A Raisin in the Sun: Overview, Themes, and Significance

This presentation provides an overview of the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. It explores the plot, cultural context, and themes of race and racism, prejudice and tolerance, sex roles, civil rights, and the American Dream. The staging of the play is also discussed, along with its significance and reception.

Director’s
Notebook
A Raisin in the Sun by: Lorraine
Hansberry

INTRODUCTION
● Lorraine Hansberry’s play “A Raisin in the Sun ” debuted at the Broadway
in 1959
● Hansberry took the title of the play from Langston Hughes’s famous poem
“A Dream Deferred”
● It was named as the best play of 1959 by the “New York Drama Critics'
Circle”
● The play had its setting in the “Clybourne Park”, which is considered to be
a fictionalized version of Washington Park
Subdivision of Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood
● The play narrates the experiences of a black family and their efforts to
improve or better themselves

Overview of the Plot
● The play opens after the death of Walter and Beneatha's
father and the family members are waiting for the insurance
check
● Mama wants to utilize the money from the insurance for the
development of the family however Willy intends to spend it
otherwise
● They end up losing the entire money and Mama gets an offer for
the sale of their house by Karl Lindner
● However, the family rejects the offer because of black pride and
with the hope that their condition will someday improve

Cultural Context
●The play directly addresses the issue of segregated housing which at the
time was legally enforced by the United States government.
●Around the time the play was written the civil rights movement was
going on. The play also addresses the issues surrounding negative
stigmatism of African Americans and their poor treatment. It highlights
many different racial issues especially in the city it was set in, Chicago.
●In the play we can see the character of Linder representing the social
issue of racism and the Youngers families reaction to him as the writers
thoughts on the issue. We see this as the write wanting the audience to take
action against the issue of racism and displaying the inhumane treatment of
African Americans as something that is not normal despite all other
government thoughts and efforts to keep slavery and segregated housing.

CULTURAL CONTEXT (CONT…..)
● This play is also a indirect autobiography of the playwrights life. It
depicts Lorraine Hansberry’s life and how she had moved from a
segregated poorer neighborhood to a white majority “rich”
neighborhood, as well as all the issues and setbacks that came with it.
● Events throughout the play can be compared to real life events that
happened regarding the civil rights movements and issues of this
time.
● Thus, it can be said that the play is deeply ingrained into the culture
and the social background of the American society and also the lives
of the black-skinned community members

Ideas presented in the play: Race and
Racism● Race and Racism is the primary theme of this play
● Throughout the play every act performed by anyone in
the family was affected by their race. Ruth is employed
as a domestic servant and Walter as a chauffeur for a
caucasian family - they can be considered as slaves and
these jobs can be thought to be given to them mainly
because of their race
● They are limited to a poorly maintained apartment
since the landlords do not maintain any of the property
as they have low-paying jobs and cannot afford
anything better.

Ideas presented in the play: Race and
Racism (Cont…)
● Some evidence of the tragic living conditions are that Travis chases rats,
while Beneatha and Mama attempt to eradicate cockroaches, both
activities which would not occur in wealthier neighborhoods.
● The most significant scene in the play which openly portrays racism is the
visit with Karl Lindner. Although he doesn’t come off as a racist and
doesn’t resort to the level of violence that many racist people do; it is clear
that his intentions aren’t pure as he tries to pay off the Younger family to
move out of the neighborhood simply so that the neighborhood can be an
all caucasian neighborhood.

Ideas presented in the play: Prejudice and Tolerance
● Closely related to the theme of race and racism is the theme of prejudice and
tolerance
● Karl Lindner and his neighbors are clearly prejudiced against black people.
Yet other forms of prejudice and intolerance also surface in the play
● Walter responds to George Murchison aggressively because George is wealthy
and educated; educated men seem to Walter somehow less masculine
● Similarly, although Joseph Asagai encourages Beneatha to feel proud of her
racial identity, he discourages her from feeling proud of her intellectual
abilities because he believes professional achievements are irrelevant to a
proper woman.

