what is the thesis of a raisin in the sun

A Raisin in The Sun

Introduction to a raisin in the sun, summary of a raisin in the sun, major themes in a raisin in the sun  , major characters of a raisin in the sun, writing style of a raisin in the sun, analysis of the literary devices in a raisin in the sun, related posts:, post navigation.

A Raisin in the Sun

Lorraine hansberry, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

In 1959 much of the United States, including Chicago, remained de facto segregated, meaning that racial segregation persisted in education, employment, and housing even though the Supreme Court had overturned segregation that was established by law as unconstitutional. Set in de facto segregated Chicago, Hansberry’s play draws on stories from the author’s own life, such as her family’s experience with housing discrimination in 1930s Chicago. After moving to a house in an all-white neighborhood, Hansberry’s family endured legal battles and physical threats not unlike the “bombs” that Walter , Ruth , and Mrs. Johnson reference in the play. Despite the suggestion by Karl Lindner that “race prejudice simply doesn't enter into” Clybourne Park’s offer to buy back the Youngers’ home, he hints at the very real dangers that accompany the family’s decision to relocate to a white neighborhood.

Certain characters in the play, such as George Murchison , address persistent racial discrimination by directing their efforts toward assimilation, whereby one integrates into the mainstream of society. Beneatha , declaring that she “hate[s] assimilationist Negroes,” condemns George as “ashamed of his heritage” when he initially scoffs at her close-cut, “natural” hair . George retorts that the “heritage” in which Beneatha takes such pride is “nothing but a bunch of raggedy-assed spirituals and some grass huts!” With this argument, Hansberry gives voice to the varied opinions of African-American thinkers, such as Booker T. Washington (who argued in favor of gradual assimilation of African Americans) and Marcus Garvey (who championed pride in African heritage and called for African Americans to return to Africa).

In the same vein as Garvey, Hansberry explores the idea of Africa as a home for African Americans, a view most clearly articulated by Joseph Asagai , a Nigerian student. Following the loss of Walter’s investment Asagai suggests that a disheartened Beneatha “come home with me . . . to Africa.” Asagai’s suggestion that Beneatha move to Nigeria with him to explore her African roots reflected the surge in African studies that gained momentum in the late 1950s. While Beneatha shows genuine interest in her African heritage, she does not answer Asagai’s proposal within the context of the play, hinting that she may not go so far as to think of Africa as her “home.”

Race, Discrimination, and Assimilation ThemeTracker

Race, Discrimination, and Assimilation Quotes in A Raisin in the Sun

That is just what is wrong with the colored women in this world . . . Don’t understand about building their men up and making ‘em feel like they somebody. Like they can do something.

Asagai: You wear it well . . . very well . . . mutilated hair and all. Beneatha: My hair – what’s wrong with my hair? Asagai: Were you born with it like that? Beneatha: No . . . of course not.

Mama: Oh – So now it’s life. Money is life. Once upon a time freedom used to be life – now it’s money. I guess the world really do change . . . Walter: No – it was always money, Mama. We just didn’t know about it. Mama: No . . . something has changed. You something new, boy. In my time we was worried about not being lynched and getting to the North if we could and how to stay alive and still have a pinch of dignity too . . .

Oh, dear, dear, dear! Here we go! A lecture on the African past! On our Great West African Heritage! In one second we will hear all about the great Ashanti empires; the great Songhay civilizations; and the great sculpture of Bénin – and then some poetry in the Bantu – and the whole monologue will end with the word heritage ! Let’s face it, baby, your heritage is nothing but a bunch of raggedy-assed spirituals and some grass huts!

I say I been wrong, son. That I been doing to you what the rest of the world been doing to you. Walter – what you ain’t never understood is that I ain’t got nothing, don’t own nothing, ain’t never really wanted nothing that wasn’t for you. . . . There ain’t nothing worth holding on to, money, dreams, nothing else – if it means – if it means it’s going to destroy my boy. . . . I’m telling you to be the head of this family from now on like you supposed to be.

