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 A Raisin in the Sun (Vintage) :: 0679755330
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| When it was first produced in 1959, A Raisin in the Sun was awarded the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for that season and hailed as a watershed in American drama. A pioneering work by an African-American playwright, the play was a radically new representation of black life. "A play that changed American theater forever."--The New York Times. Editorial Descriptions are usually submitted by the manufacturers, publishers and authors. Contact us if you are one of them, and wish to change the above description. |
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Author: Guest
In many ways, this play was in itself a Civil Rights Movement. Written by Lorraine Hansberry, a black woman living in the segregated and tense Chicago of the 1950's, this became the very first play written by an African-American for the Broadway stage. It was a smash hit, enjoyed and appreciated by both blacks and whites at the time for its realism, its powerful family drama and its sentimentality. Hansberry drew from her own experiences in Chicago. Her father was a landlord in the slums of Chicago and she experienced racism when she first moved to an all-white neighborhood much like the Younger Family in the play.
This play is groundbreaking. It depicts something 50's audiences were not used to. For blacks, it was like seeing a slice of real life, though in some ways this play is a tad romanticized. Some of the lines are awfully real. Mama and her daughter's conversations are rather believable. The character of Beneatha is colorful and nuanced. She is an optimistic intellectual, with much pride in herself and in her African heritage, as she attests by dating Asagai, a student hailing from Nigeria. This play was first popularized by stage renditions and film with the incomparable Sidney Poitier as Walter. This play is one of the top plays of all time and deserves to be taught in English classes at the High School or College Level. Excellent.
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Author: Guest
"A Raisin in the Sun" portrays a black American family through real life struggles and financial burden. Ongoing generations of marital conflict and racism is witnessed through the eyes of the Younger household. Mama is the faithful and benign character who clearly ranks title as matriarch of the family. Mama's veracious spirit sets a tone of warmth and compassion which cannot be compared to her moronic and harebrained son Walter. Throughout the play you witness Walter complain to his wife about living a life absent of solitude and his get rich quick schemes of becoming rich.
The Younger household all agrees that nobody will stop them from carrying out Mams's dreams for a better future for her kids despite the ongoing racism they are expected to endure. Mama continues to take pride in her family and her admirable spirit of hope will touch every reader and remind them of their own dreams and ongoing struggles of life.
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Author: Guest
Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun" is a social realism drama depicting the inter-family and social struggles of an African American family living in Chicago during the early Civil Rights movement. It follows the life of Walter Younger, his family, and his mother who is forced to make a decision about what to do with the $10,000 she inherited from her late husband--a decision that will dramatically effect the lives of the entire family.
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Author: Guest
Lorraine Hansberry's play "A Raisin in the Sun" provides an in-depth view of a family struggling to achieve their dreams. It shows how a person's dreams can oftentimes be the only glue that holds a family together. The Younger family lives in a world of poverty in post World War II Chicago. Their cockroach infested home and inability to provide basic funds for the child's education really pull you into their world.
To the credit of Hansberry, I found myself very frustrated at times in this novel. It seems as if every time the family grows close to escaping their situation, unfortunate events cause their dream to be "deferred" as the opening poem of the novel suggests. Every time I would begin to root for one of the characters who seem to be making strides toward improvement, they fall very short of their goal. I found the character of Walter to be the most troubling because of his inability to devise and execute a plan to provide for his family. Though I certainly do not find Walter to be a treasured literary character, he did allow me to better relate to the struggles and pressures of men who are unable to provide for their family. Walter, however, does undergo a somewhat dramatic transformation which really served to redeem him in my eyes. Raisin's imperfect cast really makes this novel a gem because of the humanity of the characters.
This book is an easy read and can be well-understood by any high school student or above. I would strongly recommend this book for people who enjoy books on civil rights struggles, but more importantly to those who treasure books about the strong bond of a family's dreams.
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Author: Guest
I really enjoyed reading this story. It was filled with much meaning, and the emotional drama held my attention easily.
The story, a play written by Lorraine Hansberry, is centered on the Younger's, a poor African-American family living in a small apartment on Chicago's Southside sometime after World War II. The dynamic characters of the family, their relationships, and their conflicting ideas of what should be the fate of a ten-thousand dollar insurance check, combine to make a very rich, realistic, and unforgettable story.
From the first scene, the tension in the family is obvious. All of the adult characters want to use the money to help achieve their dreams. Walter, Lena's son, wants to use the check to open a liquor store which he believes will help him become a man of higher class. Beneatha, Lena's daughter, wants to use it to become a doctor which will help her overcome many of the racial and sexual stereotypes she experiences as a young black woman. Lena and Ruth, Walter's wife, want to use the check to buy a house so they can be free from their wretched apartment and so that Travis, Walter and Lena's son, can grow up in a rich environment. The eventual fate of the money, their dreams, and their relationship with one another at the end of the story is surprising and it gives the story a realistic value that makes it worth reading.
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