The Piano Lesson (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: August Wilson
- First Published: 1990
- Type of Work: Play
- 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
The Piano Lesson brought Wilson his second Pulitzer Prize in drama, and, as in Fences, its subject is a family conflict. The story is set in 1930's Pittsburgh, where Doaker Charles lives with his niece, Berniece, and her young daughter, Maretha. The arrival of Berniece's brother, Boy Willie, from Mississippi sets the plot in motion, as Boy Willie declares his intention of selling a piano that holds a unique place in the family's history.
Originally owned by a man named Sutter, who had received it in payment for Doaker's grandmother and father, the piano was carved...
[The entire page is 614 words long]
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