Senejamies
read the following excerpt from act ii, scene 1 of lorraine hansberry's a raisin in the sun:
time: later the same day. at rise: ruth is ironing again. she has the radio going. presently beneatha's bedroom door opens and ruth's mouth falls and she puts down the iron in fascination.

ruth what have we got on tonight!

beneatha (emerging grandly from the doorway so that we can see her thoroughly robed in the costume asagai brought) you are looking at what a well-dressed nigerian woman wears — (she parades for ruth, her hair completely hidden by the headdress; she is coquettishly fanning herself with an ornate oriental fan, mistakenly more like butterfly than any nigerian that ever was) isn't it beautiful? (she promenades to the radio and, with an arrogant flourish, turns off the good loud blues that is playing) enough of this assimilationist junk! (ruth follows her with her eyes as she goes to the phonograph and puts on a record and turns and waits ceremoniously for the music to come up. then, with a shout —) ocomogosiay!

(ruth jumps. the music comes up, a lovely nigerian melody, beneatha listens, enraptured, her eyes far away — "back to the past." she begins to dance. ruth is dumbfounded)

explain how stage directions add to the reader's understanding of the characters in this excerpt. be sure to use specific details from the text to support your answer.

Stage directions in this excerpt from Act II, Scene 1 of Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun" add to the reader's understanding of the characters by providing information about their personalities and ways of being.

From the directions we can infer that Beneatha is a woman that likes to impress and get the attention of people. She seems to be shallow and conceited. She parades in front of Ruth to show of her new dress make her jealous. She makes a big entrance so that we "can see her thoroughly robed in the costume Asagai brought".

She is arrogant and self-center and has little regard for other people and their lives. We can see this when she "promenades to the radio and, with an arrogant flourish, turns off the good loud blues that is playing". She calls Ruth's music junk, being completely rude and incosiderate.

Ruth, on the other hand, is portrayed as a working woman, since, at the beginning of the excerpt she is "ironing again".

She appears to be a woman easily impressed, due to her reaction upon seeing Beneath's new dress: "she puts down the iron in fascination".

She is also potraited as someone submissive that does not complain about being trated poorly. This can been seen with her reaction to Beneatha's insults to her music. She does not respond, she just "goes to the phonograph and puts on a record and turns and waits ceremoniously for the music to come".

a dictionary is the correct answer