57 pages • 1-hour read
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
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Essay Topics
In his Century Cycle series, August Wilson wrote a play exploring the black experience during each decade of the 20th century. What does Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom say about what it means to be black in the United States in the 1920s? Where does the play fit into the historical timeline of the struggle for civil rights? Does the play foreshadow what will happen in the ensuing decades?
Choose one of the characters in the play. How does that character work to fight, maintain, or encourage racism? Which characters are working against the character you chose? Use evidence from the text to support your argument.
How does music function in the play? How do different characters define the purpose of music? How does the actual performance of music in the play create meaning?
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom premiered in the 1980s. What was happening in terms of race and racism in the United States during that time? How did the play address those issues in the moment it was written? If the play were revived today, how might it address current issues in a different way?
What does the play say about black artists and their historical relationship with the U.S./American performance industry? How has this relationship changed over time? How has it stayed the same?
Of all of the characters in the play, Wilson chose to have Toledo step on Levee’s shoes at a critical moment and for Levee to kill him. Why do you think Toledo is the character who Levee kills? How might it have been different if he chose another character?
The title of the play, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, refers literally to the song she sings and the black bottom, which is a popular 1920s dance. How might the title have multiple meanings? What else might the title suggest?
Who do you think is the ideal audience for this play? What section of the population do you think would benefit most from seeing it? Who do you think Wilson is addressing?
What role does age play in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom? How do different generations express varying points of view? What does this say about changes that are occurring in society and in the music industry? Do you think that Wilson is highlighting any generation as particularly right or wrong?
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