|
|
 |
|
|
|
English Literature Author: Lorraine Hansberry
|
|
| |
by Lynn Domina
State University of New York
Delhi, New York
|
|
| |
More About Lorraine Hansberry...
Lorraine Hansberry
1930-1965
American
Introduction
Major Works
Chronology
Introduction
The first African-American to win the New York Drama Critics Circle Award,
Lorraine Hansberry is most well known as a playwright, particularly as the author of A Raisin in the Sun. This play addresses several issues that would become crucial to the changes that occurred in American and world culture during the 1960s: race relations, civil rights, and integration; the position of Africa within the world political structure; and gender roles. This play illustrates the tensions within the Younger family as they decide how to allocate a life insurance payment after the death of Walter Younger, Sr. Eventually, the family does purchase a house in an all-white neighborhood, not to make a political point but rather because it is the best house available in their price range. Although the play ends as the move is occurring, several previous incidents and comments indicate that their presence might evoke violence from some of their white neighbors; the conclusion, in other words, isn't as optimistic as some readers would wish. Yet A Raisin in the Sun opened on Broadway to overwhelming success, which could not have happened if a significant portion of the white as well as black audience were not sympathetic to the issues in the play.
When Hansberry was a child, her father, Carl Hansberry, initiated a lawsuit challenging practices of segregation common in Chicago, the family's home, as well as other cities. This suit eventually reached the United States Supreme Court. Although Hansberry won the decision, its interpretation of the issue at hand was narrow rather than broad, so some forms of segregation were permitted to continue. This event, occurring when Lorraine Hansberry was between the ages of 8 and 10, was clearly formative and provided much of the background for her first play. As an adult, Hansberry was also politically active, although her beliefs were often more radical than those of her parents.
Some of Hansberry's subsequent work addressed issues that were tangential to the African-American community, though her plays continued to confront political issues. Before her early death, she was able to complete The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window, which received mixed reviews; it is much more abstract than A Raisin in the Sun, more a play of ideas than of issues. At the time of her death, Hansberry had been working on three plays -- Les Blancs, The Drinking Gourd, and What Use Are Flowers? -- for about five years. They were edited and completed by Robert Nemiroff, Hansberry's former husband and literary executor. Only the first was produced, and that to mixed reviews.
Major Works
- A Raisin in the Sun (1957)
- The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window (1964)
- Les Blancs: The Collected Last Plays of Lorraine Hansberry (1972)
- To Be Young, Gifted, and Black: Lorraine Hansberry in Her Own (1970)
Chronology
1930
Lorraine Hansberry born on May 19 in Chicago.
1938
Hansberry family moves to "restricted" (to whites) area of Chicago. After being attacked by racist mobs, they lose a lawsuit in state court and are evicted.
1940
Carl Hansberry, Lorraine's father, wins a lawsuit over restrictive real estate covenants in the United States Supreme Court.
1946
Carl Hansberry dies in Mexico on March 17.
1948
Hansberry begins study at the University of Wisconsin, though she will not graduate.
1950
Moves to New York City in August, living in the bohemian Lower East Side neighborhood. Begins working for Freedom, a monthly magazine published by Paul Robeson.
1951
Moves to Harlem. Travels to Mississippi to present the governor with a petition of nearly one million signatures protesting the death sentence of Willie McGee, who had been convicted of rape.
1952
Travels to the Intercontinental Peace Congress in Uruguay, representing Paul Robeson, who had been denied a passport.
1953
Marries Robert Nemiroff, whom she had met on a picket line, on June 20. They move to Greenwich Village.
1957
Completes A Raisin in the Sun. Production begins for the play, with Sidney Poitier in the role of Walter Lee Younger, Jr.
1959
A Raisin in the Sun rehearses in New Haven and Philadelphia. After a run in Chicago, the play moves to New York. Hansberry wins the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play of the Year. Hansberry is the youngest American, the first African-American, and the first woman to win this award. Hansberry sells screen rights to the play.
1960
Writes The Drinking Gourd. Begins The Sign in Jenny Reed's Window (later The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window) and Les Blancs.
1961
Moves to the city of Croton-on-Hudson, New York.
1962
Active in Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee and other political action groups. Begins What Use Are Flowers?
1963
Diagnosed with cancer, undergoes surgery. On May 24, attends meeting with Attorney General Robert Kennedy on the looming U.S. racial crisis.
1964
Divorced from Robert Nemiroff on March 10, though Hansberry and Nemiroff retain collaborative work relationship. Undergoes radiation and chemotherapy. Continues work on The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window and Les Blancs. Addresses winners of the United Negro College Fund writing contest with her speech, "To Be Young, Gifted, and Black" on May 1. The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window opens on October 15.
1965
Lorraine Hansberry dies of cancer on January 12.
Lynn Domina is the author of a collection of poetry, Corporal Works, and a reference book, Understanding A Raisin in the Sun. She currently teaches at SUNY--Delhi in the western Catskills.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Course Home Pages