RUTH

• 'What is there to be pleasant 'bout!' pg 16


  Mundanity of life - Ruth has no great dreams / aspirations like the others.

  AAVE exclamative
• Walter: 'you tired, ain't you? Tired of everything. Me, the boy, the way we live - this beat up hole - everything.' pg17


  Repetition of 'tired' fills dialogue with their exhaustion

  grim semantic field ('tired' 'beat' 'hole'), broken dreams
• '(wearily): Honey, you never say nothing new. I listen to you every day, every night and every morning, and you never say nothing new. (Shrugging) So you would rather be Mr. Arnold than be his chauffeur. So – I would rather be living in Buckingham Palace.' pg19


  AAVE = double negation. Stuck in a cycle.

  Anaphoric triadic list - relentless

  Syntactic patterning - hyperbolic dreams that are unattainable.

  Expressing her fatigue - privilege to be 'restless' in TGG.
• 'we've put enough rent into this here rat trap to pay for four houses by now.' pg28 


  CONTEXT: segregation in 1950s SS Chicago = distorted real estate market - 'red lining' value of housing depending on racial demographics

  Marxist lens using zoomorphism of 'rat trap'
• What does Ruth represent in the play?

  RUTH represents the pragmatic realism of the downtrodden African American woman. Her intersectionality means that she is oppressed both by society, her race and in her own home.
• 'Shoot - these here rich white women do it all the time!' pg27


  Assimilation - frustration at injustice.

  Colloquial interjection 'shoot' = raw expression

  Frowned upon for AA women, Hansberry commenting on the injustice of society.
• 'i don't know where we lost it...i guess i just didn't realise how bad things was with us … I guess i just didn't really realise - (she starts out to the bedroom and stops) You want some hot milk?' pg66


  Fragmented and anaphoric mitigation 'i guess' shows this hesitant realisation of struggle, struggle to process and accept the reality

  Shift in tone to mundane 'hot milk' symbolises her role as caretaker
• RUTH: (standing and looking at him helplessly) What else can I give you, Walter Lee Younger?’ pg66


  Prosodics 'helplessly' highlights she is not money, she does not have money, she cannot provide Walter with a ladder to his dreams and therefore is helpless.

  Formal, full name address holds weight in signifying the plea for recognition and the emotional distance between them.

  CONTEXTS: Marginalization faced by AA women due to their race and gender. Black feminism didn’t rise until 1960s.
• '(struck senseless with the news...)...and goodbye misery... i don't never want to see your ugly face again!' pg71


  Metaphoric + personification

  Exclamation + AAVE double negation

  Misery personified with 'ugly face' highlighting the extent to Ruth's disdain in the apartment
• '(looking off) Is there - is there a whole lot of sunlight?' pg71


  Sunlight symbolises life, opportunity, life for baby.

  Kinesics suggests Ruth is mentally escaping her present reality, she's dreaming

  Elliptic dash creates a hesitant pause, signifying her current plight and yearning for improvement.
• 'I’m all right…(The glassy-eyed look melts and then she collapses into a fit of heavy sobbing. The bell rings)' pg41


  'I'm all right' is immediately overshadowed by juxtaposing collapse revealing the toll her life has taken on her - physically and emotionally.

  Metaphorical 'melt' of emotional resiliency, the pressure of her surroundings 'collapsing' atop of her
• 'Lord, that man – don’t changed so ‘round here. You know – you know what we did last night? Me and Walter Lee?…(Smiling to herself) We went to the movies. (Looking at BENEATHA to see if she understands)We went to the movies. You know the last time me and Walter went to the movies together?' pg87


  Fragmented sentence = urgency and excitement

  Colloquial language

  Shift in their relationship - inching closer to dreams.