizing and remains loyal to him

even though they suffer under the same impoverished conditions

throughout their marriage.Walter's wife, Ruth, is in her early

thirties. She is different from Lena in that she vocalizes her

frustrations with her spouse, Walter. Ultimately, however, she

seeks to please him, talking positively about the business to

Lena on his behalf, encouraging Beneatha not to antagonize her

brother so much, and being willing to work several jobs so that

the family can afford to move into the new house. Beneatha, a

young feminist college student, is the least tolerant of

society's unequal treatment and expectations of women. Beneatha

constantly challenges Walter's chauvinism, and has no time for

shallow men like George Murchison, who do not respect her ideas.

Through these three women, Hansberry skillfully illustrates how

women's ideas about their identity have changed over time.

Masculinity

"What defines a man?" is a critical question that Hansberry

struggles with throughout the entire play. In many ways, the most

debilitating affronts Walter faces are those which relate to his

identity as a man, whether it be in his role as father, husband,

or son. Being a father to Travis appears to be the role that

Walter values the most. He sincerely wants to be perceived as

honorable in his son's eyes. Knowing the family has little money

to spare, Walter gives Travis a dollar when he asks for fifty

cents. Walter chooses the liquor store investment not just to

make more money for himself, but also to be better able to

provide for his wife and family. He wants to be able to give Ruth

pearls and a Cadillac convertible; he wants to be able to send

his son to the college of his choice. As a son, he wants to walk

in his father's footsteps and provide for his mother in her old

age. Walter is framed by the examples of his father and son. At

first, Walter is willing to degrade himself in order to obtain

these goals, but he faces a critical turning point when he

reconsiders Mr. Lindner's offer. Ultimately, he chooses the

honorable path so that he can stand before his son Travis with

pride.

Afro centrism

There is a strong motif of afro centrism throughout the play.

Unlike many of her black contemporaries, Lorraine Hansberry grew

up in a family that was well aware of its African heritage, and

embraced its roots. Lorraine's uncle, Leo Hansberry, was a

professor of African history at Howard University, a well-known,

historically black college in Washington, D.C. Hansberry's uncle

actually taught Kwame Nkrumah, a revolutionary who fought for the

independence of the Gold Coast from British rule. Hansberry's

afro centrism is expressed mainly through Beneatha's love for

Asagai. Asagai, a Nigerian native, is who Beneatha seeks out

during her search for her own identity. She is eager to learn

about African culture, language, music, and dress. The playwright

is well ahead of her times in her creation of these characters.

Hansberry is able to dispel many of the myths about Africa, and

concretely depict the parallel struggles both Africans and

African-Americans must face.

Class Tensions within the Black

Community

A Raisin in the Sun is not just about race; class tensions are a

prominent issue throughout the play. George Murchison is

Beneatha's well-to-do boyfriend. Although he is educated and

wealthy, Beneatha is still trying to sort out her feelings about

him. Her sister-in-law, Ruth, does not understand Beneatha's

ambivalence: he is good-looking, and able to provide well for

Beneatha. However, Beneatha is planning to be a doctor, and is

not dependent on "marrying well" for her financial security.

Hansberry also hints that marriage into the Murchison family is

not very probable. Beneatha says, "Oh, Mama- The Murchison are

honest-to-God-real-live-rich colored people, and the only people

in the world who are more snobbish than rich white people are

rich colored people. I thought everybody knew that I've met Mrs.

Murchison. She's a scene!" Beneatha is sensitive to the reality

that even though the two families are black, they are deeply

divided. Beneatha suggests that class distinctions are more

pronounced amongst African-Americans than between African-

Americans and whites. Despite their degree of wealth or

education, blacks in America were discriminated against. Wealthy

African-Americans had limitations on schools, housing, and

occupations just like their poor counterparts. Mrs. Murchison's

'snobbishness' is emblematic of a desperate yet futile attempt to

be seen as different from poor blacks and thus gain acceptance by

whites. However, radical legislative and social change proves to

be the only substantive solution to America's problem

A Raisin in the Sun Characters

Meet the Cast

Lena Younger (Mama)

Character Analysis

Lena Younger, a.k.a. Mama, totally rocks our world. She's a down-

to-earth, hard-working black woman who doesn't suffer fools. Mama

has dedicated her life to her children and struggles to instill

her values in them – with mixed results. One of Lena's most

poignant moments might be when she admits to Ruth that sometimes

her children frighten her. This is one of those sad and beautiful

moments that make her character seem truly human. Throughout the

play, Lena struggles to connect with her children, Beneatha and

Walter. She's extremely worried about Walter's obsession with

money and is totally disapproving of Beneatha's lack of faith in

God. Mama even goes so far as to slap Beneatha in the face when

the girl says that God doesn't exist. Except for the face-slap

moment, Mama is mostly kind and patient with her family. Her

nurturing personality is symbolized by the way she treats her

houseplant. Though it is wilting, Mama loves it unconditionally.

