ALMALLAM 1

Almallam Boujemaa

MA in Studies in Literary and Cultural Encounters

MA Course: Drama and Theatre

Professor: Khalid Chaouch

Characterization Techniques in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun (1959) and August

Wilson’s Fences (1985)

Both Loraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun (1959) whose protagonist is a female

character, Lena Younger and August Wilson’s play, Fences (1985) whose main character is

Troy Maxon, depict several social, economic and cultural concerns of Modern American

Literature in general and drama in particular. Hansberry’s play is probably one of the first

plays that gives an identity to the African American theatre and portrays the sufferings of

people from African American descent. The play has also paved the way for many other

dramatic works that deal with the plight of blacks in the United States. A few years later,

August Wilson followed the steps of Hansberry and addressed nearly the same predicaments

discussed in A Raisin in the Sun. This paper sets out to carry out a comparative reading of

Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun (1959) and August Wilson’s Fences (1985) in

order to show how characterization techniques are used by both playwrights. On this basis, a

number of characterization techniques shall be taken into consideration while dealing with

both plays, notably authorial characterization, characters’ opinions and thoughts, and

language.

Characters are fundamental elements in drama and theatre; they build up the plot

through movement, interactions and actions. Plays would not have come into existence

without characters. Hence, characters require close attention so that we can see their
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importance in the makeup of the dramatic work, notably plays. Aristotle in his Poetics

postulates that character “holds a second place after the plot” (5). He maintains that

tragedyi is the imitation of an action, and the action implies personal agents,

who necessarily possess certain distinctive qualities both of character and

thought; for it is by these that we qualify actions themselves, and these-

thought and character- are the two natural causes from which actions spring,

and on actions again all success or failure depends (5).

The role of character in drama and theatre is thus crucial. A dramatic work can’t exist without

personal agents whose main attributes include thought and character. The success and the

failure of a play or a dramatic work are dependent upon these agents. Besides, these personal

agents don’t stand in isolation in the dramatic work, but their role is fulfilled when they

interact with each other.

Characters can generally be divided into “major characters and minor characters,

depending on how important they are to the plot” (Lethbridge and Mildorf 113). Lethbridge

and Mildorf also argue that what indicates whether or not a character is major or minor is

threefold: the amount of time allocated to the character, the presence on the stage and the

amount of speech (113). A major character thus shows up on the stage for a long time and

dominates talk, whereas secondary or minor characters spend less time on the stage and talk

less, and are as a result peripheral. These minor characters, though marginal, contribute in the

shaping of the play, in revealing certain traits about other characters, and in the development

of the plot as a whole. For the reader to discern the traits of each character, playwrights

usually resort to certain techniques to unveil the attitudes, and the characteristics of

characters. This can be done either through dialogue, stage directions, or when characters talk

about themselves.
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For the reader to discern the traits of each character, playwrights usually resort to

certain techniques to develop their dramatic persona and to reveal the characteristics of

characters. This can be done through various techniques. We can distinguish between

“authorial characterization, in which the author describes characters by commenting on them

in stage directions, figural characterization in which other characters describe and comment

on other characters, as well as self-characterization”( Lethbridge and Mildorf 117). Authorial

and figural characterization can be rendered explicit and implicit. The author for instance

provides direct descriptions of characters in stage directions, hence direct characterization.

The author may also reveal information about his characters implicitly through “contrasts,

names and correspondences” ( Lethbridge and Mildorf 117). Figural characterization can also

be explicit or implicit. Implicit characterization includes “physical appearance, gesture, body

language, masks and costumes, stage props, setting, behavior, voice, language (style register,

dialect, etc) and topics one discusses”( Lethbridge and Mildorf 117)

Characterization techniques are the media through which we get into the depth of the

character. Stage directions are “useful guidelines, generally written in italics, are provided by

the dramatist to help the reader to read the dialogue. They help to visualize the play” (Castex

and Jumeau 64). Although stage directions offer clues to the reader to fathom certain qualities

of characters, they are still inadequate. Dialogues, also referred to as dramatic language,

provide the reader with situations in which the characters interact. These interactions, actions

and reactions of characters reveal many aspects of the character, including its psychological,

social, cultural, and economic background. In this regard, Castex and Jumeau attest that “we

can’t expect too much from stage directions since they are absent in some plays. They must be

derived or inferred from dialogue…, which provides clues, characters discuss each other, their

situation, and their surroundings” (64). In the same vein, Letwin & Joe and Stockdale

maintain that “the character of a fictional person in a play … is judged by her actions. The
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role is characterized by an objective analysis of what the author says about the person in stage

directions, about what others say about her, and what she says about herself” (51). In short,

stage directions, dialogues and self-characterization all contribute to enlighten the reader

about the traits and the status of the character and how the playwright develops his or her

characters in a dramatic work, especially plays.

