A raisin in the sun

Raisin in the Sun

The Role of Women in a Raisin in the Sun

Lorraine Hansberry's award wining play a Raisin in the Sun deals with many issues, both on the surface and in its subtext. It is most obviously a play about family relationships and race, two phenomena that were inextricably connected during the 1950s and 60s. The play was written and produced in 1959, placing it right on the cusp of some of the massive social changes taking place. Because this time was so socially volatile, few issues or works of literature that came out of it were as simple as they seem on the surface, and a Raisin in the Sun is no exception. Besides the issues of race and family, a large part of the action and commentary in the play depends upon the female characters in it, each of whom is shown to be unique in personality and desires, but who also all exhibit the same strength and determination.

The changes that the Younger family go through in the play in many ways mirror the larger changes that were occurring in society, from their attempted integration into a white neighborhood to the continuing struggles for fairness in the working world. Issues of gender roles in the African-American community and in United States' society at large are also a major part of the play. The three female characters, each of whom can be seen as a representation of a generation of black women, illustrate the changes that occurred for women during this time.

As the oldest female -- and oldest character, period -- in the play, Mama in many ways represents the traditional past. The 1950s were marked by an extreme division of gender roles. Women were largely relegated to the home as men came back from World War II and pushed women out of their newly found place in the workforce (Learn History). This created much frustration, which was exacerbated by a feeling of obligation and duty to behave as expected.

Mama Younger illustrates the conflict that this duality entails in her decisions regarding what to do with the ten thousand dollars of insurance money she received after her husband's death. She is torn between the dream she and her husband shared of buying a house or giving the money to her son Walter Lee who has the man of the house would traditionally get to make the decisions. Rather than simply deciding one way or the other, she uses some of the money to put a down-payment on a house and gives the rest to Walter Lee (which he loses) (Hansberry, Act II, scene i.; II, ii.). The bulk of the money ends up going to Walter to invest in a liquor store, as would have been traditionally expected, but Mama is not willing to sacrifice her dream of owning a home, signaling her liberation despite her femininity.

Ruth is also somewhat more old-fashioned, though as the representative of the middle generation she is clearly able to see both sides of the issue. In an early conversation she has with Walter Lee, he tells her "That is just what is wrong with the colored women in this world... Don't understand nothing about building their men up and making 'em feel like they somebody. Like they can do something" (Hansberry, I, i.). It is clear that Walter Lee still believes it is the woman's role to support the man in his endeavors, and not to make decisions or act on them. In her responses to him, Ruth displays her growing frustration with and rejection of this belief, which was also largely typical of the time -- as the fifties wore on and moved into the sixties, many women began to demand the same rights to money and work that they had experienced during the war (Learn History).

But though both Ruth and Mamma are quite telling about the role of women in the play and in society at large, Beneatha is arguably the most symbolic of the women. Her struggle is much more rooted in the upcoming 1960s, when both the women's rights and Civil Rights movements would really take off ("Women's History"). In the play, Beneatha struggles with the old and traditional desires of her family, especially as they get in the way of her dream of becoming a doctor. As an African-American female, this was a highly non-traditional dream, and is the clearest example the play provides of a woman -- and a person of color -- casting off the shackles of the identity society has pegged her with and attempting to define herself.