From the "Other" to Matriarch: The Transcending Role of Black Women in Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun

Abstract

The gender roles that have been assigned within societies tend to be of a binary nature: the men represent "the One", the absolute and essential, whereas the women are "the other", the accidental and inferior. The idea of Otherness can be traced back in a variety of contemporary works, including Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun. This work addresses the numerous details and elements which embody the idea of otherness within the play. The female characters, Beneatha, Mama Lena and Ruth, embody women’s struggle to save their identity, and it is shown how this double-sided otherness tends to determine even the smallest aspects of their life, as the race issues complicate the feminist ones. This paper aims to compare these women's attempts to transcend the imposed role of being the "other", through the different levels of matriarchy they realize. It is suggested that taking this position appears to be the only way for women to escape 'otherness'. The characters have proven man's incapability of dealing with women as being equal to them, as a result of their instilled sense of self-doubt and inferiority. It seems as if men tend to live in a constant fear of not being able to measure up to society’s standards.