Download Read 1 Natalie Read Sister Karen Holt English 251 5 December

Read 1
Natalie Read
Sister Karen Holt
English 251
5 December 2006
Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun
While looking at A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry through a feminist lens,
many issues pertaining to women became apparent to me. For instance, is it the men characters
that are responsible for making most of the decisions in the play, or is it the women? Although it
is the men of the house in most cultures that make the decisions and take charge of complex
situations, the female characters in Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” seem to play this
prominent role.
There are many instances in this play where a woman in the family had to stand up to a
man for what she believes and what she knows is right for her family. For instance, Ruth knows
what is best for her son and tries to teach him to live within his means by setting an example.
Almost immediately, Walter Lee Jr. comes into the room and sets another example, directly
opposite of Ruth’s teachings. Afterwards, Ruth talks to Walter and brings this instance to light
when he needs the money he just gave to Travis for his own carfare.
Peter L. Hays compares similar issues in the two plays, A Raisin in the Sun and Juno and
the Paycock. He says that “in both works, strong women support their families psychologically
and monetarily – in Raisin, because Walter Lee, Sr., is dead; in Juno, because Jack Boyle is
allergic to work. Each family has a bright daughter with intellectual pretensions and a passion for
women’s rights, who is courted by a dull suitor for marriage whom she does not love and by one
she finds more attractive. Both families are plagued with fair-weather friends, and both plays end
Read 2
with a younger woman pregnant with a child that will be a financial burden” (Hays, par. 4). By
looking through a feminist lens, we note that the women do the psychological and material
supporting for their families in both plays, that the older daughter loves to learn and aspires to
greater things, and that a prominent woman character in each play is pregnant and must decide
whether or not to keep the baby because the financial stress would be too much for the family.
These are all things that the man of the house can or will not do to help support his own family,
for whatever reason.
Another example of how the women characters make most of the decisions in this play,
rather than the men, is when Mama decides to buy a house with the insurance money. She
doesn’t tell anyone where she is going that day and she doesn’t tell her son, the man of the
house, where she had been all day. She took initiative and did what she wanted with her own
money, rather than bow to the foolish dreams of her son. A quote by Maryanne Ellison Simmons
demonstrates that women have something to fight for, to fight for their recognition and respect.
“If a woman has her Ph.D. in physics, has mastered quantum theory, plays flawless Chopin, was
once a cheerleader, and is now married to a man who plays baseball, she will forever be ‘former
cheerleader married to star athlete’” (Dobie, 97). I found it interesting that the husband is
mentioned for his wonderful athletic skills, but the woman, who seems to have more praise to her
name, is only recognized for her minimal athletic skills. The same is true for the women
characters in A Raisin in the Sun. They have hope, their respect, their dreams, and their lives to
fight the men for.
Although it is predominately the male in the family that takes the leading position, it is
the women in A Raisin in the Sun that take this role. They work together to finally unify their
family and in the end, they all eventually attain their dreams.