Status
Available
Genres
Publication
Vintage (1995), Edition: Reissue, 368 pages
Description
By the time of her death, at the tragically young age of thirty-four, Lorraine Hansberry had created two electrifying masterpieces of the American theater. With A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry gave this country its most movingly authentic portrayal of black family life in the inner city. Barely five years later, with The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window, Hansberry gave us an unforgettable portrait of a man struggling with his individual fate in an age of racial and social injustice. These two plays remain milestones in the American theater, remarkable not only for their historical value but for their continued ability to engage the imagination and the heart. With an Introduction by Robert Nemiroff
User reviews
LibraryThing member speedy74
This play was amazing. I love how Hansberry shows the quiet desperation of the black characters in a world dominated by white bigots. The characters she creates show many aspects of the black will to be something more, to achieve equal access to opportunity, to climb out of poverty.
Set in Chicago
While the play does a great job of showing the struggles of an African-American family before the Civil Rights movement, the greater themes transcend all nationalities and races. Throughout the play Hansberry explores: family, identity, generation gaps, and the American dream. One of the most poignant moments in the play is when mama chastises Beneatha for her judgement, "Child, when do you think is the time to love somebody the most? When they done good and made things easy for everybody? Well then, you ain't through learning - because that ain't the time at all. It's when he's at his lowest and can't believe in hisself 'cause the world done whipped him so! When you starts measuring somebody, measure him right, child, measure him right. Make sure you done taken into account what hills and valleys he come through before he got to wherever he is.” This particular gem knows no race, but is a lesson we all can learn about compassion, forgiveness, and love.
Set in Chicago
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in the late 1950s the play takes place in a small two bedroom flat shared by three generations of Youngers. The Youngers are waiting for a life insurance check from the patriarch's death. There are differing opinions about how this money should be invested and each of the characters has a stake in the choice made because each as a deferred dream as alluded to by the Langston Hughes poem at the beginning of the play. While the play does a great job of showing the struggles of an African-American family before the Civil Rights movement, the greater themes transcend all nationalities and races. Throughout the play Hansberry explores: family, identity, generation gaps, and the American dream. One of the most poignant moments in the play is when mama chastises Beneatha for her judgement, "Child, when do you think is the time to love somebody the most? When they done good and made things easy for everybody? Well then, you ain't through learning - because that ain't the time at all. It's when he's at his lowest and can't believe in hisself 'cause the world done whipped him so! When you starts measuring somebody, measure him right, child, measure him right. Make sure you done taken into account what hills and valleys he come through before he got to wherever he is.” This particular gem knows no race, but is a lesson we all can learn about compassion, forgiveness, and love.
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Original language
English
Physical description
368 p.; 5.15 inches
ISBN
0679755314 / 9780679755319
Local notes
theater