A Raisin in the Sun: Complete Encyclopedic Study Notes & Analysis
Book & Publication Information
Title: A Raisin in the Sun
Author: Lorraine Hansberry (1930–1965)
Introduction By: Robert Nemiroff (1928–1991), literary executor and husband of Lorraine Hansberry
Publisher: Vintage Books, A Division of Random House, Inc., New York
First Vintage Books Edition: December 1994
Copyright Dates: Copyright © 1958, 1986 by Robert Nemiroff (as an unpublished work); Copyright © 1959, 1966, 1984, 1987, 1988 by Robert Nemiroff; Introduction copyright © 1987, 1988 by Robert Nemiroff
Cataloging Data:
eISBN: 978-0-307-80744-1
LC Classification: PS3515.A515R3 1994
Dewey Decimal: 812′.54—dc20
LCCN: 94-20636
Literary Representation: William Morris Agency, 1350 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019 (authorized agents for the Estate of Lorraine Hansberry and Robert Nemiroff)
Dedication: "To Mama: in gratitude for the dream"
Epigraph: Excerpted from the eleven-line poem "Dream Deferred" ("Harlem") from The Panther and the Lash (1951) by Langston Hughes, reprinted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.:
> What happens to a dream deferred? > > Does it dry up > Like a raisin in the sun? > Or fester like a sore— > And then run? > Does it stink like rotten meat > Or crust and sugar over— > Like a syrupy sweet? > > Maybe it just sags > Like a heavy load. > > Or does it explode?
Other Works by Lorraine Hansberry:
A Raisin in the Sun
The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window
The Drinking Gourd
To Be Young, Gifted and Black
Les Blancs
What Use Are Flowers?
The Movement
Critical Introduction & Historical Context
Restored Unabridged Text:
This definitive edition restores scenes and key passages dropped from the original 1959 Broadway production primarily due to running time limitations.
Restored material includes:
Beneatha's natural haircut scene (dropped in 1959 because Diana Sands' hair was cropped too short and not contoured properly to her facial structure just days before opening).
The Act I, Scene Two street scene where Travis recounts chasing a rat with his friends.
The Act II, Scene Two visit of the garrulous neighbor, Mrs. Johnson.
The bedtime scene between Walter Lee and Travis in Act II, Scene Two.
The full philosophical conversation between Beneatha and Joseph Asagai in Act III.
Original Broadway Production History & Challenges:
Producer: Philip Rose (joined later by David Cogan).
Director: Lloyd Richards (the first Black director of a serious Broadway drama).
Context: Prior to 1959, there had never been a commercially successful, serious Black drama on Broadway, and Black theatregoers were virtually nonexistent.
Financing: Philip Rose spent eighteen months trying to find a co-producer; every established Broadway producer turned him down.
Theater Venue: Even with full financing, no Broadway theater owner would rent to the production. The show went out on tryouts with only a $600 advance in New Haven.
Critical Acclaim: Overwhelmingly enthusiastic critical and audience responses in New Haven, Philadelphia, and Chicago forced Broadway theater owners to grant the production a theater (the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, opening March 11, 1959).
Critical Reception & Interpretive Misreadings:
The "Universalist" Misconception: White audiences and critics initially embraced the play by attempting to erase its specific African American identity, claiming the Youngers were "just like any other American family."
Ossie Davis's Assessment: Ossie Davis noted that white America "kidnapped" Mama (Lena Younger), transforming her into a comforting, safe, conservative matriarchal archetype ("his own great American Mama") to avoid confronting the harsh realities of ghetto oppression.
Amiri Baraka's Critical Reevaluation: Amiri Baraka noted that far from being a "middle-class" aspiration, the Younger family's struggle to buy a home in a white neighborhood represented the cutting edge of working-class Black striving to defeat segregation and national oppression.
Real-World Context of Integration:
Hansberry's own family was targeted by violent mobs when they moved into a white neighborhood during her childhood, nearly killing her.
A 1972 New York City Commissioner of Human Rights report cited 11 cases in an 18-month period where minority homes were fire-bombed or vandalized, a church bombed, and a school bus attacked in New York City.
Stage & Screen Adaptations & Production Credits
The 1989 American Playhouse Television Presentation:
Broadcast Date: February 1, 1989.
Production Entities: Robert Nemiroff/Jaki Brown/Toni Livingston/Josephine Abady Productions, Fireside Entertainment Corporation, and KCET/Los Angeles in association with WNET/New York.
Key Personnel: Directed by Bill Duke; Produced by Chiz Schultz; Executive Producer Robert Nemiroff; Production Design by Thomas Cariello; Lighting by Bill Klages; Costumes by Celia Bryant and Judy Dearing; Music by Ed Bland.
