Analysis of Art Work Written by Lorraine Hansberry - Research Paper Example

Task: Lorraine Hansberry Lorraine Hansberry remains one of the most celebrated American playwrights in the 1950s. The University of Wisconsin graduate gained fame courtesy of her first play, A Raisin in the Sun, produced in 1957 (Cody and Sprinchorn 1116). The play attracted great interest given Lorraine Hansberry’s themes that tend to defy many beliefs about the African-Americans. The play addressed, with particular interest, the perception that reign among several individuals about the contentment that Africans had with their social status. It is noteworthy that the setting of the play was in the 1950s, a time when the blacks had a number of social concerns that demanded redress. This renders the play instrumental and vital in advocating for change that would address the social welfare of the Black-Americans, in the 1950s. Through the diverse themes in the play, Lorraine Hansberry’s role in advocating for change in America, in the 1950s, was great and inspirational. The play features the Youngers, an African-American family struggling to afford life while undergoing several social challenges in Southern Chicago (Hansberry 7). Mama receives a compensation for the death of her husband worth ten thousand dollars. This seems to present a way out of abject poverty that the family experiences (Shmoop 13). The beneficiaries of the insurance, Mama and her two children, Walter and Beneatha, have several demands. They need to invest, pay fee and build a good residential unit. There are serious conflicts between Beneatha and her classmate Murchison because of their differences in social status. Murchison is a rich African-America while Beneatha is from a poor family. Asagai plays a critical role of inspiring African-Americans to embrace their heritage, by teaching Beneatha. The hopes of Walter in the play communicate the high expectations of the African-Americans to attain economic empowerment. His great expectations nurture the need for change that the society requires. The family faces many hurdles trying to change their living standards by moving from their small house to a big neighborhood. Despite all, they manage to move even if it seemed that they were to face other challenges in the future. As Hewitt identifies, there are diverse roles of literature and in the society given their massive contributions in addressing societal concerns. Literature and art create forums for discussing social welfare issues and the necessity to revert the societal ways of operations (Hewitt 9). Through art, Lorraine Hansberry addressed the concern of the misperceptions that that Black-American community was complacent and at ease with its status, in the 1950s. The play advocated for a change from the norm and empowered several groups of the society to gain realization of what was right for America in the 1950s. Her play was important in addressing diverse social concerns as poverty and equal political participation. Social inequality in the society and discrimination was a theme of great concerns to the Black Americans, in the 1950s. The play was central in addressing several themes since it emerged as the first play, by a black-American, to concentrate on the plight of the people. The focus of the play was to reverse the condition of inequality. The situation of conformism that dominated the 1950s in America continues to gain criticism in the contemporary society. Another concern that Lorraine Hansberry highlighted, through the play, was the contentment of women during that era in American history. Jobless women, mainly from the blacks’ communities, were unworried over their plights as poverty. They showed little interest to address their concerns, as well. Empowerment of this group of women, therefore, was an inevitable obligation of the society’s elites. This is was the source of challenge that prompted Lorraine Hansberry’s work of art. The 1950s and early 1960s in America marks the time when many civil rights concerns and movements were strongest. Several avenues were important in advocating for the rights of parts of the society undergoing oppression. Art and literature were central and inspirational in the endeavor to call for consideration of civil rights of the Black Americans, in the 1950s. The play by Lorraine Hansberry joins the vast list of literature and art that inspired the call for freedom. It criticized serious vices in the society as racial and color exclusionism that was among the most serious concerns at the time. The emergence of feminist movements in the 1950s gained inspiration from diverse sources including art and literature. The play initiated conversations and talks about vital issues affecting the life of women in the American society of the 1950s. Constraints of poverty that deprived women of opportunities of development found a forum of discussion through the play. The plight of unsafe and inadequate residential units featured as part of the play by Lorraine Hansberry. Social realism at its best considering the seclusion that woman from Black American communities experienced. The thesis of the American dream was evident from the play. It condemned the living standards of most Americans in the 1950s and created a reflection of the need to achieve the dream of admirable standards of living among Americans. The aspiration of women to attaining good standards of living was one of the messages that Lorraine Hansberry passed through the play. The play featured three women who contributed considerably to communicate the desires of the American women towards better lifestyle than the one they had in the 1950s. Revolution and change in any society have their origins from the change in perceptions of the society members. The society members must hold the hope for a better scenario than they have, apparently. It needs the citizens and society members to adopt a different and unique viewpoint about from the norm. This was among the core messages that Lorraine Hansberry intended to communicate to the American society of the 1950s, through the play. The advocates of change and restoration of civil rights have the inspiration of such elite artists as Lorraine Hansberry. In the play vividly attended to the concern over the acute racial prejudice among the Americans. Despite the challenges, the young generation gained the inspiration to pledge for the restoration of humanity based on equal consideration. This renders the play a masterpiece art that was moving and inspirational to the young American generation of the 1950s. It is undeniable that the inspiration in the play was a great causal force in the realization of equality that came in the early 1960s. Conflicts, along divides of social class, within the black community were serious problems in the 1950s. The play was influential in highlighting the extent of tensions that existed, among the blacks, based on their social classes. The few wealthy in the community despised their poor brothers. This was a serious cause of disharmony among the blacks. The presence of social conflicts among the community members was a condition that turned as costly to any effort of achieving social liberation. Lorraine Hansberry, through the play intended to highlight the need for goodwill and togetherness as prerequisite for social liberation. The call to stop class tensions and embrace unity among the community members would strengthen their collective bargaining for equality. This was the essence and origin of collective pledge for liberation of the Black-Americans from the different concerns of discrimination from other races. Awareness and embracing the African heritage was important, as well. As Lorraine Hansberry brings out in the play, many African-Americans did not embrace their native heritage. Lorraine Hansberry was well aware of the plight of the African-Americans in the 1950s and that formed the basis of her themes in the play. The play is a masterpiece art that remains celebrated for its boldness in creating empowerment that inspired the pledge for equality in the society. Works Cited Cody, Gabrielle and Sprinchorn, Evert. The Columbia encyclopedia of modern drama: M-Z, Volume 2. New York, NY:Columbia University Press, 2007. Print. Hansberry, Lorraine. Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun. Washington, DC: Research & Education Assoc., 1994. Print. Hewitt, Regina. Symbolic Interactions: Social Problems and Literary Interventions in the Works of Baillie, Scott, And Landor. Lewisburg, PA: Bucknell University Press, 2006. Print. Shmoop, Staff. A Raisin in the Sun: Shmoop Literature Guide. Los Altos, CA: Shmoop University Inc, 2010. Print. Read More