Interpretation Of Womanism In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

Lorrain Hansberry (1930-1965), a black playwright active in the 1950s and early 1960s, is doubtlessly one of the pioneers who not only holds a womanist opinion strongly but also illustrated it in her ever-lasting work--A Raisin in the Sun.Hansberry is one of the most prominent female black playwrights in the 1950s'American theater. Yet her creation career was cut short at the age of 34 because of cancer. Nevertheless, she made great contributions to both the Afro-American and the world literature by producing five plays and lots of articles, poems and speeches. As one of the oppressed African Americans and as a black woman, she herself suffered the same hardships with all the other blacks, especially black women, in the white-dominant society and witnessed their persistent pursuit of freedom and equality. She shows deep sympathy to the black women and puts forward her womanist viewpoint to emancipate them from the state of double oppression.A Raisin in the Sun is the first drama written by Lorraine Hansberry but is regarded as her most important work. Hansberry derives the title from one of Langston Hughes'poems: "What happens to a dream deferred?/Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?/…" The drama focuses on the aspirations, dreams, frustrations and hopes of the Younger family in which each member has his/her own dream. Their dreams are hindered by the racial discrimination and economic deprivation. The postponed dreams of the family are throbbed due to the coming of Father's $10,000 insurance check with which each family member has a plan in mind on how to use the money. Finally, it ends with the whole family's moving into the new house despite the loss of Walter's money and the hostility and threat from the white neighborhoods. The play touches upon many contemporary issues such as the Black American dream, the racial discrimination and racial segregation, the inheritance of black culture, black women's social and familial position and the independent movement in Africa, among which the womanist perspective is evident but does not receive much attention it deserves in Afro-American literature. The thesis is to study the play from a womanist viewpoint.This thesis is composed of the following five parts:The first part (Introduction) presents a brief introduction to Lorraine Hansberry as a black female playwright and the synopsis of her A Raisin in the Sun. Also the study of scholars home and abroad on Hansberry and her work, the theme, the motive and the structure of the thesis is briefly reviewed. Furthermore, the thesis makes a brief study of womanism and states how important it is to put A Raisin in the Sun in a setting of womanist perspective to understand it better.The body of the thesis consists of three chapters. Chapter One discusses the significance of anti-sexism for black women to strive for equality. Chapter Two focuses on the inheritance of the Africa culture for the Afro-Americans, black women in particular, to strive for their survival and development. Chapter Three stresses black women's function in the growing up of the black men to ultimately construct an equal and peaceful community in harmony.The Conclusion of the thesis is that Lorraine Hansberry is a womanist playwright and in her masterpiece A Raisin in the Sun she analyzes black women's suffering from the double oppression, emphasizes the importance of inheriting the black culture and provides a new understanding of the relationship between men and women as a means to the emancipation of women as well as the human race. This is still instructive for today's women in dealing with their relationship with men, no matter what races they belong to.