Television Cast:
Ruth Younger: Starletta DuPois
Walter Lee Younger: Danny Glover
Travis Younger: Kimble Joyner
Beneatha Younger: Kim Yancey
Lena Younger (Mama): Esther Rolle
Joseph Asagai: Lou Ferguson
George Murchison: Joseph C. Phillips
Mrs. Johnson: Helen Martin
Karl Lindner: John Fiedler
Bobo: Stephen Henderson
Moving Men: Ron O.J. Parson, Charles Watts
Original 1959 Broadway Cast (Ethel Barrymore Theatre, March 11, 1959):
Ruth Younger: Ruby Dee
Travis Younger: Glynn Turman
Walter Lee Younger: Sidney Poitier
Beneatha Younger: Diana Sands
Lena Younger (Mama): Claudia McNeil
Joseph Asagai: Ivan Dixon
George Murchison: Louis Gossett
Karl Lindner: John Fiedler
Bobo: Lonne Elder III
Moving Men: Ed Hall, Douglas Turner Ward
Director: Lloyd Richards
Scenic & Lighting Design: Ralph Alswang
Costumes: Virginia Volland
Setting and Structure of the Play
Setting: Chicago's Southside.
Time: Sometime between World War II and the present (late 1950s).
Structure:
Act I, Scene One: Friday morning.
Act I, Scene Two: Saturday morning, the following day.
Act II, Scene One: Later, the same day.
Act II, Scene Two: Friday night, a few weeks later.
Act II, Scene Three: Moving day, one week later.
Act III: An hour later.
Detailed Scene Summaries & Script Analysis
Act I, Scene One: Friday Morning
Physical Environment:
The Younger living room is overcrowded and worn. Furnishings selected long ago with care and hope are now hidden beneath layers of crocheted doilies and couch covers.
The carpet is uniformly worn. Furniture has been moved to disguise carpet wear.
A single window in the kitchen area provides the only natural light for the entire living/dining space.
The apartment lacks its own private bathroom; the family shares a hallway bathroom with neighboring families on the same floor.
Character Dynamics & Domestic Routines:
Ruth Younger: About thirty years old. Once exceptionally pretty, disappointment has settled onto her face, marking her as a "settled woman."
Travis Younger: Ten or eleven years old. Sleeps on a make-down bed in the center of the living room.
Walter Lee Younger: Middle thirties. Lean, intense, quick-moving, speaking with constant nervous tension and a tone of indictment.
Beneatha Younger: About twenty years old. Slim and intense with an intellectual face. Her speech is educated Midwest mixed with Southside vocal slurs.
Lena Younger (Mama): Early sixties. Full-bodied, strong, possessing a quiet grace and noble bearing resembling the women of the Hereros of Southwest Africa.
Key Plot Developments:
Financial Strain: Travis needs 50 cents for school. Ruth refuses because they do not have it. Walter countermands Ruth, giving Travis the 50 cents plus an extra 50 cents for fruit or a taxicab, leaving himself short on carfare.
The Insurance Check: The family awaits a $10,000 life insurance check from the deceased Big Walter Younger, expected to arrive in Saturday's mail.
Walter's Scheme: Walter wants Mama to invest the $10,000 in a liquor store with Willy Harris and Bobo. The total store cost is $75,000, requiring an initial investment of $30,000 ($10,000 per partner), plus hundreds in graft/bribes to expedite the liquor license.
Marital & Generational Conflict:
Walter complains that colored women do not support their men's ambitions, telling Ruth: "Man say to his woman: I got me a dream. His woman say: Eat your eggs." Walter expresses anguish over being thirty-five, married eleven years, working as a chauffeur driving rich white people, and having nothing to leave his son.
Beneatha declares her intention to become a doctor. Walter mockingly tells her to go be a nurse or get married like other women, emphasizing that the $10,000 belongs entirely to Mama.
Beneatha expresses theological skepticism, stating that God is an unneeded concept and that human effort creates miracles. Mama slaps Beneatha across the face and forces her to repeat: "In my mother's house there is still God."
Ending Moment: Ruth, overwhelmed by physical distress and exhaustion, collapses unconscious onto the floor.
Act I, Scene Two: Saturday Morning
Domestic & Neighborhood Context:
Saturday cleaning is underway. Beneatha sprays insecticide into wall cracks to exterminate cockroaches.
Travis returns from outside, recounting how children chased a rat "big as a cat" down the street until janitor Mr. Barnett killed it with a stick.
Ruth returns from an undisclosed doctor's visit, announcing she is two months pregnant. She privately visited an illegal female abortionist, placing a $5 down payment to terminate the pregnancy due to poverty and overcrowding.
Arrival of Joseph Asagai:
Asagai is a Nigerian student of Yoruba origin whom Beneatha met on campus. He spent the summer studying in Canada.
