Raisin In The Sun Beneatha Prejudice

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Recommended: Literary Analysis of Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

Raisin in the Sun Final Analysis Essay

“Raisin in the Sun” is a play set in the 1950s written by Lorraine Hansberry about a struggling African American family living in Chicago. Following the death of of a person who held a key role in their family, they try to determine what to do with the notable insurance money left to them upon their loved one’s death. Beneatha, a daughter and sister in the family, aspires to be a doctor. Hansberry calls attention to the struggles African Americans and women had to face during these times. The prejudice working against Beneatha caused many obstacles to be placed in her path. Beneatha has risen above this prejudice encircling her gender by tearing down the negative stigma that surrounds it.
One way Beneatha …show more content…

In addition, not only were women considered to be less intelligent, they were also expected to become something lesser than a man. This is displayed further along in the argument between Walter and Beneatha, Walter states… “Who the hell told you you had to be a doctor? If you so crazy ‘bout messing ‘round with sick people- then go be a nurse like other women- or just get married and be quiet…” (38). In other words, Walter is grouping Beneatha with other women and is forming a prejudice idea of how that group should act. Walter is encouraging Beneatha to not work hard, settle down, and discard her aspiration. At the same time, he is also disencouraging her dream to be a doctor. During this time, the norm in society was for women to do easier jobs, like becoming a nurse, or not working at all and becoming a wife. Because of those stereotypes and expectations, Walter is questioning her capability and right to become a doctor. One of his reason to question her is the fact that she does not pay for her schooling. Some people may argue that Beneatha is enforcing female stereotypes …show more content…

You can find this when George “lectures” Beneatha on the way girls should act based on the stereotype placed on them. I put lecture in quotation marks because you are supposed to gain educational values from lectures, but George is simply throwing out sexist remarks that he believes are right. After Beneatha rejects his advances, George says… “(Exasperated) I want you to cut it out, see- The moody stuff, I mean. I don’t like it. You’re a nice looking girl… all over. That’s all you need, honey, forget the atmosphere. Guys aren’t going to go for the atmosphere- they’re going to go for what they see. Be glad for that. Drop the Garbo routine. It doesn’t go with you. As for myself, I want a nice- simple-sophisticated girl...not a poet-OK? (He starts to kiss her, she rebuffs him again)” (96). In this scene, Beneatha wants to have an intellectual conversation with George, but he reprimands her and basically says her looks should be values above her books. By saying she is a “nice looking girl” and “that’s all she needs”, George is saying that the sum of Beneatha is her outside appearance, not her intelligence. Moreover, by saying “guys aren’t looking for the atmosphere” and “they’re going for what they see”, again George is implying that guys are only going to go for Beneatha because of her outer

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