In the drama, "The Piano Lesson" by August Wilson written in 1945, it showed the difficulties in releasing the past and moving forward in one's life. It also centered on the conflicts between brother and sister over differences in values and beliefs. For example, the brother, Boy Willie, wanted to sell the family piano so he can buy his own land to farm and start a new life for himself. However, he was confronted by his sister, Berniece, who did not want to sell the piano due to it's rich and painful past that it represented. Therefore, the theme in "The Piano Lesson" shows the complexity of African-American attitudes toward the past and black heritage compared to plans for the future. In addition, "The Piano Lesson" is both unique to the dilemma of African-Americans during the time and universal in its depiction of the human condition, which I will further explain later in this paper.
The two main characters in this play were Berniece and Boy Willie with the rest of the family as supporting characters. Berniece was very withdrawn and held a lot of pain inside after the death of both her mother and husband. "She is still in mourning for her husband." (1335) Boy Willie, on the other hand, was a loud and stubborn man who had his mind set on selling the family piano from the onset of the play and nothing or no one was going to change his mind. "He is a brash and impulsive, talkative, and somewhat crude in speech and manner." (1334) These characteristics of the two main characters refer back to the theme of this play by illustrating the attitudes of African-Americans towards the past, present and future. Boy Willie doesn't want the past to hold him back in society and thus wants to sell a part of the past (the family piano) to enrich his future. Berniece, however, is still carrying the past (old baggage) around and that past is holding her back both economically and in her love life.
The setting of this drama took place in the 1940s in the home of Doaker Charles, Berniece's and Boy Willie's uncle.