Authorial characterization is abundantly used by Hansberry and Wilson. In A Raisin in

the Sun and Fences for example, both playwrights introduce their characters by telling the

names of characters, via other character or by means of stage directions. For instance, the

reader or the viewer knows George Murchison through another character, Beneatha. She

answers Mama who asked her “who you going out with tomorrow night?” “George

Murchison” Beneatha answered. (Hansberry 127). Besides, we identify Mama when the

playwright tells us her name when he describes the house of the Younger family in the

beginning of scene one. Afterwards, the playwright provides a detailed description of Mama

in lengthy stage directions and prose-like language. We realize the physical traits of Mama,

her age, and some of her personality characteristics. Troy Maxon, the protagonist of Fences is

introduced to the reader directly at the outset. The reader recognizes that Troy Maxon is

“fifty-three years old, a large man, with tick, heavy hands…together with his blackness, his

largeness informs his sensibilities and the choices he has made in his life” (Wilson 2412).

This description of Troy gives hints to the reader that Troy is a laborer and that the work he

does requires physical strength. Telling names and stage directions provide some traits of the

characters in both plays, yet the information they provide are inadequate for an in-depth

understanding of the attitudes, beliefs, educational background or psychological depth of the

character. Thoughts and opinions of character, however, can make up for these inadequacies.

Thoughts and opinions are illuminating as far as characterization is concerned.

Hansberry’s characters embrace conflicting opinions and thoughts as what to do with the
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insurance money that whole family is expecting. These opinions and thoughts divulge the

ambition and dreams of each member of the family except Travis. We recognize that Walter

is money-maniac and wants to invest the money in a liquor store, Beneatha wants to use part

of the money to pay for her Medical school, Mama’s dream is taking the family to a bigger

house, and Ruth urges Mama to go on a vacation. These diverging opinions tell us a lot about

the characters: Walter’s eagerness to set up his own business and make big money,

Beneatha’s intellectual interests, and Mama’s desire to protect and keep her family under one

roof. Likewise, Wilson’s Characters are introduced and recognized through their contrasting

opinions and thoughts. Troy, the protagonist of Fences, seems to embrace radical opinions.

When he recognizes that Cory dreams of pursuing football or college, he simply does not

accept the idea on the grounds that “the white man ain’t gonna let him get nowhere with that

football” (Wilson 2416). His friend Bono and his wife Rose remind him that times have

changed. Rose says “they got lot of colored boys playing ball now. Baseball and football”

(Wilson 2416). Bono shares the same opinion with Rose. Troy, however insists on what he

believes. This exchange between these characters reveals that Troy is adamant in his refusal to

change his mind concerning Cory’s joining of a football team. It also shows that Troy’s

experience with the white man in the past affects his present negatively. Opinions and thought

characters express are indeed very telling.

Another characterization technique that playwrights use is language. Language is a

key to the social status of the character. A close examination of both plays demonstrates that

Hansberry’s play employs language to give us hints about the educational background and

social status of the character. We notice that Youngers tend to use regional dialects since the

family lives in the South of Chicago. In her play, Hansberry informs us that Mama slurs

speech. It is also noticeable that the majority of the family members tend to elide the verb to

be while speaking. Their language also lacks grammar accuracy. This denotes that the family
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comes from the working class. Beneatha’s language, however, besides Asagai’s and

Murchison’s is formal and refined, which implies their educational background. In Fences,

characters use the same dominant jargon in A raisin in the Sun. We notice that all the family

members speak informal language, which again tells us about the social standing of the family

members as a working class and uneducated family.

In sum, August Wilson and Lorraine Hansberry have used the techniques of

characterization masterfully. Both playwrights employ the authorial characterization, which

they provide to introduce characters, opinions and thoughts of the characters also help us to

recognize the characteristics of the dramatic persona, and ultimately language as a key to

social and educational background is very telling in the sense that it reveals the social and

economic status of both families. Hansberry and Wilson have generally adopted the above

techniques correspondingly. However, when it comes to language, we notice that Hansberry’s

use of language is not completely informal. This implies that there is a new generation of

African Americans who have joined higher educational institution.

Footnotes

i
The concept of tragedy has gained a new meaning with the evolution of modern drama to include the tragedy
of the modern common man. Modern dramatists like August Wilson and Lorraine Hansberry published works
that deal with the plight of the common man. Tragedy does not exclusively depict the ordeals and the tragic
flaws of an elevated aristocratic kingly character.

Works Cited

Aristotle. Poetics, 350BC. Trans. S.H Butcher. A Universal Download Edition , 1902.

Castex, Peggy, and Alain Jumeau. Les Grands Classiques De La Littérature Anglaise Et
Américaine. Paris: Hachette, 1992-1994. Print.

GATES Jr., Henry Louis and Nellie Y. McKay (eds.) The Norton Anthology of African
American Literature. New York: Norton& Co., 1997. ( Wilson’s Fences, pp. 2411-2462)
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CERF, Bennett (ed.) Four Contemporary American Plays. New York: Vintage Books, 1961.
(Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, pp.101-205)

Letwin, David, Joe Stockdale, and Robin Stockdale. The Architecture of Drama: Plot,
Character, Theme, Genre, and Style. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2008. Print.

Lethbridge, Stefanie, and Jarmila Mildorf. Basics of English Studies: An introductory course
for students of literary studies in English. Developed at the English departments of the
Universities of Tübingen, Stuttgart and Freiburg. n.d.