Cambridge IGCSE World Literature (0408)
CANDIDATE NAME Enoch Wai
CENTRE NUMBER
HK025
SESSION
May/June 2024
CANDIDATE NUMBER 2978
Coursework 1: Critical Essay
Drama Text Title: A raisin in the sun
Q : How does Hansberry use the character of Beneatha to illustrate the struggles a black
woman has to encounter because of gender roles in 1960s America?
The play ‘A Raisin in the sun’ is set in 1960’s on the south side of Chicago following
an African American family living in the lower class, with the adults all pursuing a different
dream, something they have a strong desire to achieve but are constantly diminished by
various factors throughout the play. Beneatha is one of the daughters of Mama, the oldest of
the Younger family, and has a dream to become a doctor. However, at this time in Chicago,
she faces countless disadvantages and discrimination against her gender. Hansberry, the
author of the play, uses the character of Beneatha to illustrate how a black woman has to
fight for her own rights against stereotypical gender roles as a lower class African American
through the clash between her dreams and a womans ‘role’ in a household, her attitude
towards male characters, and the expectation to submit to males.
Hansberry paints a picture of the situation Beneatha is in with her expected role in her
house clashing with her dreams to convey the hardships of becoming a doctor as a woman
through insults towards her, financial matters and expectations placed on her by George.
This is seen in the play when George nonchalantly is discussing her future with him during
an argument when he says “You read books-to learn facts-to get grades-to pass the
course-to get a degree. That’s all”. (p.72) The dismissive phrase “that’s all” implies she is
expected to study and go to college for the sake of getting a degree and nothing else. This
fully shows the barrier placed against women for high paying jobs regardless of skill or
expertise. Beneatha also expresses George’s thoughts, saying “I’m going to be a doctor, and
George, for one, still thinks that’s pretty funny”. (p.32) This clearly illustrates the prejudice
women face as they are mocked and insulted for simply trying to earn money and acquire
stable jobs. In these discriminatory actions we see the state of the world is one where men
are most rewarded. Early in the play the Younger family is notified they will receive $10,000
as insurance money from Mama’s late husband. When thinking about the use for the
$10,000 cheque, Mama immediately says “Some of it gotta be put away for Beneatha and
her schoolin’-and ain’t nothing going to touch that part of it. Nothing.” as her first idea. (p.27)
Her wanting to save a portion of the money for Beneatha’s education instantly connotes that
she worries a lot about the cost of Beneatha’s education as it matters a lot to her, and
therefore implicates that a woman cannot just work hard to gain wealth and status-there are
financial barriers as well.
George is Beneatha’s boyfriend who possesses an extreme amount of wealth in the
play. However, Beneatha is not really serious about him as she does not really like his
character, and just dates him for the places he takes her. George constantly expects
Beneatha to listen to him and do what he says throughout the play. In which Hansberry
effectively uses Beneatha’s character to portray the expectation to submit to male
character’s, and yet an indomitable spirit who isn’t afraid to be herself despite gender
inequality. Before George and Beneatha go out to a play, the stage directions say ‘Her hair is
close-cropped and unstraightened. George freezes mid-sentence’ (p.58) This tells us that
Beneatha has cut off her hair, shocking George. However, this shock also originates from
realising Beneatha would do something knowing he wouldn’t like it, displaying his superiority
complex over her. During the same night afterwards the stage directions say ‘He tries to kiss
her. She moves away’ (p.71) We can see she is trying to avoid physical contact with him.
THe use of simple clauses give off a powerful, intimidating feel to Beneatha as she doesn’t
just give in to her own boyfriend’s desires against her own. George himself does this
shamelessly while knowing her intentions to simply talk, evoking that he expects her to
follow suit regardless. After a bit of conversation turning into an argument, stage directions
say “She rebuffs him again and he starts to leave…..exasperated” (p.72) Here we see that
George is giving up and is frustrated with Beneatha. This also tells us that Beneatha won’t
simply back down when George persists. This also reveals that from George’s experience
women would give in easily to him, using the adjective “exasperated” to express his
unfamiliarity with this situation.
Within the play, Beneatha holds a lot of ideals important to her that she struggles to
communicate as a woman to George, as she is often shunned or ignored. The attitude
towards male characters that Hansberry illustrates through Beneatha’s body language,
overall mood and actions conveys an independent, rebellious nature from Beneatha, in
which she should not require to simply make her words heard, but has to do so because of
her gender. During a discussion between George and Beneatha, stage directions say ‘A
longer pause as she looks at him’. (p.72) This ‘longer pause’ expresses Beneatha in thought
and emotionally thinking. Judging from context, we can see this implies disappointment in
George as well as just being hurt, as George dismissed her words extremely quickly and
responded in an unbothered way, picturing the little interest George sees in her as an
intellectual partner, looking down upon her simply because of her gender. This is also
supported when Beneatha when addressing George’s attitude towards her dream of
becoming a doctor, saying “and George, for one, still thinks that's pretty funny, I couldn’t be
bothered with that.” (p.32) This connotes that George does not think that Beneatha can
become a doctor, and Beneatha does not want to let this affect her. There is no anxiety or
stress in her words, which evokes the sense that this has happened before, with George
being unsupportive towards Beneatha, teaching her to fend for herself and ignore nasty
remarks towards her. After George sees Beneatha’s outfit and insults her, Beneatha says “I
don’t like that, George “ (p.58) Here we can see Beneatha is affected by George’s words
about her cultural outfit quite negatively. The more sombre tone of writing expresses just
how clear she is on finding her identity and embracing her culture, and that she won’t be
pushed around simply because he wants her to change. This conveys the message that
men at the time would always expect women to follow their orders, especially when being
seen with them, valuing appearance over their own girlfriend’s opinion.
Throughout the play Beneatha constantly meets challenges because of her gender
and the public opinion on gender roles defining jobs and family situations, and when she
tries to break free of these roles, she finds hate and problems, financial or social. Hansberry
writes Beneatha with a dream to be a doctor to show just how hard it is to earn money and
get a high ranking job as a woman when the world expects you to just get married and have
babies. The character George serves to illustrate someone who fits these gender roles,
expecting Beneatha to obey his orders no matter what his own personal opinion is as long
as he earns money for both of them.
1195 Words
References
‌Hansberry, L. (2011). A Raisin in the Sun. Student Editions.
Bibliography:
Hansberry, L. (2011). A Raisin in the Sun. Bloomsbury Methuen Drama.