A Raisin In The Sun Mama Younger Character Analysis

The women in A Raisin in the Sun all have very different roles. Mama Younger is a caring yet pushy mother who wants what she thinks is best for her children. Ruth is a tired woman who is very stressed which makes her seem like she is a lot older than she really is. Beneatha is an opinionated and educated woman who has very different goals than her family. They are all equally important to the play.
Mama Younger is both, a conservative force that held her family back and a progressive force that was holding her family together and helping it move forward. She was holding her family back in the sense of she has a really hard time connecting with her children, Beneatha and Walter. She becomes very worried about her children because Walter is …show more content…
She has no problem on standing by her beliefs on feminism, religion, and race. She has a lot of pride in being an educated black woman. Even though Beneatha’s family is poor and struggling she still believes that she has the right for a higher education. It is rare for woman at this time, including the other women in the play to express themselves and to go after what she wants even though her family does not approve. In act 1, Mama asked Beneatha, “What is it you want to express?” and Beneatha responded, “Me! Don’t worry. I don’t expect you to understand. She is more opinionated and educated than her family that she does not like to have conversations about her thoughts and beliefs because she knows that they will not understand. She is a "new woman" and will not take on a “traditional female role.” A Raisin in the Sun showed its audience the different roles that women have. Mama Younger was a conservative and progressive force for her family. Ruth played the role in the family dynamic of a supporter, provider, and in a sense, a follower. Beneatha played a role of someone that was way ahead of her time, and a representative of the future for African