Just like her family, Lena's plant lacks the necessary resources

to flourish. Rather than giving up, however, Mama does all she

can for it and has faith that one day it will truly thrive.

Mama’s faith is put to the test near the end of the play when she

entrusts Walter with the $6,500 that's left from the insurance

check. At first, it seems like her trust was totally misplaced

when Walter loses all of the money. However, Lena's faith is

redeemed when her son refuses to accept the bribe from Mr.

Lindner. In the last moments of the play, we see Mama taking

pride in her children. Like her plant, they're far from perfect,

but still there's hope for them yet.

Mrs. Johnson

Character Analysis

We think Mrs. Johnson is totally hilarious. She's like the nosey

neighbor in almost every sitcom that ever aired. Much like Kramer

on Seinfeld, she has a real skill at getting free food out of her

neighbors, the Younger’s. She's only onstage for a few minutes

and she manages to bum some coffee and a piece of pie. Pretty

slick, Mrs. Johnson. While the Younger’s' nosey neighbor

definitely provides some comic relief, she also brings a darker

tone to the play. She carries with her a newspaper that reports

that a black family, living in a white neighborhood, has recently

been bombed out of their house. This news totally raises the

stakes of the Younger’s' upcoming move and adds a lot of tension

to the play as a whole. Even though Mrs. Johnson seems friendly

on the outside, she also seems to kind of resent the Younger’s.

She insinuates that they think they are "too good" to live in the

mostly black neighborhood anymore. Mrs. Johnson almost seems to

enjoy sharing the information that a black family was bombed by

racist whites. When she leaves the paper in the Younger’s'

apartment on her way out, it's almost like Mrs. Johnson is

implying that, if the Younger’s find trouble in their

neighborhood, then they're only getting what they serve.

Essentially, Mrs. Johnson represents the feelings of resentment

that some blacks felt when others started to climb the socio-

economic ladder.

Ruth Younger

Character Analysis

Ruth is in some ways like a typical housewife of the 1950s. She

makes breakfast, cleans the house, supports her husband, and

keeps her own desires to herself. Unlike the stereotypical 1950s

housewives, though, she also goes out into the world and works

her butt off. Not only does she struggle to maintain her own

household, but she goes out to work in the households of rich

white people as well. The Younger’s' financial difficulties make

it impossible for Ruth to just work in her own home. As a

character, then, Ruth exposes the difficulties of being a

working-class mother. All this financial stress is proving to be

big trouble for Ruth's marriage. Her husband Walter is incredibly

dissatisfied with his life, and he constantly takes it out on

her. Ruth is far from a doormat and tells her husband off when he

starts acting like a jerk. However, it is clear in the play that

the turmoil in her marriage is taking a real toll on Ruth. She

often seems irritable, depressed, and at times sinks into

despair. This all comes to a head for Ruth, when she finds out

she is pregnant and considers an abortion. In the '50s, an

abortion would have been a) illegal and b) dangerous. But

according to Mama: "When the world gets ugly enough – a woman

will do anything for her family. The part that's already living"

(1.2.235). Though Ruth hates the idea of aborting her child, she

feels it's the best decision for her financially-strapped family.

In the end, though, Ruth chooses to keep her child. She finds

hope in the fact that the Younger family will soon be moving out

of their cramped, roach-infested apartment and into a new house.

She'll still have to work to help pay the mortgage, and they'll

all have to deal with the racist backlash of living in a white

neighborhood. Yes, times will still be tough for Ruth, but with

her family around her she feels ready for to face the struggle.

Travis Younger

Character Analysis

By far the youngest member of his family (stage directions

describe him as ten or eleven years old), Travis represents the

future of the Younger family. Hansberry drops some not-too-subtle

symbolism on us when we hear that one of Travis's favorite

pastimes is playing with rats. This symbolism definitely doesn't

slip by Lena and Ruth. It kind of sucks when your "future" is

hanging out with vermin. Mama and Ruth understand that if they

stay living in their crappy apartment, Travis is destined to

always settle for less than he deserves. Symbolically, the

Younger family will never escape the slums. Travis plays a

symbolic role again in the last scene of the play. When Walter,

Travis's father, is planning to take the money from Mr. Lindner

to not move into the white neighborhood, Mama insists that Travis

stay and watch his father give in to "The Man." Travis's eyes are

just too innocent, though, and Walter can't bring himself to do

it in front of his son. If Travis saw this, Walter would always

feel like a giant tool and a bad father. And symbolically the

future of the Younger family would always be one of shame.

