A Raisin in the Sun & the Idea of Female Strength

Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun is the story of a struggling black family in Chicago. This is by far Hansberry's signature piece of work. This story embodies Hansberry's ongoing theme in her work which is the use of strong black women. She was a realistic artist, fascinated by ordinary and real people. Each one is clearly and vividly drawn, having her own individuality. In her plays, Hansberry portrays courageous and revolutionary women who share struggles with each other and also with their men. In all her writing, Hansberry speaks loudly about the role women have played in the struggle for freedom.

In A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry shows three female characters in very different stages in their lives. Beneatha wants to develop her intellect and be of service to humanity by practicing medicine; Ruth wants Travis to grow up in a decent home in a decent neighborhood; and Lena wants to save her family from dissolution threatened by the internalized social and economic pressures embittering them all and exacerbating their resentments, jealousies, and envy towards each other. However, they all want the same thing for their family. They may be different from each other but are unified at the end of the play when the whole family decides to move into a new house. They would rather face the dangerous risk of moving into a racist neighborhood than stay in their poor situation.

The Younger women may argue and disagree but would never betray their family or their race. One of the least recognized aspects of Hansberry's plays are the feminist concerns woven into her exploration of radical and economic oppression, and the struggle against political and human alienation. Black women who demonstrate tremendous strength by showing support, understanding, and independence are very essential especially for a typical black family in the 1950's like the Younger family.

The character Mama portrays the traditional black woman in the 1950's. She is the backbone and supports the family through rough times. Throughout the play Walter is definitely the character that causes the most problems in the family. He is seems helpless and thinks he is less than a man because his family is poor. During the play he lobbies for the support of the family to give him the money to invest in a liquor store, and finally in a critical scene Mama hands over part of the ten thousand dollars to him. This may be important to Walter but it has more of an importance to Lena. Walter may not know it but she is handing over the duty as the head of the household to him. Lena doesn't want his dream to be deferred. She says, "Listen to me now. I say I've been wrong, son. That I been doing what the rest of the world been doing to you". She hopes giving this money to him will lift his spirits before the family loses him. She then says, "There ain't nothing worth holding on to, money, dreams, nothing else if it means it's going to destroy my boy".

It is evident that there is nothing more important to Lena than her family's happiness, and as the matriarch she only has Walter's best interest in mind. Even though Lena can be seen as an old-fashioned black woman of the 1950's she also displays some forward thinking on her part when she buys a house for her family. Not only does she just buy a house but she dares to buy one in a white neighborhood. She knows she is perhaps taking a risk but she does it anyway to improve her family's living situation. The house that she brought was the best she could find for her money and she wasn't going to not going to move because of the racist neighborhood. She is tired of her family being held back by white society in which Walter is mostly the victim.

Ruth and Lena also show tremendous understanding with Walter. In the story Hansberry describes Ruth by writing, "We can see that she was a pretty girl, even exceptionally so, but now it is apparent that life has been little that she expected, and disappointment has already begun to hang in her face". It is apparent by the way Hansberry describes Ruth that times have been hard for her. It is understandable though. Black women were expected to do domestic work as well as work outside the home to complement their husband's income and effectively do double duty. Ruth also displays a lot of strength when she also deals with a pregnancy. Through all of these responsibilities more stress is added when she has no idea what's wrong with her husband.

Her relationship with Walter becomes distant as the play goes on. Walter doesn't feel the support he needs from her. Even though Ruth doesn't seem supportive at first, she really understands him. She wants a better life for her family, too. She's just more of a realist. However she does try to hint to Lena that Walter wanted the money to start a business. Ruth says, "Ain't nobody business people till they go into business. Walter Lee say colored people ain't never going to start getting ahead till they start gambling on some different kinds of things in the world - investments and things". After Lena mentions buying a house Ruth gets excited because she knows that to save her marriage and her family they must move into the new house. At one point Lena waivers at moving because Walter loses the money. She loses hope for a moment. This scene is the most dramatic scene because when Lena learns that Walter lost the money, she slaps him with anger. She then illustrates how hard his father worked for the money. She says:

"I seen...him... night after night... come in ... and look at that rug... and then look at me... the red showing in his eyes... the veins moving in his head...I seen him grow thin and old before he was forty ... working and working like somebody's old horse ... killing himself ... and you - you give it all away in a day..." .

Lena just couldn't stand the thought of her husband's working everyday for nothing. However, even though she didn't like what he did, she later shuns Beneatha from criticizing him because she doesn't want Walter to be put down anymore that could break his spirit. She forgives him.

Beneatha's character in A Raisin in the Sun portrays how a radical, independent black female would act. She represents a new generation of women and wishes to be independent. In one part of the play Beneatha rejects God. The family's living situation probably causes her to lose her faith. She doesn't realize that faith is what helped her family through hard times.

She is also a feminist. Beneatha's main goal throughout the play was to pursue her education and become a doctor. In the 1950's a black female doctor is very rare and a black woman even thinking about becoming one may be looked down upon. Beneatha in the beginning was not supported by her brother Walter. Walter may have felt jealousy and couldn't stand the thought of part of the insurance money going to her schooling. He criticized Beneatha's dreams and which is hypocritical because he does not want anybody criticizing his. Walter also says hurtful things about black women.

He claims Ruth doesn't support him but, he doesn't support his sister's dream of being a doctor because he wants the money for himself. Beneatha's love interests in the story confirm her beliefs. George Murchinson basically believes in what her brother thinks and Asagai supports her. George is not sensitive enough to notice that Beneatha's intellectual as well as physical needs have to be stroked. Asagai, on the other hand, appeals to Beneatha's intellectual and psychological needs. Beneatha is at a stage where she wants to feel at ease and be encouraged to philosophize and express her opinions. She is definitely more receptive towards Asagai because he supports her dreams.