Sunday, May 24, 2020

Dreams Deferred in Lorraine Hansberrys A Raisin in the Sun

Lorraine Hansberry’s classic play, A Raisin in the Sun, culls its title from the infamous poem â€Å"Dream Deferred† by Langston Hughes, and both works discuss what happens to a person when their dreams -- their hopes, their aspirations, their lives -- are endlessly put on hold. For this analysis of the dreams and character of Beneatha Younger in Raisin, I would like to pull on another dreamy poem of Langston Hughes’ entitled â€Å"Dream Boogie.† Like all the characters in the play, Beneatha has dreams that are dear to her, but their deferment does not cause them to dry up, fester, rot, crust, sag, or explode. Rather, the deferment of Bennie’s dreams expresses itself in her â€Å"dream boogie†: in her sarcastic, biting wit and her life perspective that†¦show more content†¦To a stranger watching, it may seem to be a relatively simple conflict; however, much like the melody of a boogie, there’s much more than meets the eye (or ear), and the reality of the situation may surprise the unprepared. We see the literal expression of a â€Å"dream boogie† in a scene that encapsulates the brother-sister dual-dreamer relationship of Beneatha and Walter Lee. After a heavy bout of drinking, Walter comes home to find Bennie dancing away to an African beat, and he joins in, at first comically, and later with the same spiritual intent that Bennie has. This connection between the two intensifies, climaxing with Beneatha calling â€Å"OCOMOGOSIAY† (79) at the top of her lungs while Walter chants atop the kitchen table. This distinctly un-boogielike dance is an expression of each character’s repressed dreams. Their rumblesome â€Å"happy beat† hides a distinctly unhappy sense of unfulfilled dreams on the part of Bennie, who sees the world working against her dreams of becoming a doctor and is fighting against all those who â€Å"still think that’s pretty funny† (50), including Walter Lee, who early on expresses his disregard for her ambitions. Thoug h most of their interactions in the play are bitter and embroiled in conflict, this example of their shared dream boogie demonstrates that they share a commonShow MoreRelatedEssay on Dreams Deferred in Lorraine Hansberrys A Raisin in the Sun915 Words   |  4 Pages  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lorraine Hansberry, the author of A Raisin in the Sun, supports the theme of her play from a montage of, A Dream Deferred, by Langston Hughes. Hughes asks, â€Å"What happens to a dream deferred?† He suggests many alternatives to answering the question. That it might â€Å"dry up like a raisin in the sun,† or â€Å"fester like a sore.† Yet the play maybe more closely related to Hughes final question of the poem, â€Å"Or does it explode?† The play is full of bombs that are explosions of emotion set off by the frustrationRead MoreA Raisin Review673 Words   |  3 PagesA Raisin Review Kenneth Hawthorne English/125 3/15/2016 University of Phoenix A Raisin Review â€Å"What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or faster like a sore and then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode†. (Langston Hughes, Harlem) The author Lorraine Hansberry was born May 19, 1930 in Chicago, Illinois. Lorraine Hansberrys writing style is autobiographicalRead MoreThe Great Playwright s Life Story2415 Words   |  10 PagesBefore the relatively short life of Lorraine Hansberry tragically ended, the African-American playwright distinguished herself in American theatre and literature as she creatively and unknowingly challenged the views of African-American life, among other inescapable issues of the nation and the world, on the theatrical stage. The great playwright’s life story began on May 19, 1930. Although born during a time of hardship introduced by the Great Depression, Hansberry grew up rather comfortably inRead MoreLorraine Hansberrys A Raisin in the Sun1260 Words   |  6 Pagesinevitable, people still dream of catching a mirage. There is a fine line that separates those who are oblivious to this fact, and to those who are aware and accept this knowledge. The people who are oblivious represen t those who are ignorant of the fact that their dream will be deferred. This denial is the core of the concept used in A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. The perception of the American Dream is one that is highly subjective, but every individual dream ends in its own defermentRead More Racism and the American Dream in Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun1340 Words   |  6 PagesA Raisin in the Sun is written by a famous African- American play write, Lorraine Hansberry, in 1959. It was a first play written by a black woman and directed by a black man, Lloyd Richards, on Broadway in New York. The story of A Raisin in the Sun is based on Lorraine Hansberry’s own early life experiences, from which she and her whole family had to suffer, in Chicago. Hansberry’s father, Carol Hansberry, also fought a legal battle against a racial restrictive covenant that attempted to stop African-Read MoreInitial Expectation And Purposes Of Theatre845 Words   |  4 PagesPurp oses of Theatre â€Å"Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun (1959) probes the racially charged politics of home ownership in post–World War II Southside Chicago† (Matthews). Before going to see this performance, I made a quick research about this play and that research formed an initial view about this performance. I have read about the play in general, a short synopsis a historical and influences upon American society and theatre. Lorraine Hansberry’s â€Å"A raisin in the Sun† is a play that tellsRead More A Comparison of the Dream Deferred in A Raisin in the Sun and Harlem1407 Words   |  6 PagesA Dream Deferred in A Raisin in the Sun and Harlem In Lorraine Hansberrys play A Raisin in the Sun, the author reveals a hard-working, honest African-American family struggling to make their dreams come true. Langston Hughes poem, Harlem, illustrates what could happen if those dreams never came to fruition. Together, both Hansberry and Hughes show the effects on human beings when a long-awaited dream is thwarted by economic and social hardships. Each of the characters in A RaisinRead MoreEssay about A Raisin in the Sun1559 Words   |  7 Pagesdomestic suburban dream was difficult, if not impossible, to obtain because â€Å"race made them outcasts in the suburban housing market† (Wiese 99). If the model American home represented the â€Å"essence of American freedom,† clearly it was a freedom withheld from a significant portion of America’s population (May 16). While Nixon articulated the â€Å"widely shared belief† that suburbia â€Å"offered a piece of the American dream for everyone,† in New York, Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, offered a veryRead MoreWhat Does You Dream Deferred? Lorraine Hansberry s Play, A Raisin And The Sun ``942 Words   |  4 PagesWhat Happens to Dreams Deferred? Lorraine Hansberry’s play, A Raisin in the Sun, addresses the hardships of an African-American family living in the projects of post-segregation Chicago. The family aspires to fulfill their dreams of owning a home despite the odds they face. W.E.B Du Bois critical race theory explains the issue of racism and white dominance that not only the family in the play faces, but the African American community as a whole. American society only allows for African AmericansRead Moreresearch paper to raisin in the sun3138 Words   |  13 Pagesï » ¿May 5, 2014 Eng- Sunday Evening I have a dream†¦ â€Å"A dream deeply rooted in the American Dream.† â€Å"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live without the true meaning of its creed: â€Å"we hold these truths to be self- evident: that all me are created equal.† â€Å"I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judge by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.† â€Å"I have a dream that one day little black boys and black girls

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