But you’ve got to admit that a man, right or wrong, has the right to want to have a neighborhood he lives in a certain kind of way. And at the moment the overwhelming majority of our people out there feel that people get along better, take more of a common interest in the life of the community, when they share a common background. I want you to believe me when I tell you that race prejudice simply doesn’t enter into it. It is a matter of the people of Clybourne Park believing, rightly or wrongly, as I say, that for the happiness of all concerned that our Negro families are happier when they live in their own communities.

Independence and then what? What about all the crooks and thieves and just plain idiots who will come into power and steal and plunder the same as before – only now they will be black and do it in the name of the new Independence – WHAT ABOUT THEM?!

Don’t you see that they will be young men and women – not British soldiers then, but my own black countrymen – to step out of the shadows some evening and slit my then useless throat? Don’t you see they have always been there . . . that they will always be. And that such a thing as my own death will be an advance?

Talking ‘bout life, Mama. . . . Mama, you know it’s all divided up. Life is. Sure enough. Between the takers and the “tooken.” I’ve figured it out finally. Yeah. Some of us always getting “tooken.”

Son – I come from five generations of people who was slaves and sharecroppers – but ain’t nobody in my family never let nobody pay ‘em no money that was a way of telling us we wasn’t fit to walk the earth. We ain’t never been that poor. We ain’t never been that – dead inside.

Have you cried for that boy today? I don’t mean for yourself and for the family ‘cause we lost the money. I mean for him: what he been through and what it done to him. Child, when do you think is the time to love somebody the most? When they done good and made things easy for everybody? Well then, you ain’t through learning – because that ain’t the time at all. It’s when he’s at his lowest and can’t believe in hisself ‘cause the world done whipped him so!

And we have decided to move into our house because my father – my father – he earned it for us brick by brick. We don’t want to make no trouble for nobody or fight no causes, and we will try to be good neighbors. And that’s all we got to say about that. We don’t want your money.

• A Raisin in the Sun

Lorraine Hansberry

• Literature Notes
• Applying Literary Terms to A Raisin In The Sun
• Play Summary
• About A Raisin in the Sun
• Character List
• Summary and Analysis
• Act I — Scene 1
• Act I — Scene 2
• Act II — Scene 1
• Act II — Scene 2
• Act II — Scene 3
• Character Analysis
• Ruth Younger
• Travis Younger
• Mama (Lena Younger)
• Walter Lee Younger ("Brother")
• Beneatha Younger
• Joseph Asagai
• George Murchison
• Karl Lindner
• Mrs. Johnson (Mrs. Wilhelmina Othella Johnson)
• The Two Moving Men
• Character Map
• Lorraine Hansberry Biography
• Critical Essays
• Thematic Structure of A Raisin In The Sun
• Language and Style of A Raisin In The Sun
• Three Versions of A Raisin In The Sun
• Full Glossary for A Raisin in the Sun
• Essay Questions
• Cite this Literature Note

Critical Essays Applying Literary Terms to A Raisin In The Sun

Didactic literature  demonstrates or dramatically presents a thesis or doctrine in a persuasive form. Didactic works attempt to teach a lesson. The term  propaganda  is a sub-division of didactic literature; a work of propaganda undertakes to move the reader to take a position or to take action on a particular moral or political issue of the moment.

Hansberry expresses many political and sociological views in Raisin, ideas which attack racism and prejudice; the audience is moved to either take action after having seen the drama or to change previously held bigoted beliefs.

The chief character in a work is called the protagonist , or sometimes, the hero. Walter is the protagonist in Raisin, for even though he does not appear to be a hero in the traditional sense of the word, he is the person around whom the drama revolves. The drama that unfolds in Raisin changes Walter dramatically, which prompts Mama to say about him at the end, "He finally come into his manhood today, didn't he? Kind of like a rainbow after the rain."

The most important opponent of the protagonist is called the antagonist . In Raisin, one might erroneously assume that the antagonist is Karl Lindner, but that is merely a simplistic view. Walter's real opponent is racism. Although Lindner is a representative of racist ideas, he is not the only force that is bearing down on Walter, crushing him with its weight.

The relationship between the protagonist and the antagonist is always one of conflict . Walter has conflict with Lindner because of what he represents, but Walter's greatest conflict is with all the circumstances that stand between himself and the goal that he is obsessively trying to reach.

