A Raisin in the Sun (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Lorraine Hansberry
- First Published: 1959
- Type of Work: Drama
- Type of Plot: Family
- Time of Work: 1950’s
- Setting: Chicago, Illinois
- Principal Characters: Lena Younger, Walter, Ruth, Beneatha, Travis, Joseph Asagai, George Murchison, Bobo, Karl Linder
- 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
The Story:
Walter Younger, Sr. (“Big Walter”) died, leaving his widow, Lena, with a life insurance policy worth $10,000. Lena wanted to use the money as a down payment on a house in the suburbs so that her family could leave its crowded, shabby, Chicago apartment. Lena’s son, Walter, disgusted with his job as a rich white man’s chauffeur, wanted to invest the insurance money in a liquor store with two partners, Willy and Bobo. Beneatha, Walter’s younger sister, a college student, wanted to use part of the money to pay for medical school.
In the play’s opening...
[The entire page is 2703 words long]
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