Dreams Deterred: A Study of Lorraine Hansberry’s Raisin in the Sun Dr. Harith I. Turki Al-Duleimy/ Koya University/ School of Foreign Languages/ Department of English

Abstract

Raisin in the Sun (1959) is the first African American play to be performed on the Broadway Theatre. In this play Lorraine Hansberry delineates the dreams of a black family, and the struggle of each member of this family to realize their dreams. What is so interesting is that these dreams are deferred and finally deterred, because simply they are built on the wrong premises. Each of the family members bases their dreams on materialistic principles to achieve their dreams. Besides, these dreams are laid in a racial society, where people are treated according to race and colour. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to depict these dreams, and show how and why these dreams are deterred. In addition, the paper is also concerned with whether one should surrender if their dreams are deferred or they should rise up to look for new prospects.