Uncertainty about the outcome of the story is known as suspense . If what happens in the drama goes against the expectations of the audience, it is known as surprise . The relationship between suspense and surprise heightens the magnetic power of the plot . In Raisin, we are surprised that Mama makes the spontaneous decision to entrust Walter with the remaining $6,500 of the insurance money. Suspense is created by our not knowing exactly what Walter will do with it.

The plot of a drama has unity of action if it is complete and orderly, and all of the parts of a plot are necessary to the development of the story. For perfect unity, all of the action must be significant action. All events that do not relate to the plot are omitted, which distinguishes literary narrative from merely telling a story of events from real life. All of the events in Raisin are necessary to the development of the plot or to the development of the characters. When Walter gives Travis two fifty-cent pieces and then has to return to and get carfare from his wife, we learn a lot about Walter's character: his wanting to shield his son from discovering the family's true economic situation, his feelings of economic inadequacy, and his denial of the ugliness of his family's economic reality.

The German critic Gustav Freytag proposed an analysis of a play as: rising action , climax , and falling action .

• The rising action of the play begins immediately with Walter's obsession with the insurance check that the family is waiting for. He wakes up talking about it, he argues with his sister about it, and he suggests that his wife assist him in his plan to get Mama to sign the check over to him for his business venture. Aristotle used the term complication for rising action.
• The climax of Raisin occurs with Bobo's telling Walter that the money is gone and includes the family's immediate response to this tragic news.
• The falling action occurs as Walter is contemplating selling his pride for Lindner's money and then deciding not to do so.

The traditional denouement , or unraveling of the plot, is the explanation of all the previous events of the drama. After Lindner leaves, we learn through Ruth's dialogue that the family is about to make the move they have spoken of throughout the play — in spite of their sudden financial reversal; Beneatha tells Mama about the marriage proposal that she has received earlier in the day, and Walter and Beneatha's previously troubled familial relationship appears to have been healed.

The denouement often includes a peripety , sometimes called a reversal, where the hero's fortunes change either for better or worse. In Walter's case, his fortunes change for the better — although initially it may not appear to be so. Walter loses the family's money and is so distraught that he resorts to behavior that indicates self-hatred. Yet, when Walter decides on his own to regain his self-esteem in his dialogue with Lindner, not only does he maintain his own pride, but he also restores the dignity of the entire Younger family.

A portmanteau word is the fusion of two meanings packed into one word, as in Lewis Carroll's poem "Jabberwocky," where "slithy" is the combination of "lithe" and "slimy." In Raisin, Ruth refers to Travis' "slubborn" ways, when she really means both "sloppy" and "stubborn." Because of Ruth's lack of formal education, she is not aware (but the audience is) that this is not a real word.

One requirement of good literature is that a character's motivation — that is, the reasons for his actions — must be consistent with his moral nature and personality. The character may remain the same or the character may go through a complete metamorphosis, but no character should ever break off from the personality we expect of him and suddenly act in a manner that is not a part of his temperament. If the character is real and lifelike, the work is enhanced. Walter's motivation to obtain the insurance money for his business scheme makes all of his subsequent actions believable, even if we feel that they are foolish. Walter's motivation makes all of his dialogue believable and realistic.

A flat character is presented only in superficial form, without much individualized detail. A round character is more complex and, therefore, more difficult to describe. Mr. Lindner is a flat character, while Walter is a round character; there is no need for the character of Mr. Lindner to be as developed or as detailed as Walter's.

According to Aristotle, the tragic hero will be more dramatically effective if he is an ordinary man, for then the effect of the tragedy will be enhanced as the audience identifies with his pain. Hamartia is the "tragic flaw," or "tragic error in judgment," which brings the hero to a momentary defeat. A form of hamartia is the term hubris , which means the pride or overconfidence that leads a man to overlook a divine warning or to break a moral law. Walter breaks a moral law when he uses his mother's money for his "get-rich-quick" scheme without telling her; he is not aware of his immorality, for he naively believes that he will get rich and be able to pay her back. In Walter's mind, he is "borrowing" the money that she has entrusted to him. However, Walter knows that his mother has been opposed to his idea of selling liquor because of her religious convictions.

