Major Works

Amazingly, Lorraine Hansberry only wrote five plays. They are, in order of publication, A Raisin in the Sun (1959), The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window (1964), Le Blancs (1970), The Drinking Gourd, and What Use Are Flowers? (both published in 1972 by her ex-husband/publisher after her death). She also wrote an autobiography titled To Be Young, Gifted, and Black (1969) and left a play called Toussaint, focused around the Haitian liberator who was a great influence to her throughout her life, unfinished. To Be Young, Gifted, and Black was also adapted into a play. Her plays deal with themes of prejudice, mainly focusing on race, class, and/or gender, while also discussing family dynamics and the human condition.