A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry Essay examples
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Lorraine Hansberry’s play, “A Raisin in the Sun” is a realistic drama pivoting around a black, American family’s economic and social struggle against the prejudice that occurs in Chicago during the nineteen fifties. The Youngers’ colorful personalities cause much confrontation and anguish in their small, stifling apartment. In his essay, “A Raisin in the Sun Revisited,” J. Charles Washington, suggests that “our literary judgments, to a large extent, are determined by our own moral standards, by our adherence to the rules society deems appropriate. Generally, these standards differ according to the sex of the individual: A good man, for instance, is strong, aggressive---masculine---, whereas a good woman is sweet, gentle---feminine.” While
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At times when she seems troubled or agitated, Asagai’s first instinct is to ask her if “something [is] wrong” and comfort her by “touching her, gently, sweetly” (I: ii, 44 and III: i, 121). His tenderness appeals to the Youngers immediately, as seen at his first encounter with Mama. She “[looks] at [Asagai] as she would Walter,” her own child (I: ii, 49). Asagai is distinguished as a truly “good man” due to his instant charm, and amiable aura. George and Asagai’s ironic characteristics contradict and confront the validity of orthodox classifications of a “good man.” While Beneatha Younger wishes to make her very life a protest to the model “good woman,” her sister in law, Ruth, willingly complies with the archetype. Remarkably, despite their contrasting nature, both women are illustrated as positive and favorable characters. Beneatha is strong willed and powerful with aspirations that are not restrained by society’s confinements. Even though there “ain’t many girls who decide…to be a doctor,” the young woman does not seek others’ consent to pursue these preposterous ambitions (I: i, 20). Beneatha’s crude sense of humor and coarseness are additional aspects of her masculine ambiance. Her barbarity is seen in the manner in which she insults her brother Walter. Beneatha tactlessly reports