A Raisin in the Sun

A Raisin in the Sun (1959) is Lorraine Hansberry's landmark drama about the Younger family, an African American household living in a cramped apartment on Chicago's South Side. The title comes from Langston Hughes's poem 'Harlem', which asks 'What happens to a dream deferred? / Does it dry up / Like a raisin in the sun?' The play explores what happens when dreams are blocked by poverty, racism and conflicting visions of the future.

Setting

The entire play takes place in the Youngers' living room, a worn but once-proud space that doubles as kitchen and bedroom. The cramped apartment, shared bathroom and single window are physical expressions of the family's confinement. The action is set 'sometime between World War II and the present' (i.e. the late 1950s) in Chicago's South Side, one of the most densely segregated urban areas in America.

The central movement

The family is waiting for a $10,000 life insurance check following the death of the father, Big Walter. Each family member has a different dream for the money: Walter Lee wants to invest in a liquor store; Beneatha needs it for medical school; Mama wants to buy a house with a garden. When Mama puts a down payment on a house in the all-white neighbourhood of Clybourne Park, the family faces both Walter's fury and a visit from Karl Lindner, a representative of the white neighbourhood association offering to buy them out. Walter loses the remaining money to a con man, and must decide whether to accept Lindner's offer or move into the house with dignity. In the play's climax, Walter refuses Lindner's money, affirming the family's pride and right to their new home.

Why it matters for the exam

For OxfordAQA Paper 1 Section B (closed book, drama), you must analyse Hansberry's dramatic methods: how she uses the confined setting to create tension, the check as a dramatic catalyst, Walter's arc from frustration to dignity, and the play's engagement with the American Dream. This guide covers the play act by act, with characters, themes, grounded quotations and full exam practice.