Summary Of The Piano Lesson By August Wilson

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The Piano Lesson by August Wilson follows the Charles family during the aftermath of the Great Depression. The Charles family inherited a 137-year-old, upright piano, decorated with totems in the manner of African sculpture. The play follows The Charles family as they figure out what to do with the piano. Before I read this play, I never heard of it before. However, I did study August Wilson’s Fences, and I could find many similarities between the two. Wilson explores themes of race and slavery. However, unlike Fences Wilson also explores The Supernatural, Ghosts, Music, and more in The Piano Lesson. One of the aspects that I relate to the most in this play is the theme of memory. In The Piano Lesson, The Charles family inherits a piano that depicts the records of the family’s history in slavery. I relate to this because I have a huge document comprised of my family’s history. In addition, I currently own a teapot from the eighteen hundreds that has been passed down through my family. Because the teapot is so old and fragile, my grandmother did not want it anymore. However, I did a lot of convincing in order to keep it.
In regards to the use of the n-word in the dialogue, I personally …show more content…

The first protagonist is Boy Willie. I believe that Boy Willie is the first protagonist because he is the reason the play’s conflict happens. Boy Willie wants to sell the piano and buy a piece of land that his ancestors worked as slaves. Due to his actions, it causes the conflict to return. The second protagonist is Berniece, the sister of Boy Willie. Near the end of the play, Berniece starts playing the piano, which draws on their ancestors in order to banish the spirit of Sutter, the man who owned the Charles family during slavery. Because Berniece is the reason why the play starts to climax, I believe that she is also the protagonist of the play (Shmoop Editorial

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