Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun

Michael J. Meyer (DePaul University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.5: African American Writing and Culture of the United States.
Vol. editors: Philathia Bolton (University of Akron), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), A Yemisi Jimoh (University of Massachusetts Amherst), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1959

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play

Resources

Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry debuted on Broadway in 1959 as the first play written by a black woman and directed by a black man to appear in a New York venue. Set in Hansberry's native Chicago in the Washington Park subdivision of the Woodlawn area, the play follows the Younger family – Mama, her daughter, Beneatha, her son, Walter Lee, his wife Ruth, and their son Travis as they struggle to find a better and more comfortable lifestyle. It also records their frustrations as they try to rise above their lower-class roots and to find success in a predominantly white America despite the racial and social prejudice that continues to weigh them down.

The title of the play is taken from a Langston Hughes' poem …

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4073 words

Citation: Meyer, Michael J.. "A Raisin in the Sun". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 March 2009 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7030, accessed 25 November 2024.]

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