Character Analysis Of Beneatha In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

In some plays the experience of an important character changes him or her. In others the experiences of an important character leave him or her almost completely unchanged. In A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, Beneatha’s experience with the struggles of identity affect her in little to no way in the play. She changes her mind numerous times and ends up almost the exact same way as in the beginning of the play.
Beneatha continually struggles with her identity throughout the play. Her mother and Ruth point out that she changes interests numerous times, “Beneatha: I don't flit! I —I experiment with different forms of expression—” “Ruth: Like Riding a horse?” (Hansberry, 505) She as well struggles between her love interests, Joseph Asagai and George Murchison, though she appears to favor Asagai over George. Beneatha also questions whether she wants to be a doctor or not. There are numerous examples of Beneatha’s struggling identity problems, but she doesn’t drop the problem even at the end. Moreover, this offers insight into whether she is actually affected by the experience or not.
Beneatha continually changes her mind throughout the play, so progressive development backfires against her in certain aspects. For example, she questions whether she loves George or Asagai, both whom want her to be different things. However, Beneatha shows that she prefers Asagai more than she does George throughout the play,“I just mean I couldn't ever really be serious about George. He's—he's so
The experience may not change the character as well. Beneatha’s experience in A Raisin in the Sun with the struggles of identity is an example of how an experience doesn’t change an important character. Beneatha struggles numerous times with her identity, yet she doesn’t go through with her questioning; she always comes back to her original thoughts. Therefore, she never seems to