A Raisin in the Sun, American film drama, released in 1961, that was based on Lorraine Hansberry’s acclaimed play about the urban African American experience. A Raisin in the Sun follows a poor black family that receives $10,000 from a life insurance policy after the father’s death.
Was A Raisin in the Sun based on a true story?
A Raisin in the Sun is not a true story but is based on many situations that happened to black families. Lorraine Hansberry the writer of the play had a real-life experience like the Younger’s. Her family had to fight in court for the right to own the house they bought in a white neighborhood.
What is the history of A Raisin in the Sun?
A Raisin in the Sun opened at the Barrymore Theatre in New York on March 11, 1959, to great popular and critical success. It was the first play written by an African American to be produced on Broadway and the first to be directed by an African American in over half a century.
What was A Raisin in the Sun originally called?
The Crystal Stair
Originally titled The Crystal Stair (a line from the Langston Hughes poem “Mother to Son”), A Raisin in the Sun centers on the Youngers, a lower-class family who is offered a sum of money to stay away from the white neighborhood where they have purchased their dream home.
What does A Raisin in the Sun symbolize?
A Raisin in the Sun Meaning
In the poem, one response to the question of what happens to a dream deferred is to say, “Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?” The play’s title points towards the themes of endurance and perseverance in the chase of the American Dream.
What does Mama’s plant symbolize?
Mama’s Plant
Her care for her plant is similar to her care for her children, unconditional and unending despite a less-than-perfect environment for growth. The plant also symbolizes her dream to own a house and, more specifically, to have a garden and a yard.
What is the purpose of Mrs Johnson in A Raisin in the Sun?
Johnson appears mostly for comic relief. She is a flat caricature of the nosy, jealous neighbor. However, Hansberry employs the Mrs. Johnson character in order to point out the explosive realities that await the Youngers for being the first blacks to move into Clybourne Park.
What is the ending of A Raisin in the Sun?
A Raisin in the Sun ends with the Younger family leaving their longtime apartment in Chicago’s South Side neighborhood in order to move into a house they’ve purchased in the otherwise all-white neighborhood of Clybourne Park.
Is A Raisin in the Sun a tragedy?
A Raisin in the Sun falls under domestic tragedy with the status and circumstances that the poor African American family with the constant struggle versus social roles and white America. Throughout the play, the Younger family has many hardships and difficult decisions come up.
What time period is A Raisin in the Sun set in?
A Raisin in the Sun takes place in an apartment in the South Side neighborhood in Chicago, sometime between the end of World War II and 1959.
How does A Raisin in the Sun relate to Harlem?
The play “A Raisin In the Sun” and the poem “Harlem” both concentrate on the attainment of the forever promised “American Dreams” (higher education, prosperity, equality, freedom to come and go as you desire and to be whoever and whatever you want).
What can we learn from A Raisin in the Sun?
A Raisin in the Sun Themes
- Dreams. Dreams possess great importance in A Raisin in the Sun, with the play’s name coming from a 1951 Langston Hughes poem titled Montage of a Dream Deferred.
- Dignity and Pride.
- Race, Discrimination, and Assimilation.
- Gender and Feminism.
- Money.
What is the irony in a raisin in the sun?
Lesson Summary
Lindner from the welcoming committee visits to inform the Youngers that they are not welcome. Dramatic irony is when the audience has insight that the character does not have, like when Bobo walks in the door and everyone but Walter Lee is aware that his own investment has gone poorly.
Why is Mama’s Little plant so important to her what does she mean when she says it expresses me?
Mama’s Houseplant
When Beneatha asks why Mama would want to keep that “raggedy-looking old thing,” Mama Younger replies: “It expresses me.” This is Mama’s way of recalling Beneatha’s tirade about self-expression, but it also reveals the affinity Mama feels for the enduring houseplant.
What does sunshine symbolize in a raisin in the sun?
Sunlight symbolizes hope and life since sunlight is the source of energy and life for all things. Throughout the play we see Mama caring for her plant leaving it outside so it can get sunlight and bringing it in for short periods of time. It is noted in the play that their apartment doesn’t have a lot of sunlight.
What does Beneatha name symbolize?
Much like the character of the play, the name Beneatha means Beauty, excitement and wonderment, curious and knowledge-seeking, joyful, playful, artistically inclined to make an impact on the world as we know it.
What does the 10 000 check symbolize in A Raisin in the Sun?
The life insurance check that Mama receives after the death of her husband represents hope, as each member of the family sees it as a once-in-a-lifetime chance to make their dreams come true. However, the money doesn’t solve as many problems as they imagined.
Why did Mama call Walter a disgrace to his father’s memory?
Why did Mama call Walter a disgrace to his father’s memory? He had become overly concerned with money and had lost his traditional family values, so much so that he didn’t try to convince Ruth no to have an abortion.
Why did Mama give Walter the money?
She believed the realization of her dream could eventually open the door for other family member’s dreams. When she realizes she was doing to Walter what the rest of the world was doing, not giving him a chance to be a man, she corrected her actions by giving Walter part of the money to open a personal bank account.
When George tries to kiss Beneatha after their date What does she want to do instead?
On a Friday night a few weeks later, Beneatha and George return from a date. The Youngers’ apartment is full of moving boxes. George wants to kiss Beneatha, but she does not want to kiss. Instead, she wants to engage George in a conversation about the plight of Black Americans.
What does Ruth tell Beneatha she did the night before?
Ruth tells Beneatha that on the previous evening, she and Walter had gone on a date to the movies. Walter comes in and is dancing playfully with Ruth when a white man comes to the door, asking for Lena Younger.