The Portrayal of African American Women Hansberry uses a series of characters, phrases and words in order to bring out African American women’s struggles during her time. For example, in her play, “A Raisin in the Sun”, the playwright uses the phrase “drop the Garbo routine”. Through this phrase, the author is trying to show how men wanted women to know their place in society. This fact is seen through one of the characters in the play known as Beneatha. The latter character was different from others because she was aggressive and was unafraid to point out any chauvinistic tendencies among the men that she interacted with. This caused a lot of tension between her and her male counterparts because this was not expected of women. Additionally, this woman was independent and liberated. Hansberry also brings out the fact that African American men expected Black women to behave in a submissive manner. She brings this out through another character known as George. George tells Beneatha that if she wants to find a husband, she would have to act like the other women; this meant that she should not behave in a very intelligent manner or in a way that depicted that she had studied so much. The latter author’s writings are also essential in bringing out some of the struggles faced by black women in her time because of the problems that this category of Americans had to overcome. Through another character known as Mama, it is possible to understand African American women’s plight at that time. Mama may seem like a strong woman when viewed externally, but inwardly, this woman was struggling with insecurities related to her children’s future, as she was unsure about what it held for them. Another woman that was dealing with dilemmas in the play was Ruth. Ruth had found out that she was pregnant and that she would have to raise yet another child in a home that was already struggling with their finances. This child was coming at a time when Ruth was having problems with her...