He brings Beneatha authentic Nigerian robes from his sister's personal wardrobe and African tribal music records.
Asagai criticizes Beneatha's straightened hair as "mutilated" and terms her an "assimilationist." He bestows upon her the Yoruba name Alaiyo, meaning "One for Whom Bread—Food—Is Not Enough."
Arrival of the Insurance Check:
The mailman delivers the letter. Travis presents the check to Mama. It is a thin blue slice of paper made out for exactly $10,000.
Mama's face darkens into sadness, reflecting on Big Walter working himself to death: "Ten thousand dollars… Ten thousand dollars they give you."
Climax of Act I:
Walter enters full of frantic excitement about the liquor store paperwork prepared by Willy Harris.
Mama refuses to invest in a liquor store, stating: "We plain working folks… whether I go into business selling it to 'em is [my business], and I don't want that on my ledger this late in life."
Mama reveals to Walter that Ruth is pregnant and planning an abortion. She challenges Walter to step up and be his father's son by forbidding it. Distraught and silent, Walter storms out to drink, prompting Mama to call him a disgrace to his father's memory.
Act II, Scene One: Later the Same Day
African Identity & Cultural Conflict:
Beneatha dons the Nigerian robes brought by Asagai, playing Nigerian music on the phonograph, and executes a traditional welcome dance, shouting "OCOMOGOSIAY!"
A drunken Walter enters, joining the dance with passionate fervor. He imagines himself a great African chief and warrior, yelling: "ETHIOPIA STRETCH FORTH HER HANDS AGAIN!", calling Jomo Kenyatta his man, and shouting "FLAMING SPEAR!"
George Murchison's Visit:
George arrives to take Beneatha to the theater. Beneatha removes her headwrap, revealing her close-cropped, natural, unstraightened hair.
George and Ruth are shocked. George calls it eccentric; Beneatha accuses George of being an "assimilationist Negro."
George mocks African heritage, calling it "nothing but a bunch of raggedy-assed spirituals and some grass huts," while Beneatha counters that the Ashanti performed surgical operations and smelted iron while the ancestors of the English were tattooing themselves with blue dragons.
Walter and George's Confrontation:
Walter criticizes George's attire, specifically his white buckskin shoes. He tries to pitch business ideas to George's wealthy father regarding buying a hotel on the Drive.
When George exhibits boredom, Walter insults college men learning sociology and psychology instead of learning how to run steel mills or rubber plantations.
As George leaves with Beneatha, he sarcastically mocks Walter, calling him "Prometheus!"
Purchase of the House:
Mama returns and announces to the family that she used part of the insurance money to place a down payment on a house.
Property Details: A three-bedroom, solid house with a big basement and a yard located at 406 Clybourne Street, Clybourne Park.
Financial Details: The purchase price required a $3,500 down payment.
Racial Context: Ruth notes that no Black people live in Clybourne Park. Mama explains that houses for colored people in distant areas cost twice as much, so she found the best house for the least money.
Reactions: Ruth is overjoyed, shouting "HALLELUJAH! AND GOOD-BYE MISERY!" Walter is crushed and bitter, accusing Mama: "So you butchered up a dream of mine—you—who always talking 'bout your children's dreams…"
Act II, Scene Two: Friday Night, A Few Weeks Later
Beneatha & George's Breakup:
Beneatha returns from a date with George. George tells her to drop her intellectuality and "Garbo routine," stating guys go for what they see, not thoughts or atmosphere.
Beneatha dismisses him, telling Mama that George is a shallow fool. Mama validates her decision, saying: "Well—I guess you better not waste your time with no fools."
The Visit of Mrs. Johnson:
Mrs. Johnson, a squeaky, intrusive neighbor, drops in holding a newspaper detailing a Black family bombed out of their home in a white Chicago neighborhood.
She warns the Youngers that moving to Clybourne Park will result in them being bombed or shot, saying: "NEGROES INVADE CLYBOURNE PARK—BOMBED!"
Mrs. Johnson quotes Booker T. Washington: "Education has spoiled many a good plow hand." Mama responds: "Well, it sounds just like him. The fool."
Walter's Crisis & Mama's Decision:
Mrs. Arnold (Walter's employer's wife) calls, revealing Walter has missed three consecutive days of work and will be replaced if he does not return tomorrow. Mr. Arnold has been forced to take cabs.
Walter reveals what he did during those three days: borrowed Willy Harris's car, drove past South Chicago to look at steel mill chimneys, drove up to Wisconsin to look at farms, walked all over the Southside watching Black people, and spent every night drinking at the Green Hat listening to a three-piece jazz combo.
