A Raisin in the Sun and the Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window

By Lorraine Hansberry, Robert Brustein, Robert Brustein

Book Overview

Collected together, two of the most electrifying classic masterpieces of the American theater, remarkable not only for their historical value but for their continued ability to engage the imagination and the heart. With an Introduction by Robert Nemiroff.

"Rich and warm and funny and varied ... beautifully written." --Los Angeles Times, on The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window

"One of a handful of great American plays--it belongs in the inner circle, along with Death of a Salesman, Long Day's Journey Into Night and The Glass Menagerie." --Washington Post, on A Raisin in the Sun

By the time of her death, at the tragically young age of thirty-four, Lorraine Hansberry had created two milestones of the American theater. With A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry gave this country its most movingly authentic portrayal of black family life in the inner city. Barely five years later, with The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window, Hansberry gave us an unforgettable portrait of a man struggling with his individual fate in an age of racial and social injustice.

"Never before, in the entire history of the American theater, has so much of the truth of Black people's lives been seen on the stage," observed James Baldwin shortly before A Raisin in the Sun opened on Broadway in 1959. The play's title comes from a line in Langston Hughes's poem "Harlem," which warns that a dream deferred might "dry up/like a raisin in the sun."

From John Blaine's Foreword to The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window "It is drama of such clarity that one may return to it again and again, and, I expect, emerge as deeply moved; and each time the more illumined.... Miss Hansberry, I am convinced, doesn't know how to create a character who isn't gloriously diverse, illuminatingly contradictory, heart-breakingly alive.... A] personal odyssey of discovery, a confrontation with others in the process of which Brustein] discovers himself."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679755314
• ISBN13: 9780679755319
• Release Date: June 1995
• Publisher: Vintage
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.1" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

IT'S GREAT

A raisin in the sun is a greaat book, that is about a man named Walter that wanted the best for his family and son. his father have always tought him how to stay strong in a very wild life, but Wlater was weak, he never learned that he must do stuff the hard way if he wanted to succed in life. he has always wanted to get money the easy way, but he never makes it to the end because its not easy to make money. even thought Walter wanted to be really rich and be like white men at the time, he stile didnt try hard to be rich like what his dad told him before he passed out. Also in the play Beneatha was Walter's sister that also had dreams of being a doctor. she wanted all people to like her and love her but she didn't learn how to do that and which way to get them to like her. Ruth was a woman who had seen many battles in life. She expected to live the good life with Walter and when that did not happen, she stood by his side anyway. They had one son that they could hardly take care of and when she found herself pregnant she became desperate looking for a solution. How were they going to take care of a child, they could hardly feed and clothe the one they had. The mother of this family was Ruth, she was a great mama that have always cared about her family and she always try to pull them together to form a great strong family. This story showed how much problems African American families had at that time and how much they strugled.

Excellent Content

For those wanting to understand the influence of this great American author, I strongly recommend this edition of Raisin and Sign. The commentaries and introductions are priceless. Not to mention that the plays themselves are fascinating. Speaking as a white, Irish female, one would wonder why I'd have such a high opinion, well, doing Ms. Hansberry as a research subject for my entire junior year, I didn't have much interest at first. But reading these plays made me realize that Hansberry holds a great power for writing about universal concepts and ideas, whether the reader is black or not. Especially The Sign In Sidney Brustein's Window.

A literary nust-read.

A Raisin in the sun was written to reflect one man's struggle to pull himself up from the slums to make a better life for his son and family. Walter was a weak man and had always had his father's coat-tails to ride on. When his father was alive he had a role model, someone who knew how to be a man and Walter never learned that it meant doing things the hard way. He and his friends were out looking for fast fortune and it never worked out. Walter had big dreams of owning big cars and living up where the rich white folks live. Beneatha had dreams of being a doctor and she was head strong and determined not to let anything or anyone stand in her way. Least of all her pathetic brother, Walter. She wanted to be loved and appreciated for all of her struggles but she did not know how to earn that love and appreciation. Ruth was a woman who had seen many battles in life. She expected to live the good life with Walter and when that did not happen, she stood by his side anyway. They had one son that they could hardly take care of and when she found herself pregnant she became desperate looking for a solution. How were they going to take care of a child, they could hardly feed and clothe the one they had. Ruth was strong and she was the backbone for her husband. The matriarch in the Family though was Mama. She was the string that held all of her family together. An example of this was when she tied the sticks around the flower to hold it together for moving. This represented her pulling the family together to prepare for the hardships that would probably come their way in moving out to Clyborne Park. They knew that they would not be wanted in that area, but the family had seen and been through more than enough in their time. This story represents the struggle to be a family, to take care of what you love and do what you have to do to see that your family is taken care of. It also represents the struggle that many people go through in life to be someone within themselves.