A Raisin in the Sun (Masterplots II: Women’s Literature Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Lorraine Hansberry
- First Published: 1959
- Type of Work: Drama
- Type of Plot: Problem play
- Time of Work: Post-World War II
- Setting: Chicago’s South Side
- Principal Characters: Walter Lee Younger, Lena Younger, Ruth Younger, Beneatha Younger, George Murchison, Joseph Asagai, Travis Younger, Carl Lindner, Bobo
- Genres: Social realism, Family literature, Drama
- Subjects: 1950’s, African Americans, Discrimination, Segregation or integration, Family or family life, 1940’s, Yards or backyards, Chicago, Poverty or poor people, Inner cities or inner-city life, Success or failure
- Locales: Chicago, IL
Form and Content
Written just as the Civil Rights movement began to get underway, this play (and the motion picture made from it in 1960) made an important statement regarding race relations. Lorraine Hansberry, coming as she did from an affluent African American family, had experienced discrimination in her own childhood when her father moved the family out of the Chicago ghetto to a home in Englewood, Illinois. She also had strong opinions about the position of black women in American society, who are represented to a great extent by the character of Beneatha in this...
[The entire page is 2968 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
See Also