Walter also overlooks a divine warning because both Ruth and Beneatha have, on separate occasions, expressed their feelings about Willy and Bobo. After Walter has been duped by Willy, Beneatha explains to Asagai that Walter has given away the family's money to a man that ten-year-old "Travis would not have trusted with his most worn out marbles." The tragic hero brings out pity in us because his misfortune is greater than we feel that he deserves, and he brings out fear in us because we recognize similar possibilities and consequences in our own fates.

A rhetorical question is asked in order to force the audience or reader to think; one does not expect an answer to a rhetorical question . Should a person exclaim in desperation — "What kind of fool do you think I am?" — this person surely does not expect an answer. In Raisin, Walter Lee asks why his wife should not wear pearls. "Who decides," he explodes, "which women should wear pearls in this world?"

Irony is defined as a "twist of fate," which means that the very last thing we would expect to happen, actually does happen. However, irony is not the same as a surprise ending. For example, a much-decorated wartime hero returns to his peaceful suburban village where a parade is planned in his honor. However, just as he is readying himself to join the reviewing stand of his parade, he slips in the shower on a bar of soap, falls, and is immediately and accidentally killed. The irony lies in the fact that he was not killed during wartime, which might have been expected. Rather, he was killed in a place where one would have least expected it, and the cause of his death has been trivialized as he dies in such a non-heroic manner. In Raisin, it is ironic that Walter believes that graft and corruption dominate all successful business activities — even before he is asked to do so, he prepares himself to pay the graft that he thinks will be requested of him; however, when he gives the money to his "friend" (who runs off with it), it is not the unscrupulous collector of graft who robs Walter of his dream; rather, it is his "friend."

Dramatic irony refers to the audience's knowledge of something that the character who is speaking does not know. When the character makes an innocent remark that refers to this "inside knowledge" that the audience has, the character's words contain dramatic irony For example, as soon as the audience sees Bobo, we are aware that something has gone wrong in Walter's plan. Walter's fear forces him to deny the true purpose of Bobo's visit. Everything Walter says when Bobo first makes his entrance is an example of dramatic irony. While Walter is asking Bobo to "tell him how things went in Springfield," the audience immediately guesses the outcome. Even the other characters on stage become aware of the impending doom long before Walter does. Walter arouses our pity when he asks Bobo, "There ain't nothin' wrong, is there?" Of course, something is wrong. But even as Bobo tries to tell him, Walter interrupts in order to rephrase his question, "Man — didn't nothin' go wrong?" Walter's dialogue continues in this vein until Bobo "hits him over the head" with the truth.

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Themes in Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in The Sun"

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Published: Jun 6, 2024

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Introduction, the pursuit of dreams, racial discrimination, family dynamics, body paragraph 4: gender and social expectations.

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Related Essays on A Raisin in The Sun

Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. Random House, 1959.

Setting plays a crucial role in shaping the characters and themes of a literary work. A great example of this can be found in Lorraine Hansberry's classic play, A Raisin in the Sun. Set in the 1950s on the South Side of Chicago, [...]

The American Dream is a concept that has been deeply ingrained in the fabric of American society for centuries. It is the belief that anyone, regardless of their background or circumstances, can achieve success and prosperity [...]

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What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up Like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore -- And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over -- Like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags Like a heavy [...]

Success/Values: Walter Lee defines success as material and financial gain. Beneatha defines success as self-actualization, or learning about and nurturing oneself. But to their mother, Lena,success is less self-centered and lies [...]

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104 A Raisin in the Sun Essay Topics & Examples

Below, see A Raisin in the Sun essay topics collected by our team . Use these original titles to examine the themes of poverty and the American dream.

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📌 simple & easy essay topics for a raisin in the sun, 🔖 most interesting a raisin in the sun essay prompt, ❓ a raisin in the sun essay questions.

