1. A Raisin in the Sun
Lorraine Hansberry
1959

2. Time Period
The play directed addressed the issue of segregated neighborhoods in Chicago during the 1950s
In 1954, Brown vs. Board of Education was tried and found the “separate but equal” was against the law
By the 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement was fully under way

3. Literature and Arts
The 1950s were considered a repressed decade, but by 1959, the definition of obscenity changed
The Miracle Worker and The Sound of Music were popular during this time

4. Life during the 1950s
Was thought of a time of prosperity, but 30% of families still lived at or under the poverty line.
Auto makers began creating compact cars and computers were being developed.
Television was popular in most homes
The Barbie was created in 1959

5. Lorraine Hansberry Born in Chicago in 1930 Youngest of four children
Father was a successful real estate agent and she grew up middle class which was rare
She studied drama at the University of Wisconsin and painting at the Art Institute of Chicago

6. Hansberry cont.
Moved to New York in 1950 and supported herself with odd jobs while she continued to write
Raisin debuted on Broadway in 1959, and it was the first play by a black woman produced in a Broadway theatre.
Hansberry died at the age of 35 after a brief battle with cancer

7. The Play
It was originally titled The Crystal Stair, also a line from a Langston Hughes poem
It originally opened in New Haven, Connecticut, because it did not have the funding to open in New York, but it quickly made it to Broadway and ran for 530 performances, received a New York Drama Critics Circle Award, and, eventually, a Tony.

8. Play cont.
It received positive criticism for being a “realistic” play that allowed the characters to come across as genuine and understood by audiences, who were generally white.
While Hansberry does address social issues of the time, she chooses to do it in a subtle way that allows the audience to be persuaded to consider the negative effects of racism

9. Characters Lena “Mama” Younger Mother of the family
Is receiving a $10,000 insurance check for the death of her husband
Woman of strong conviction who loves her family

10. Walter Lee Younger Oldest child
Works as a chauffer, but he hates his position in life and wants to improve it
Wants to use the inheritance money to buy a liquor store

11. Ruth Younger Married to Walter Lee
She loves her husband, but she is strained by the stress of being poor
She wants to support Walter’s dreams, but she doesn’t know how

12. Beneatha Younger Walter’s younger sister
Going to college to be a doctor
Struggling to find her identity as an adult, but is only treated as a child when it comes to family decisions

13. Themes The effects of stereotyping and prejudice
What happens to a person when their dreams are deffered?
The conflict between expectations and reality
The strength of family