A Raisin in the Sun - Essay Example

?Paper: Lorraine Hansberry wrote the play Raisin in the Sun. It debuted on Broadway in 1959. The of the poem has been derived from the poem Harlem. The play revolves around black family’s encounters at the Washington Park Subdivision of Chicago. The play holds the unique honor of being the first of its kind to be produced and directed by a black woman and black man respectively. The play received mixed reviews from everywhere. The play projects a couple of weeks in the life of an African American family, i.e. the younger’s. They were living in the South Side of Chicago during the 1950s. At the inception of the play, the Younger’s are granted a check of $10,000 that they had received from the insurance policy of the late Younger’s. Every member of the family had a slight inkling of what they wanted to pursue with the money. The mother of the family wanted to buy a house of her own to fulfill the dream she had shared with her husband. The son of the family, Walter Lee, wanted to use the money to open a liquor store with his friends. He considered it to be a very lucrative investment and believed that it will help the family snap out of its financial problems for good. Walter’s wife Ruth was eyeing the money to vouch for more space for their son Travis. Last but not the least, Beneatha, Walter’s sister and Mama’s daughter wanted to utilize the money for pursuing her medical school aspirations. The play demonstrates the clashes that take place between the family members over their diametrically different dreams. Ruth realizes soon that she is expected but feels that another child would mean more financial pressure on the family. Walter on the other hand does not offer any objections to Ruth’s admission. However, at this point the mother pens down a certain payment on the entire family. She felt that another sibling will do well for the family on the whole and would be able to help them. The house that the mother wanted to purchase was stationed in Clybourne Park. This is a white neighborhood. When the family’s prospect neighbors discover that they were moving in, they offer money to the Younger’s to stay away. However the Younger’s turn down the deal despite the fact that Walters had already lost 6500 dollars in his bid to open the liquor store. While all this is happening, Beneatha turns down a proposal by George Murchison who she thought was shallow and blind. She also received another proposal but she remained undecided about it till the end of the play. The Younger’s eventually are able to fulfill the family’s dream by moving out of the apartment but the future remained uncertain and dangerous to them. However their optimism gives them the hope to lead a better life. They believed in the power of their family and the power of sticking together to resolve all their problems. (Corley) Othello, the Moor of Venice was written by William Shakespeare. The play was a tragedy that is believed to have been based on the Italian short story “Un Capitano Moro”. The play has four main characters. They are Othello – who is a part of the Venetian army, his wife Desdemona, his assistant Cassio and his ensign Iago. This is a very intense play that revolves around the themes of love, betrayal, jealousy. The play is immensely popular and is still performed in numerous theaters all over the world. It is also a part of various film and literary adaptations. (Shakespeare) The play starts off with Rodrigo who is a rich gentleman voicing out his complains to Iago for not informing him of the secret wedding between Desdemona and Othello. He was not too happy with the wedding as he had himself loved Desdemona like crazy before and had wanted to marry her. Iago is himself upset with Othello for promoting a younger man, Cassio above him and plans to manipulate Othello to his own advantage. Iago then convenes a plot in which he entangles everyone. He is able to convince Rodrigo to join him because of his own dissatisfaction at Desdemona’s marriage with Othello. (E.A.J. Honigmann) Iago informs Brabantia of his daughter’s secret marriage with Othello and warns Othello on the other hand that Brabantio is looking for him. However, before Brabantia is able to confront Othello, he is told that the Turks will soon attack them. Othello gets busy in confronting the Turks and tries to explain the father that he had not used any sort of witchcraft to persuade his daughter to marry him. He heads to Cyprus where he finds that the storm had annihilated the Turkish fleet. Intense drama follows in the play and a string of mis-understandings orchestrated by Iago’s schemes. Cassio, Branica, Rodrigo and Desdemona, all suffer death at the hands of this ploy. Eventually, when Othello realizes his mistake and of Desdemona’s innocence, he too kills himself while sparing Iago to be tortured for life. Raisin in the Sun revolves around family sufferings while Othello revolves around the theme of love, betrayal and tragedy. The latter is a tragedy and the former leads to a happy ending. Raisin in the Sun follows a more optimistic approach towards life and family. Othello is encapsulated with tragedies, sufferings and betrayal. The Younger’s strength lay in the fact that they considered each other to be a part of one family and believed that they will snap out of the problems by fighting them together. Characters in Othello were shred down to pieces because of their lack of faith and trust in each other. The narration style of both plays is vehemently different too. Othello leans towards a darker approach to relations and human motives while Raisin in the Sun has a more light healthy approach towards relations and family values. Othello is embedded in the grandeur of elite life while the family in Raisin in the Sun struggles to make their ends meet and to fulfill their small dreams. Works Cited Corley, Cheryl. A Raisin in the Sun. 2002. E.A.J. Honigmann, ed. Othello. London: Thomson Nelson, 1997. Shakespeare, William. Four Tragedies: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth. Bantam Books, 1988. Brantley, Ben, "Good Defenses Make Good Neighbors," New York Times, Feb. 22, 2010. Read More