The Role of Women in "A Raisin in the Sun"

Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun challenges the stereotype of 1950’s America as a country complete of doting, content housewives. The women in this play, Mama, Ruth and Beneatha, represent three generations of black girls who, despite their double fronted subordination, continue to dream of a far better tomorrow. Despite the fact that the aspirations of these females differ in topic, they all involve the furthering their roles as females, regardless of whether it be owning a residence, paying for a child’s education or attending Health-related School.

For the Younger women, their dreams appear farther away than they would in the present for most females. These days, owning a home, paying for a child’s education or gaining admittance to health-related school is considerably a lot more accessible than it was for these females. In the time this play is set, becoming a woman means marrying young, getting a low need for higher education and keeping a property clean for the male provider. Given that the majority of this play centers around Walter Lee’s struggles to prove his self-worth, it is effortless to overlook believed-provoking Hansberry’s portrayal of women. As a writer, Hansberry is ahead of her time, challenging an American society that is typically satisfied to leave girls in the kitchen.

It seems that each the Younger females possess a certain benefit more than Walter Lee. His aspirations involve schemes of generating income quick. Walter Lee becomes so obsessed with economic wealth that he equates cash to be the remedy to all life’s issues. As the play progresses, Walter becomes so out of touch with reality that he separates himself from his loved ones due to the fact of his fluctuating moods. Whilst Walter Lee is lost in bouts of elation and depression, it is the females in the family who have to try and maintain the household with each other.

Mama, Ruth and Beneatha all have really distinct perceptions of what it signifies to be a woman, resulting from their generation gap and individual experiences. Mama, the ruler of the family members, takes a conservative view of the roles of females. A Christian lady who values moral accountability, she tries to preserve her household from sacrificing their ethics in order to achieve. It is Mama who has the energy of deciding how her husbands ten thousand dollar life insurance cheque that the other members of the family members have been anticipating will be spent. As the Matriarch of the family members, Mama often seems to have the very best interests of the other individuals in mind. A warm, supporting character who dreams of a good home for her family members to take pleasure in, Mama represents the excellent mother, bringing life to the nurturing side of ladies.

Ruth is a woman who is fairly neutral when it comes to the way she perceives her part as a lady. Not as conservative as Mama and hardly as radical as Beneatha, Ruth represents a neutral force in the Younger residence. It is apparent from Ruth’s appearance that instances have been hard on her, as she wears a tired expression. Ruth carries out the standard domestic operate of a woman, supplementing Walter Lee’s revenue as a chauffeur by operating as a cook and housekeeper for other families. Ruth shares Mama’s enthusiasm for using the insurance coverage income in order to secure a residence of their own where she can spend as significantly time in the bathtub relaxing as she wants. Ruth is confronted with many internal conflicts when she discovers she is pregnant. Her relationship with Walter is becoming increasingly distant as confirmed when Walter finds out that Ruth is going to have a unsafe, illegal abortion and her husband responds “No-no-Ruth wouldn’t do that.” (75) This occurrence proves that Ruth and Walter Lee are at the point that despite the fact that married, they don’t actually know each and every other anymore. Living in such impoverished conditions has left Ruth’s maternal instinct in such a state of hopelessness that she would rather abort her youngster than raise it in such an atmosphere where she wouldn’t be able to offer for all of its wants.

Beneatha is the youngest and most radical of the Younger girls. In A Raisin in the Sun, Beneatha represents what we nowadays get in touch with a feminist. There is a lot tension between Beneatha and her older brother Walter, which mainly stems from the truth that Beneatha aspires to a single day become a doctor. Walter is jealous of Beneatha’s education and can't recognize why she would want to turn into a doctor and would not “Go be a nurse like other girls.” (38) This shows that Walter is not comfortable with a woman getting a greater level of education than he and that he has old fashioned tips of what women need to and ought to not be. As a young woman of twenty trying to uncover her identity, Beneatha experiments with several distinct forms of self-expression which expands to all elements of her life, such as the guys she dates. George Murchison and Joseph Asagai are very diverse men from polar ends of the social spectrum. Each are African males with different viewpoints on life. Asagai, a Nigerian, represents a connection to Beneatha’s heritage. Murchison, on the other hand, represents a black population who has been absorbed into the American culture, living for what has now been deemed the “American Dream.” While Murchison has what Walter dreams of: monetary security, a very good education and a huge residence, Beneatha has far more rapport with Asagai as it is he who is far more down to earth, is familiar the struggles of Africans and desires to further his country a lot in the same way Beneatha dreams of furthering herself with a health-related degree. In this way, Beneatha and Joseph are really related as they are seeking for ways to free of charge themselves from oppression in a world that does not yet know the value of diversity or respect for the variations of race and gender.

A Raisin in the Sun was written in a time where it “presaged the revolution in black and women’s consciousness.” (Nemiroff 5) By means of Hansberry’s characters motivations and actions, it is evident that a revolution is dawning in American society. An advent of social awakening is occurring, resulting from a climaxing unrest that could no longer be ignored, specially by the minorities whom it afflicted most. By means of the females in this play, we are capable to vicariously reside a day in the life of black ladies and catch a glimpse of each the hardships and triumphs of their existence. Hansberry’s mundane portrayal of these lives challenges the conventional views of womanhood by demonstrating that women are just as sturdy as men in difficult situations and can continue to dream and challenge themselves in spite of the obstacles they encounter along the pathways of life.