An activist for civil rights, Lorraine Hansberry wrote A Raisin in the Sun during the late 1950s. At the age of 29, Hansberry became the first African American female playwright to be produced on a Broadway stage. The title of the play is derived from a Langston Hughes poem, "Harlem" or "Dream Deferred."
Hansberry thought the lines were a fitting reflection of life for African Americans living in a vastly segregated United States. Fortunately, some areas of society were beginning to integrate. While attending an integrated camp in the Catskills, Hansberry befriended Philip Rose, a man who would become he strongest supporter, and who would fight to help create A Raisin in the Sun. When Rose read Hansberry's play, he immediately identified the drama's brilliance, its emotional depth and social significance. Rose decided to produce the play, brought actor Sidney Poitier into the project, and the rest is history. A Raisin in the Sun became a critical and financial success as a Broadway play as well as a motion picture. (To learn more about producer Philip Rose's involvement with Hansberry's play, read this excellent interview conducted by Alice Bernstein.)
Setting of "A Raisin in the Sun":
A Raisin in the Sun takes place during the late 1950s. Act One is set in the crowded apartment of the Younger Family, an African-American family comprised of Mama (early 60s), her son Walter (mid-30s), her daughter-in-law Ruth (early 30s), her intellectual daughter Beneatha (early 20s), and her grandson Travis (age 10 or 11).
In her stage directions, Hansberry describes the apartment furniture as tired and worn. She states that "weariness has, in fact, won this room." But there is still a great deal of pride and love in the household, perhaps symbolized by Mama's houseplant that continues to endure despite hardship.
Act One, Scene One:
The play begins with the Younger family's early morning ritual, a fatigued routine of waking up and preparing for the working day. Ruth wakes up her son, Travis. Then, she wakes up her groggy husband, Walter. He is obviously not thrilled to awaken and begin another dismal day working as a chauffeur.
Tension boils between the husband and wife characters. Their fondness for each other seems to have faded during their eleven years of marriage. This is evident in the following dialogue:
WALTER: You look young this morning, baby.They also differ in parenting techniques. Ruth spends half of the morning firmly resisting her son's pleas for money. Then, just as Travis has accepted his mother's decision, Walter defies his wife and gives the boy four quarters (fifty cents more than he asked for).RUTH: (Indifferently.) Yeah?
WALTER: Just for a second - stirring them eggs. It's gone now - just for a second it was - you looked real young again. (Then dryly.) It's gone now - you look like yourself again.
RUTH: Man, if you don't shut up and leave me alone.
Waiting for the $10,000 Check:
The Younger family has been waiting for an insurance check to arrive. The check promises to be ten-thousand dollars, made out to the matriarch of the family, Lena Young (usually known as "Mama"). Her husband passed away after a life of struggle and disappointment, and now the check in some ways symbolizes his last gift to his family.
Walter wants to use the money to partner with his friends and buy a liquor store. He urges Ruth to help convince Mama to invest. When Ruth is reluctant to assist him, Walter makes derogatory comments about women of color, claiming that they do not support their men.
Beneatha, Walter's younger sister, wants Mama to invest it however she chooses. Beanteah attends college and plans to become a doctor, and Walter makes it clear that he thinks her goals are impractical.
WALTER: Who the hell told you you had to be a doctor? If you so crazy 'bout messing 'round with sick people - then go be a nurse like other women - or just get married and be quiet.
