A Raisin in the Sun Beneatha Character Analysis

📌Category: A Raisin in the Sun, Plays
📌Words: 608
📌Pages: 3
📌Published: 12 April 2022

In “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry, the most dynamic character would be 

Beneatha. In the play, it seems as if Beneatha changes the most in the shortest amount of time, and it doesn’t take her long to realize what fits her. At the beginning of the play, she comes in as a headstrong and very determined character, although she possesses those traits, she had the ability to significantly change over the course of the play. She took the other characters' feedback, specifically Asagai into consideration, while disregarding George’s commands when they were much more controlling than Asagai’s suggestions. Beneatha never shied away from being or finding herself, and enjoyed expressing herself in many different ways, “MAMA: Ain’t nobody trying to stop you. I just wonders sometimes why you has to flit so from one thing to another all the time. You ain’t never done nothing with all that camera equipment you brought home BENEATHA: I don’t flit! I—I experiment with different forms of expression—” (Hansberry 50) Beneatha has always lived with passion in what she does, and only wanted the best for both the Younger family and herself. After Asagai saw she was straightening her hair and commented on it, that was her first biggest change “ASAGAI (Shrugging) Were you born with it like that? BENEATHA (Reaching up to touch it) No … of course not. ASAGAI (Smiling) How then? BENEATHA You know perfectly well how … as crinkly as yours … that’s how. ASAGAI And it is ugly to you that way?BENEATHA (Quickly) Oh, no—not ugly … (More slowly, apologetically) But it’s so hard to manage when it’s, well —raw. ASAGAI And so to accommodate that—you mutilate it every week? BENEATHA It’s not mutilation!” (Hansberry 64) Asagai plays a huge part with the role of Beneatha, mostly every change she has made has been on account of something Asagai has said to her, the mentioning of her hair was just the beginning. After Asagai called her an assimilationist the word appeared in the play a lot more, mostly due to the fact that Asagai’s views became more prevalent to her. She began showing and being a stronger activist for her heritage and culture and had no shame about it. Not everyone around her was too supportive about her changing her ways and beliefs, and by that her biggest “hater” would be that of her second love interest, George Murchison. He was much more discouraging than Asagai, and some would say a little bit too whitewashed to consider himself a part of said heritage. He was less of a supporter than Asagai, even with schooling. In Act ll, Scene ll, Beneatha was trying to talk to George but he was tired of talking and her new interest in activism. She then asked what the point of school was and he said to simply get a degree. Beneatha views school differently, she views it as success and a way to create a name for herself, especially since she’s attending medical school to become a doctor. Another thing about Beneatha is how important he future was to her, no matter how many times members of the Younger family such as Ruth implied she should marry George because he was rich, she wouldn’t give in. She didn’t see anything worth committing to with George, she said herself he was shallow (Hansberry 51). She did see more with Asagai, by the end of the play he had asked her to marry him and move to Africa (Hansberry 136). It could be inferred she was a little more serious about the possible commitment that she and Asagai could have because she ended up telling Mama. Beneatha went through a lot and she changed a lot over the course of the play, from beliefs to romantic feelings, her character is the most empowering showing that it’s up to oneself to keep the same mindset or change it up a little.

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