raisin in the sun

The certainty that the ideals of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" can become reality for anyone willing to work for them is what we call the American dream. For many, the dream does come true. For many it does not.

Lorraine Hansberry knew about disappointment, false hope, and despair. For many of her African-American ancestors who had come North for a better life only to find exploitation and frustration, the dream had become a nightmare. In contemporary terms, she chronicles their nightmare in A Raisin in the Sun, an epic story of the Younger family struggling to realize the dream by escaping ghetto life. Hansberry's screenplay not only tells the story of the Youngers but reveals the plight of all who have failed dreams.

Her cosmi...