A Raisin in the SunA Raisin in the Sun

Background Information

American DreamAmerican Dream

• What is it?

• Is it an idea or does it involve material things?

• Ethnic, social, economic implications

“A Dream Deferred” “A Dream Deferred”

What happens to a dream deferred?What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry upDoes it dry upLike a raisin in the sun?Like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore--Or fester like a sore--And then run?And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?Does it stink like rotten meat?Or crust and sugar over--Or crust and sugar over--

like a syrupy sweet?like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sagsMaybe it just sagslike a heavy load.like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?Or does it explode?

- Langston Hughes- Langston Hughes

Performance TaskPerformance Task

A Note on the TitleA Note on the Title

• Lorraine Hansberry took the title of A Raisin in the Sun from a line in Langston Hughes’s famous 1951 poem “Harlem.”

• “Harlem” captures the tension between the need for black expression and the impossibility of that expression because of American society’s oppression of its black population.

• In the poem, Hughes asks whether a “dream deferred”—a dream put on hold—withers up “like a raisin in the sun.”

More on the titleMore on the title

• His lines confront the racist and dehumanizing attitude prevalent in American society before the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

• Hansberry’s reference to Hughes’s poem in her play’s title highlights the importance of dreams in A Raisin in the Sun and the struggle that her characters face to realize their individual dreams, a struggle tied to the more fundamental black dream of equality in America.

Civil Rights MovementCivil Rights Movement

• What was the Civil Right Movement?

• What was the goal of this movement?

• Were there any other movements during the period?

Social BackgroundSocial Background

• Published in 1959, four years after Rosa Parks’ was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white person on a bus, sparking the Civil Rights Movement, Hansberry’s play illustrates black America’s struggle to gain equal access to opportunity and expression of cultural identity.

Sentiments in A Raisin… will be echoed by MLK in later speeches, marches, and rallies

Martin Luther King, Jr.Civil-Rights Leader

1929-1968I have a dream… a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the

true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.’

Cont’d dreams represented in the play and Cont’d dreams represented in the play and later echoed by Kinglater echoed by King

• I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

• I have a dream…where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.

MLKMLK

• How does King help to develop the idea of the American Dream?

• What does he do to the existing American Dream?

Lorraine HansberryLorraine Hansberry• Born May 19, 1930 in Chicago

• Died of cancer at the age of 34

• Daughter of a prominent real-estate broker and the niece of a Harvard University professor of African history

• A Raisin in the Sun - first play

A Raisin in the SunA Raisin in the Sun• Originally title “A Crystal Stair” from

another Langston Hughes’ poem

• First production in 1959

• Known as the "movin’ on up" morality play of the 1960s– Morality play - It uses allegorical characters to teach

the audience moral lessons

Plot BasicsPlot Basics

• explores the struggles of ordinary people to achieve their desires

• the story of the Youngers, a Southside Chicago family trying to survive in cramped quarters.

• When Mama gets a $10,000 check from her husband's life insurance, they consider moving to a larger house in a white suburb.

Cast of CharactersCast of Characters• Lena Younger (Mama) –

God-fearing mother of Walter, refuses to give up in the face of adversity

• Walter Lee Younger – 35-year-old chauffeur who longs to improve himself to reap the same rewards that white people enjoy

• Ruth – Walter’s humble and devoted wife

• Beneatha – Walter’s 26-year-old sister, articulate and ambitious college student, hopes to become a physician

• Travis – Walter and Ruth’s son, friendly boy of 10 or 11

• Mr. Lindner - white man who attempts to prevent the Youngers from moving into his neighborhood

 

Cast of CharactersCast of Characters

• Joseph Agasai – cultured, well-spoken Nigerian who courts Beneatha

• George Murchison – rich Chicagoan who also courts Beneatha

• Bobo – Walter’s friend, they plan to open a liquor store

• Willy – Walter and Bobo's business partner, runs off with Walter and Bobo's money (Willy has no speaking part in the play) 

• Furniture Mover – comes to the Youngers' apartment to move their belongings to their new house  

What is a theme?What is a theme?

ThemesThemes

• Faith

• Family

• Compromise

• Evils of racial prejudice

• Money can’t buy happiness

• Importance of dreams

What is a symbol?What is a symbol?

SymbolsSymbols

• Mama’s plant

• Kitchen window

• Fifty cents, one dollar

• New House and garden