Ideas presented in the play: Sex Roles
● While questions of race are certainly prominent in
the play, an equally significant, if less prominent,
issue involves gender
● Mama understands that in order to experience
himself as an adult, Walter must experience himself
as a man—that is, he must be the leader of a family.
Of course, in order for Walter to be the leader, the
women must step back
● Even within their stations as servants, Walter and
Ruth’s roles are further divided according to their sex

Ideas presented in the play: Sex Roles
● More blatantly, however, Joseph Asagai asserts
that women have only one role in life—that of
wife and presumably mother. And although
Beneatha longs to be a doctor, she is also
caught up in the romance of being Asagi’s wife.
● The tension points out the fact that individuals
can be exceedingly progressive in one area of
their lives and being les progressive in another.

Ideas presented in the play: Civil Rights
● Also related to the theme of race and racism as well as to the theme of
prejudice and tolerance is the theme of Civil Rights.
● Although this play would debut before the major Civil Rights movement
occurred in the United States during the 1960s, it raises many of the
issues that would eventually be raised by the larger culture.“Civil
Rights” generally refer to the rights a person has by law—such as the
right to vote or the right to attend an adequate schools—and are often
also referred to as human rights.
● The central civil rights issue in this play is, of course, the idea of
segregated housing. Mama Younger has the money to pay for a house
she wants, but people attempt to prevent her from doing so because of
her race.
● At this moment, she is not trying to make a political point but rather to
purchase the best house available for the money. Houses available in
her own ghetto neighborhood are both more costly and less well-kept.

Ideas presented in the play: American
Dream
● The “American Dream” includes many ideas, but it is primarily the
belief that anyone who comes to or is born in America can achieve
success through hard work.
● Walter Younger aspires to achieve part of this American Dream,
but he is frustrated at every turn.
● Although he is willing to work hard, opportunities for him are few
because he is black. His culture has relegated him to the servant
class. When some money does become available to him, his
business opportunities are also few—for few businesses
historically thrived in minority neighborhoods.
● Yet by the end of the play, whether or not he achieves the
American Dream, he does achieve a sense of himself as an
individual with power and the ability to make choices.

Creative Ideas
●Among the most important elements of A Raisin in the Sun is its
setting. Because the Youngers are attempting to buy a new home in a
different neighborhood, their current apartment and neighborhood
achieve particular significance.
●The play takes place in a segregated Chicago neighborhood,
“sometime between World War II and the present,” which for Hansberry
would be the late 1950s.
●In other words, the play occurs during the late 1940s or the 1950s, a
time when many Americans were prosperous and when some racial
questions were beginning to be raised, but before the Civil Rights
movement of the 1960s.

Creative Ideas (Cont….)
●More specifically, the play occurs in the Youngers’ apartment, which
Hansberry describes in detail: “Its furnishings are typical and undistinguished
and their primary feature now is that they have clearly had to accommodate the
living of too many people for too many years.”
●The furnishings, that is, come to represent the hard lives of the characters,
for though everything is regularly cleaned, the furniture is simply too old and
worn to bring joy or beauty into the Youngers’ lives, except in their memories.
●Other details of the setting also contribute to this closed-in feeling: the
couch which serves as Travis’s bed, the bathroom which must be shared with
the neighbors.

Name of play Mood Tension Emotion Meaning
Siram Nimat ➔ Happy
➔ Joyful
➔ Rage
-Busy stage (traffic)
-Loud music
-Different color
lighting on stage
-Heavy movement
all around stage
-No part of stage not
covered with bodies
The play contained 3
acts which contained
different scenes. The
emotion differed
depending on the
scene of the play.
Most were joyful and
celebratory, some
were pessimistic and
sorrowful.
The first act focused on
thailand's history and how it
came to be. The second act
was based on cultural
aspects and different beliefs
they have. The third act was
based on a more religious
standpoint and the afterlife
as well as different
celebratory festivals.
Live theatre as a spectator

Live theatre as a spectator (Cont…..)
● I really enjoyed this performance and found that the heavy use of production elements helped support the
play heavily and if was absent it wouldn’t have had such an impact on the audience.
● I have ideas for this play of heavily incorporating production elements such as set and lights, and I want to
take inspiration from this play and the way that they have used a lot of loud music and different colored
lights for the different emotions in the different scenes.
● I also want to take inspiration of the fact that the stage was heavily “trafficked” as I believe this will help
keep the audience invested in the performance as then at any point anywhere on the stage they look there
will be something for them to see as there will be no dull moments or empty spaces.

