Beale Street Love Themes
Love
In reading "Beale Street Love," which is all about violence, it's easy to forget that the whole thing is a metaphor for love. Once that first line is over, the word is nowhere to be found. Instead,...
Power
Where there is love and where there is violence, there's usually a power struggle, too. The fist in "Beale Street Love," and the love that it represents are powerful. There's no doubt about that. B...
Gender
Though it might seem like the man in "Beale Street Love" has the upper hand – it's his fist that is doing all the crushing and blackening – Clorinda, the female, has something to say before the...
Race
"Beale Street Love" is set on – surprise, surprise – Beale Street, a center of African-American culture and blues music. Langston Hughes was well known for addressing the black experience in hi...