Realizing she has contributed to her son's despair, Mama pulls out the remaining insurance money ($6,500):
$3,000 must be deposited into a savings account for Beneatha's medical school tuition.
$3,500 must be put in a checking account under Walter's name for him to manage as the official head of the family.
Overwhelmed with joy, Walter promises Travis grand future prospects: driving a Chrysler, buying Ruth a Cadillac convertible, and sending Travis to any top university in the world.
Act II, Scene Three: Moving Day, One Week Later
Atmosphere of Hope:
The apartment is packed in crates. Ruth and Walter are happy, having gone to the movies together the previous night and held hands for the first time in years.
The children/family present Mama with gifts: brand-new gardening tools from Walter, Ruth, and Beneatha, and a wide, elaborate gardening hat from Travis.
The Appearance of Karl Lindner:
Karl Lindner, a quiet, middle-aged representative of the Clybourne Park Improvement Association, arrives.
He explains he is chairman of the New Neighbors Orientation Committee.
Lindner states that people in Clybourne Park believe families are happier living in their own communities with a common background.
The Buyout Offer: The Association offers to buy the house back from the Youngers at a financial profit to the family to keep them from moving in.
Recognizing the racial prejudice behind the polite facade, Walter forcefully orders Lindner out of the house.
The Climax & Betrayal (Bobo's News):
Bobo, a nervous, distraught business associate, arrives at the apartment.
Bobo reveals that he and Willy Harris were supposed to go to Springfield together on Friday to bribe officials for the liquor license.
Willy Harris never showed up at the train station. Bobo waited six hours before realizing Willy had absconded with all the money.
The Catastrophe: Walter admits to Mama that he never deposited Beneatha's $3,000 into the savings account; he gave the entire $6,500 directly to Willy Harris.
Enraged and grieving, Mama beats Walter in the face, lamenting that Big Walter worked himself to death for that money, which Walter gave away in a single day.
Act III: An Hour Later
Philosophical Confrontation (Beneatha & Asagai):
Beneatha sits in despair among the packing crates. She recounts to Asagai how seeing a neighborhood child, Rufus, suffer a facial injury and get sewn back together by doctors originally inspired her to practice medicine.
She declares that she no longer cares about human progress, viewing human existence as a circular mirage rather than a geometric line extending toward infinity.
Asagai challenges her cynicism, asking if her dreams were dependent on her father's death. He invites Beneatha to come home with him to Nigeria to practice medicine and live among her people.
Walter's Moral Collapse:
Walter enters, having called Karl Lindner back to the apartment to accept the buyout offer.
Walter argues that the world is divided between "takers" and the "tooken," and he intends to get his share. He mockingly demonstrates how he will grovel before Lindner ("Yasssssuh! Great white Father…") to secure the money.
Beneatha disowns Walter, calling him a "toothless rat." Mama reprimands Beneatha, teaching her: "The time to love somebody the most… is when he's at his lowest and can't believe in hisself 'cause the world done whipped him so!"
The Final Resolution:
Karl Lindner arrives with official contract papers.
Mama forces Travis to stand right in front of Walter to watch what his father does, telling Walter to teach his son "where our five generations done come to."
Overcome by pride in his lineage, Walter undergoes a moral transformation. He refuses the buyout, declaring: > "We come from people who had a lot of pride… my father—he earned it for us brick by brick. We don't want to make no trouble for nobody or fight no causes, and we will try to be good neighbors. And that's all we got to say about that. We don't want your money."
Lindner leaves. The family frantically loads the moving truck.
Ruth and Mama express pride in Walter. Mama notes to Ruth: "He finally come into his manhood today, didn't he? Kind of like a rainbow after the rain…"
Final Image: Mama stands alone in the empty, dark living room. She steps out, then turns back one last time to grab her small, struggling windowsill plant before exiting forever.
Author Biography & Literary Legacy
Lorraine Hansberry's Achievements:
In 1959, at age 29, Hansberry became the youngest American, the fifth woman, and the first Black playwright to win the New York Drama Critics' Circle Best Play of the Year Award for A Raisin in the Sun.
The 1961 film adaptation won a Cannes Festival Award and was nominated for Best Screenplay.
Hansberry died of cancer on January 12, 1965, at the age of 34.
Posthumous Impact & Secondary Works:
To Be Young, Gifted and Black: The longest-running off-Broadway drama of 1969, later adapted into a widely read informal autobiography.
Les Blancs (The Whites): A drama of late-colonial African revolution presented posthumously on Broadway, receiving votes from six critics for Best American Play of 1970.
The Drinking Gourd: A television play tracing the interdependence of slaves, slave owners, and overseers.
What Use Are Flowers?: A post-apocalyptic fantasy exploring human values after a nuclear holocaust.
The Movement: A comprehensive photo-history documenting the Civil Rights struggle.