• Walter Lee Younger: Character Analysis Essay This promise is immature; Walter knows very well that getting the money to invest in his business remains a point of contention, yet he promises Willy that he would take the money.
• Deferred Dreams in Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” In the play A Raisin in the Sun, the playwriter uses art to fictionalize encounters of a delayed dream by a family; it is a supposition of the poem by Hughes.
• Play Review: “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry The family is living in a shabby South Chicago apartment and each of the family’s members is on the pursuit of his/her dream.
• Comparing A Raisin in the Sun by L. Hansberry and Fences by A. Wilson As the story opens, each person in the family is thinking of what to do with the money they are about to get from an insurance firm as compensation of Mr.
• Literature Comparison: A Raisin in the Sun and A Dream Deferred Despite the seeming difference in genre, stylistic choices, characters and settings, the novel Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry and Langston Hughes’ poem A Dream Deferred have a lot in common; in fact, one […]
• “Raisin in the Sun” and “Harlem” Hansberry and Hughes introduce the same idea of a dream compared to a raisin dried up in the sun, but explain it in different ways in order to show how the interpretation of a thought […]
• Beneatha’s Dream Analysis From “A Raisin in the Sun” However, as levelheaded as she is, she still has a dream of her own. Beneatha’s dream of becoming a doctor defines the character’s main decisions, making her more vulnerable and relatable.
• Compare and Contrast Lena Younger and Walter Lee Younger She seems more concerned about the status of living conditions and the ability to enjoy the freedom as opposed to being in possession of money.
• Racial Discrimination in “A Raisin in the Sun” Racial discrimination is the main theme of the book, strongly reflecting the situation that prevailed during the 1950s in the United States, a time when the story’s Younger family lived in Chicago’s South Side ghetto.
• The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams and A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry Drama In the play A Raising in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, each member of the Younger family has his/her own idea on how to spend $10,000 that the family received from the insurance cover of […]
• Generations in “A Raisin in the Sun” by Hansberry For instance, in Lorraine Hansberry’s play Raisin in the Sun, the concept is shown via the manifestation of generational parity and its influence on the Youngers family’s characters.
• A Raisin in the Sun: The Play by Lorraine Hansberry Climax in the play is realized when Walter is made to understand by Bobo that Willy, the man entrusted with the money to start a liquor business has run away with the money, this thus […]
• Hero or Zero: Analysis of Walter in “A Raisin in the Sun” by Hansberry When his mother gets insurance for ten thousand dollars after his father’s death, he decides to take a risk and invest a part of the money in a liquor store.
• Appearance in “Othello” and “A Raisin in the Sun” The paper under analysis is based on the comparison of Othello by Shakespeare and A Raising in the Sun by Hansberry through the manifesting of the theme of the racial segregation and the nature of […]
• Realism in “A Raisin in the Sun” by Hansberry “A Raisin in the Sun” is a play in three acts whose action unfolds sometime between the end of World War II and the 1950s.
• “The Day It Happened” by Rosario Morales and “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry The two characters’ attitude towards their background is also different as Ramon is proud of being Hispanic and he speaks Spanish with his wife when he pleads her to stay, “Si te vas me mato.
• Feminism and Roles in “A Raisin in the Sun” Play These are such questions as: “What does Beneatha’s conduct reveal about her intentions?”, “How does the character treat female’s role in society?”, “How does Beneatha regard poor people?”, “How does the heroine explain her choice […]
• Race Barriers to Dreams. “A Raisin in the Sun” by Hansberry Focusing on the life of a Black American family, the author discusses the problems of race-based prejudice, segregation, historical memory, and the role of generational gaps in racial minorities’ attitudes to injustice.
• “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorrain Hansberry Review That little plant is the symbol of hope for a family determined to escape the squalor and violence of the ghetto.
• “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry Literature Analysis The book, A Raisin in the Sun, clearly Lorraine Hansberry’s masterpiece, presents a 1950s life of a family- the Youngers; the family is caught up with individualism as they make decisions regarding money acquired from […]
• The Play “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry As a result, the educated and intelligent Beneatha chooses the sincere Asagai, with whom she is not shy about leaving her hair curled and dancing to African music. Thus, Beneatha is a strong heroine who […]
• Walter Lee Younger in “A Raisin in the Sun” by Hansberry The story that best exemplifies the traits of the character at the beginning of the play is the opportunity to sell the house.
• “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” and “A Raisin in the Sun” In this regard, the decisions of Hamlet, Claudius, Walter, and Lena illustrate the character’s commitment to family despite differences of opinion and disagreements.
• Hanisberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” and Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” The characters in A Raising in the Sun are real in the sense that the reader can have a feel of a mother’s love for her family and for her children to succeed in life.