Is Travis starting to sound like less of a person and more of a

symbol to you? Yeah, us too. The youngest Younger never really

gets fleshed out as a character. For the most part, he's a kind,

innocent, and good-hearted child, who hasn't yet been corrupted

by the big, bad world. Still, though, he plays an important part

in the play. Without Travis serving as his father's good angel in

the final scene, the play's conclusion would go from bittersweet

to tragic real,

Walter Younger

Character Analysis

Walter Younger can be really hard to get along with. For most of

the first act, he's nasty to just about every other character in

the play. He picks fights with his sister, Beneatha. He says all

kinds of mean things to Ruth, his wife, and is even short with

his long-suffering mother, Lena.

All this nastiness seems to come from the fact that Walter is

totally disgusted with his life. Working as a chauffeur for a

rich white man has got him totally dissatisfied. There's no room

for advancement, and he hates having to suck up to his boss all

the time. Basically, Walter feels like less of a man, because

he's in his thirties and can still barely provide for his family.

The only time Walter seems to get excited in the early sections

of the play is when there's talk of the $10,000 life insurance

check (Walter's father has died) that's soon to come in the mail.

Walter plans to use the money to invest in a liquor store with

his "buddy," Willy Harris. He sees this investment as an

opportunity to be his own boss and to finally provide for his

family the way he feels he should.

Everybody tries to warn Walter against investing in the liquor

store. Ruth tells her husband that he shouldn't trust Willy

Harris. And Lena, a devout Christian, thinks it is sinful to sell

liquor. Lena even flat out refuses to give the money to Walter at

first; the insurance policy is in her name, so she has control

over it. Instead of giving her son the money for the liquor

store, Walter's mother takes a portion and puts a down payment on

a house in a white neighborhood. This sends Walter into the

depths of despair. He goes on a three-day drinking binge and

refuses to go to work. Eventually, Lena gives in and lets Walter

have a big chunk of what's left to invest however he sees fit.

She also trusts her son to put some of the money in a bank

account so that Beneatha can go to medical school. Walter doesn't

do this, however, and just hands it all over to Willy Harris for

the liquor store. At this point in the play, we get a glimpse of

who Walter would be if he was happier with his work life. He's

friendly to his sister, hugs his mother, and even takes his wife

out on a date, where they get super-frisky and hold hands. The

Walter that we see here is a loveable, friendly, family man. We

get to this section and we're like, "Wow, I guess he's not such a

jerk."Unfortunately, this just doesn't last. Everybody's doubts

about the liquor store investment are proven right when Willy

takes off with all the money. Things get really bad here.

Earlier, Mr. Lindner, a white man from the new neighborhood,

tried to pay the Younger’s not to move into their new house. Back

when Walter was on top, he proudly kicked Mr. Lindner out and

told him that they didn't need his money. Now, though, Walter is

desperate. He sinks to a new low and calls Mr. Lindner back,

saying that he'll accept the money. Walter tells his family that

he's prepared to bow down to "The Man" to get the money. This is

really Walter's lowest point in the whole play. He's prepared to

totally shame himself for the money. In the end, though, Walter

is redeemed when he eventually refuses to take the money from Mr.

Lindner. When the white man returns, Lena forces Walter to talk

to him in front of Travis, Walter's young son. Walter just can't

bring himself to act so shamefully in front of Travis. In the

end, Walter finds his self-respect and leads his family on to

their new house. Although Walter makes the worst mistakes out of

any other character in the play, he also undergoes the greatest

transformation. His journey takes him from total jerk, obsessed

with get-rich-quick schemes, to a man worthy of respect. In

Walter Younger, Lorraine Hansberry shows how poverty and racism

can twist and depress people, turning them against those that

they most love. Of course, with Walter, the playwright also shows

us how these social barriers can be overcome through personal

determination and staying true to one's own beliefs.

Willy Harris

Character Analysis

Willy never shows up onstage, but he plays a significant role in

the Younger’s story. And by "significant," we mean, "very, very

negative." After convincing Walter that investing in the liquor

store is a great idea, Willy takes Walter's money and runs. It is

because of the thieving Willy Harris that Walter's dream is

deferred.

Beneatha Younger

Character Analysis

Joseph Asagai, Beneatha's Nigerian boyfriend, calls her "Alaiyo,"

which means something like "One for Whom Bread – Food – is Not

enough." Beneatha is very touched by this, because it shows that

he really understands her. She wants more than to just get by;

she wants to find ways to truly express herself. The other

Younger’s tease her about her journey of self-expression, but

Beneatha remains determined to broaden her mind Unlike the rest

of her family, Beneatha looks beyond her immediate situation in

an effort to understand herself as a member of a greater whole.

