Book Club Guide

A Raisin in the Sun

by Lorraine Hansberry · 1959 · Classics

Key themes

The deferred dream and the damage of continued waiting
What each generation owes the next — and how that debt creates conflict
Race, dignity and the house that represents more than shelter

About this book

The Younger family — three generations of Black Americans living in a cramped Chicago apartment — await a life-insurance payout that each member hopes to use differently: a house in a white neighbourhood, a business, a medical education. Hansberry's landmark play takes its title from Langston Hughes and asks what happens to a dream deferred.

Premiered on Broadway in 1959 with a cast including Sidney Poitier, A Raisin in the Sun was the first play by a Black woman to be produced on Broadway. Hansberry was 28 when it opened. She died at 34, leaving a significant body of unfinished work.

Discussion questions

Each member of the Younger family wants to use the insurance money differently. Whose vision for the money do you most sympathise with — and how does Hansberry make each person's dream comprehensible?
Walter Lee's frustration is expressed partly through his treatment of his wife and his dismissal of Beneatha's dreams. How does the play present the relationship between racial oppression and gender dynamics within a family?
The Clybourne Park Improvement Association tries to buy the Youngers out of moving into a white neighbourhood. Walter's response in the final scene is one of the great moments of American drama. What is Hansberry saying about dignity?
Beneatha's interest in African identity and her relationship with Asagai raise questions about what Black Americans owe to African heritage. How does the play navigate this without resolving it?
The play opened on Broadway in 1959 with a Black cast and director — a significant event. What does knowing its historical context add to your reading — and what does the play say that remains urgent?