• My Life and “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry Racial segregation is a core factor which intended many famous American writers, playwrights, social figures in the first half of the twentieth century to show the real state of things in the “democratic and free” […]
• Racial Segregation in Two Books “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansbury and “The Child by Tiger” by Thomas Wolfe In this paper, we will discuss the elements of ‘racism’ portrayed in the two books, “A Raisin in the Sun”, written by Lorraine Hansbury, and “The Child by Tiger”, by Thomas Wolfe.
• A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry: Play Analysis It does well to portray the social features of strong segregation and racial discrimination that prevailed during the 1950s in the United States, a time when the story’s younger family lived in Chicago’s South Side […]
• “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry: Major Full-Length Play Lena expresses misgivings about Walter’s plan to invest in the liquor business, and he, in turn, accuses his mother of destroying his dream of becoming a successful businessman and providing for his family. Hansberry wants […]
• A Raisin in the Sun by Jane G. A. Racial discrimination is the main theme of the book, strongly reflecting the situation that prevailed during the 1950s in the United States, a time when the story’s Younger family lived in Chicago’s South Side ghetto.
• “A Raisin in the Sun” Play by Lorraine Hansberry This paper is discussing the character of the relationship between mama and her son Walter together with the problems which are brought up in the interaction of these two characters in the play.
• The Novel “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry Taking a closer look at the way the Youngers family lives, one can see the writer’s concern for the Black American society and the relationships within the Afro-Americans as well as the relations between the […]
• ‘The Glass Menagerie’ and ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ Drama Analysis The two plays ‘The Glass Menagerie’ and ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ brings out the features of American society. On the other hand, the play ‘The Glass Menagerie’ portrays the American men who ran away […]
• A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry The check is on life insurance and is to be given to Lena due to the death of her husband. Wilter asks for the insurance money in order for him to work with it and […]
• Thematic Analysis of Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” Mama, the head of the family plans to buy a house and fulfill her lifetime dream which she shared with her late husband. Walter’s understanding of this American dream marks the center of the conflict […]
• The Constant Struggle of the African American Family in a White Man’s World in “A Raisin in the Sun”
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• Prejudice and Racism: Home Ownership in “A Raisin in the Sun” and in America
• Literary Values in Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun”
• Story of a Black Family Struggling to Survive in Chicago in “A Raisin in the Sun”
• Difficulities in “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry
• A Point of No Return After Which the Life of a Person Can Never Be the Same in “A Raisin in the Sun”
• In What Ways Is Hansberry Challenging Stereotypes of African Americans in “A Raisin in the Sun”?
• What Is the Conflict in the Story “A Raisin in the Sun”?
• How Is the Theme of Assimilation Treated in “A Raisin in the Sun”?
• Why Is Walter Unhappy in “A Raisin in the Sun”?
• What Does Eat Your Eggs Symbolize in “A Raisin in the Sun”?
• Why Is the Play Called “A Raisin in the Sun”?
• How Is Beneatha Different From Other Younger Family Members in “A Raisin in the Sun”?
• What Is the Main Theme of “A Raisin in the Sun”?
• What Does Africa Symbolize in “A Raisin in the Sun”?
• What Does the New House Signify to Each of the Youngers in “A Raisin in the Sun”?
• How Is Money a Symbol in “A Raisin in the Sun”?
• How Does Walter Change From the Beginning of “A Raisin in the Sun”?
• What Does Big Walter Symbolize in “A Raisin in the Sun”?
• Who Steals the Money in “A Raisin in the Sun”?
• What Does the Liquor Store Symbolize in “A Raisin in the Sun”?
• What Does “A Raisin in the Sun” Say About Identity?
• What Does the Green Hat Symbolize in “A Raisin in the Sun”?
• Why Do You Think Mama Changes Her Mind and Gives Walter the Insurance Money in “A Raisin in the Sun”?
• What Is the Significance of Mama’s Plant in “A Raisin in the Sun”?
• What Are Main Symbols in “A Raisin in the Sun”?
• Why Did Walter Open a Liquor Store in “A Raisin in the Sun”?
• What Does the Insurance Money Represent to Mama in “A Raisin in the Sun”?
• What Does the Music Symbolize in “A Raisin in the Sun”?
• What Does the Apartment Symbolize in “A Raisin in the Sun”?
• Why Is Mama’s Little Plant So Important to Her in “A Raisin in the Sun”?
• What Does Ruth Symbolize in “A Raisin in the Sun”?
• Why Did Mama Give Walter the Money in “A Raisin in the Sun”?
• What Is the Importance of Having Mama Return to the Empty Apartment to Grab Her Plant in “A Raisin in the Sun”?
• What Are the Greatest Strains on Walter and Ruth’s Marriage in “A Raisin in the Sun”?
• The Handmaid’s Tale Research Ideas
• The Glass Menagerie Paper Topics
• The House on Mango Street Research Topics
• The Yellow Wallpaper Ideas
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• The Crucible Research Topics
• A Streetcar Named Desire Titles
• Scarlet Letter Research Ideas
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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A Raisin in the Sun