As she becomes more educated, it becomes increasingly hard for

Beneatha to relate to the rest of her family. Sometimes she can

be a bit condescending and seems to forget that her family

members (especially her mother) all work very hard to help put

her through school. However, this character flaw only serves to

make her seem all the more understandable and human. Ultimately,

Beneatha is a kind and generous person, who seeks to become a

doctor out of a desire to help people. Beneatha’s college

education has helped to make her progressive, independent, and a

total feminist. She brings politics into the apartment and is

constantly talking about issues of civil rights. Over the course

of the play we see her wrestle with her identity as an African-

American woman. Asagai criticizes her, saying that she's

"assimilated," meaning that she tries to hide her African-ness by

acting white. He uses her hair as an example. Asagai can't

understand why she and most other black women in America

straighten their hair instead of leaving it naturally curly.

Asagai urges Beneatha to embrace her African roots. Over the

course of the play we see her explore her identity, when she

takes a cue from Asagai and lets her hair go natural. She also

tries on the Nigerian robes he brings her and dances around to

African music. Although Beneatha's family has been in America for

several generations, and Beneatha has never been to Africa,

Asagai insists that once in Africa, she will feel as though she

has been away for only one day. Historically, this attitude

gained some popularity among black Americans as they felt that no

matter how long they had been in America, they could never truly

call it home.

On the total other end of the assimilation debate is Beneatha's

other (rich) boyfriend George. He's a black American as well, but

sees absolutely no reason to honor their African heritage. George

sees himself as an American first and foremost and thinks that

blacks who spend a lot of time worrying about Africa are wasting

their time. Unsurprisingly, Beneatha seems to not be into George

at all by the end of the play. When we leave Beneatha at the

play's conclusion, she is even considering marrying Asagai and

practicing medicine in Africa. We never get to find out what

ultimately happens to Beneatha, but we here at Shampoo hope

somehow she finds that thing she's looking for.

Bobo

Character Analysis

Bobo is Walter's buddy. Just like Walter, he gets ripped off by

Willy Harris in the great liquor store catastrophe. Poor Bobo

only gets one extremely short scene so we never learn much about

pretty much just shows up, gives Walter the bad news, gets

throttled by Walter, then shuffles off.

George Murchison

Character Analysis

George is Asagi's competition for the affections of the lovely

Beneatha. He's really good looking and his family has tons of

money. None of this impresses Beneatha, however. George really

doesn't stand a chance against the much more socially-engaged

Joseph Asagi. Murchison gets bored when Beneatha wants to talk

about politics, and he believes that the point of higher

education is to get a good job – definitely not what Beneatha

believes. In the great debate on assimilation that runs through

the play, George represents the total opposite point of view of

Asagai. Whereas Asagai thinks that black Americans should be more

in touch with their African roots, George thinks it's a

sentimental waste of time. His family is really well off and are

perfectly happy to assimilate into white America. Of course,

Beneatha totally disagrees, and this becomes yet another strike

against George in her book. Looks like Bachelor Number Two is

going to get the ax.

Joseph Asagai

Character Analysis

Asagai really works the Nigerian thing to get ahead with

Beneatha. Knowing that Beneatha has a longing for identity and

roots, he tells her all about Africa and gives her African

records and a robe. If Asagai had his way, she'd be a straight-up

African woman, instead of an African-American one. He even goes

so far as to suggest her straightened hair is a sign that she is

"assimilated" into white American culture. Eventually, Asagai

proposes to Beneatha and asks her to come back to Nigeria with

him. In the play's final scene, Beneatha is seriously considering

his proposal. We never find out if these two lovebirds run off

into the African sunset together, but we hope it works out for

them.Asagai's main function as a character seems to be to inject

the play with symbolism. Basically, Asagi is Africa. He

represents one extreme of the American debate on assimilation.

His presence in the play forces the audience (and Beneatha) to

ask what it truly means to be an African American. How can blacks

live in America yet retain some of their unique cultural

identity? Is it possible? For more on assimilation and Asagi,

himself, check out "Characters: Beneatha Younger." Also, take a

glance at "Characters: George Murchison" for the total opposite

point of view on assimilation.

Karl Lindner

Character Analysis

Mr. Lindner seems like a nice enough dudes at first. He says he

represents a kind of "welcoming committee" from Clybourne Park,

the predominately white neighborhood where the Youngers are

planning to move. Lindner is really polite at first and implies

that if people of different races would just sit down and talk to

each other a lot of problems could be resolved. Unfortunately,

Lindner's committee doesn't plan to "welcome" the Younger’s at

all. Mr. Lindner's idea of resolving the "problem" of a black

family moving into the neighborhood is to try and bribe the

Younger’s. He and his fellow homeowners have gotten enough money

together to buy the house that Mama bought for more than what she

paid for it. Basically, Mr. Lindner and the other white

homeowners are trying to do everything they can to keep black

families out of their eighborhood. As the only white character in

the play, Mr. Lindner represents the white majority that

controlled the country. He also represents the racism of the

white majority that segregated America (officially and

unofficially) and helped to perpetuate the cycle of poverty which

many African-American families had been caught in since the time

of slavery.