This essay compares Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun and Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire through the lens of Langston Hughes's poem "A Dream Deferred." The paper explores how both plays depict families struggling against hostile societies while clinging to dreams for a better future. It examines parallels and contrasts in how dreams fester, sag, or endure across both works, and concludes by distinguishing the optimistic resolution of Hansberry's play from the fragmented, pessimistic conclusion of Williams's drama.
A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams and A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry are two classic plays rooted in the daily struggles of families trying to live life as best they know how. Both works present several setbacks and obstructions that work against the characters' ability to achieve their dreams. Some of these hindrances come from outside the family, while others originate from within. One common thread between the two families, however, is that they are both struggling to cope with hostile societies and remain optimistic that better days will come.
In his poem, Langston Hughes poses the question: "What happens to a dream deferred?" He then offers several possibilities — in the form of questions — about what can befall a dream that has been postponed. This poem applies directly to both plays. Deferred dreams in the two works refuse to "dry up like a raisin in the sun," and this is exemplified by the continued presence of Mama's plant, which she carries with her whenever the family relocates. The plant is symbolic of a dream that Mama refuses to let wither and disappear.
This refusal to let dreams die is also portrayed in Williams's play. Stella gives birth toward the end of A Streetcar Named Desire, and the troubled Blanche is raped and ultimately sent to an asylum. These events signal the arrival of a new generation — one that will live within the reality of conscience and morality, rather than in the self-deception that defined Blanche's existence.
In both plays, the authors paint a picture of dreams that "fester like a sore and then run" — just when audiences begin to believe things are working out for these families. In A Raisin in the Sun, just when the family receives a $10,000 insurance payout and the audience expects stability to follow, the money becomes a source of conflict — pitting Mama against her son, Walter Lee. Similarly, in A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche DuBois flees to New Orleans hoping to begin a new life after losing her ancestral home, only to be met with hostility from her brother-in-law Stanley, who is consumed by class resentment. His cruelty culminates in rape and his campaign to have her committed to an institution. Both cases depict dreams that have festered — growing worse rather than better — with consequences that spill over like an infected wound.
"Dreams as burdens on central characters"
"Hansberry's hopeful, unified family ending"
"Williams's fragmented, bleak conclusion"
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