Deceased and significant: how "a raisin in the sun" portrays the father and his impact anonymous 10th grade.

Lorraine Hansberry’s play ‘A Raisin in the Sun’, first debuted in the year 1959 on Broadway, depicts the life of the Youngers, a fictional African-American family, in the 1950’s, who live in Chicago, USA. Hansberry delineates the deceased father - Big Walter, also known as Walter Sr. - as having a significant impact on both the characters and their actions. This was conspicuous on numerous occasions throughout the play. By portraying Big Walter as a stereotypical middle-aged man, a man who loved his children, and who always wanted what is best for his family, Hansberry accentuates the importance of the deceased father of the protagonist as having a significant impact on the characters and their actions. The deceased father symbolizes both the typical, loving father and husband, and concurrently a hard-headed, stereotypical middle-aged man.

Hansberry displays Big Walter as a stereotypical, middle aged man through the depiction of his drudgery and yet, at the same time, adventurous characteristic. She depicts Big Walter as “... [a] hard-headed, mean [man]...”, and makes it seem that, albeit the fact he is generally portrayed as a loving man, Big Walter can be mean and unrelenting at times. Big Walter was also “kind of wild with...

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Audra McDonald to Star in ‘Gypsy’ Revival on Broadway This Fall

The six-time Tony-winning actress will play musical theater’s most famous stage mother in a production directed by George C. Wolfe.

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By Michael Paulson

Audra McDonald has been dreaming of “Gypsy” since she was a 10-year-old in Fresno, Calif., with a small part in a dinner theater production of the musical. She played one of the children in a vaudeville act called “Uncle Jocko’s Kiddie Show,” and ever since, she said, “Gypsy” has remained “very much alive in my brain.”

McDonald, who has won more competitive Tony Awards than any other performer in history, has for years been thinking about the show’s main character, a domineering stage mother named Rose. She has even sung from the musical’s score at some of her concerts.

Now, McDonald, 53, will play Rose in a Broadway revival of “Gypsy” opening later this year.

“It’s one of the great roles in musical theater, and I’ve always thought maybe some day I could try it,” McDonald said in an interview. “It scares me to death, but I certainly feel old enough now, and having experienced motherhood, perhaps I have what is needed to dive in and explore her and all that she is.”

The production, directed by George C. Wolfe and choreographed by Camille A. Brown, is to begin previews on Nov. 21 and open Dec. 19 at the Majestic Theater, which has been under renovation since last year’s closing of “The Phantom of the Opera.” (That show ran there for 35 years.)

“Gypsy,” first staged on Broadway in 1959, is inspired by the memoir of Gypsy Rose Lee, a stripper who reflects on her relationship with her mother. The musical’s Rose is ravenously hungry for fame for her daughters, or maybe for herself. The role was originated by Ethel Merman , and has since been played on Broadway by Angela Lansbury , Tyne Daly , Linda Lavin, Bernadette Peters and Patti LuPone , on film by Rosalind Russell and on television by Bette Midler .

McDonald said she sees “Gypsy,” which features music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by Arthur Laurents, as “a perfect musical” and called Rose a “deeply flawed and brilliantly alive character.” She recalled that in a 1989 review in The New York Times, Frank Rich wrote , “‘Gypsy’ is nothing if not Broadway’s own brassy, unlikely answer to ‘King Lear.’”

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