Staging of the play
Symbolic wall to show
segregation between
the african-americans
and caucasian
Representative of caucasian
households
Representative of african-american
households
Audience
Center stage
Downstage
center
Upstage center
Clustered area to show poor
living conditions of the african
americans vs the spaced out
area of the caucasian
households and their better
living conditions

Explanation of staging of the play
What is being
staged?
Explanation.
Representations of caucasian &
african-american households
On the african-american side of the stage it will be very crowded as to show that
there the houses in this area are of a lower standard and a lower perimeter as
since there is many there are any units of houses whereas in the caucasian
household there are few houses as there is a larger perimeter so then
Spaces between the different
household
The way it is set up is to show the introduction of the play and how the youngers
living situation is. The many together is to show that there is a lower value for
the lives of the african americans as the same amount of land has one household
on the caucasians side whereas on the african american side there is eleven
houses of extremely poor conditions.

Significance of the Play
● One of the most important aspects of the play was the fact that it in a concise
manner represented the working condition of the black community and also
the problems or the issues that they faced.
● The play is also important because of the manner in which portrays the Great
American Dream and its corruption
● The play by effective articulating the problems or the challenges faced by the
black community advocated for the changes that were required for the
development of the concerned community
● The play was also instrumental in raising important questions about the
concept of materialism and also the threats that it posed to the individuals and
the society in general.

Reception of the Play
● The play was highly applauded both by thee critics as well as the audiences
● As a matter of fact, the play was also awarded the 1959 “New York Drama Critics' Circle” Award
for the best play of the year.
● In the subsequent years, the play had been adapted for screenplay and also for movies as well
with some of the most notable productions being West End production, 1959, 1961 film version
and others
● In the recent times, the play had been adapted by other playwrights as well like Bruce Norris’s
Clybourne Park (2010) and others

Conclusion
● The play “A Raisin in the Sun” was an important one since
it tried to depict in a concise manner the plight of the
black community in the nation of the USA
● The play also highlights the concept of The Great American
Dream and the inevitable corruption undergone by it.
● The play is also important from the perspective of the
staging techniques and others which were used for the
representation of the play
● The play over the years had been one of the most
appreciated as well as liked plays of the 20th century
American plays

Bibliography
● Doyle, R. M. (2015). “Assimila-who-ever?” Communication Between Characters in A Raisin in the Sun Examined
Using a Double-Consciousness Spectrum. Liberated Arts: a journal for undergraduate research, 1(1), 3.
● Fisch, A., & Chenelle, S. (2016). Using Informational Text to Teach A Raisin in the Sun. Rowman & Littlefield.
● Hama, B. S. (2016). Accessing Text through Context: Padding Conversational Gaps in The Glass Menagerie and a
Raisin in the Sun. Journal of Literature, Languages and Linguistics, 18, 10-20.
● Hansberry, L. (1984). Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun. Samuel French, Inc..
● James, J., & Davidson, L. M. (2019). Patriarchal Tones in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun and The Sign in
Sidney Brustein’s Window. IJELLH (International Journal of English Language, Literature in Humanities), 7(3),
12-12.
● King, E. S. (2018). African Americans and the Crisis of Modernity: An Interpretation of Lorraine Hansberry’s A
Raisin in the Sun. ethn stud rev, 41(1-2), 53-60.
● Thomas, A. C. (2015). Watching A Raisin in the Sun and seeing red. Modern Drama, 58(4), 461-481.