The Piano Lesson (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: August Wilson
- First Published: 1990
- Type of Work: Play
- Type of Plot: Representational
- Time of Work: 1937
- Setting: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Genres: Domestic realism, Family literature, Drama, Psychological drama
- Subjects: African Americans, Power, personal or social, Slavery or slaves, Ghosts or apparitions, Brothers and sisters, 1930’s, Pianos or pianists, Pittsburgh, Property, Widows or widowers
- Locales: Pittsburgh, PA
Characters Discussed
Boy Willie Charles, who is thirty years old, with an infectious grin and a boyish charm. He is brash, impulsive, and talkative. He is proud, and he believes that he and whites occupy the world equally. Boy Willie is an independent thinker and possesses a strong sense of what he believes. His immediate goal in the play is to get a piece of land, because, as he says, when you “got a piece of land you’ll find everything else fall right into place.” For him, land is the key to equality, dignity, and freedom.
Berniece, Boy Willie’s sister....
[The entire page is 582 words long]
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