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Gender and Feminism. A Raisin in the Sun anticipates the massive changes in gender relations – principally, the rise of feminism and the Sexual Revolution – that would transform American life in the 1960s. Hansberry explores controversial issues like abortion (which was illegal in 1959), the value of marriage, and morphing gender roles for ...
A Raisin in the Sun Summary and Analysis of Act III. One hour after Bobo 's visit, the Younger home is silent and sullen. The lighting is gloomy and gray. Walter lies dismally on his bed while his sister, Beneatha, sits at the living room table. Asagai happens to drop by: unaware of the recent turn of events, he is genuinely happy and excited ...
The title of the play references a conjecture that Langston Hughes famously posed in a poem he wrote about dreams that were forgotten or put off. He wonders whether those dreams shrivel up “like a raisin in the sun.”. Every member of the Younger family has a separate, individual dream—Beneatha wants to become a doctor, for example, and ...
Full Play Analysis. A Raisin in the Sun is centered around the persistent deferral of the Younger family’s dreams. The Youngers are a working-class Black family with various dreams of upward mobility. Walter wants to take control of his life, restore his sense of masculinity, make his family proud, and eventually take on a new role as head of ...
Shortly thereafter, we learn that Walter has decided to accept Lindner's offer of paying them generously not to move in. Aghast, the three Younger women watch Walter rehearse an exaggerated servility with which he plans to greet Lindner. However, moved by Mama's word about black pride, Walter changes his mind and disappoints Lindner.
Analysis. That evening, Ruth is ironing and listening to the radio when Beneatha enters “grandly” from her bedroom, wearing the robes and headdress that Asagai gave her that morning. She tells Ruth, “You are looking at what a well-dressed Nigerian woman wears.”. Beneatha also carries an “ornate oriental fan,” which is “mistakenly ...
Summary. The following morning, Saturday, is the day that the check is expected to arrive. Beneatha and Mama are busy doing weekend housecleaning when Ruth comes in, announcing sadly that she is pregnant. Mama is upset when she realizes that Ruth is contemplating an abortion. Joseph Asagai brings Beneatha a gift of African records and some ...
