Drop the Garbo routine When George Murchison admonishes Beneatha to "drop the Garbo routine," he is telling her to know her "place" as a woman. Beneatha intellectualizes everything, is clearly independent, does not defer to men, and argues whatever points of chauvinism she finds in her conversation with men. George wants Beneatha to be more quiet and submissive. He implies in his speech that men do not like aggressive, independent, liberated women, and that if she ever hopes to get married and have a family, she is going to have to "drop the Garbo routine," meaning she will have to stop studying and thinking so much, and start acting "like a [submissive] woman."
Ethiopia References to Ethiopia can be found in the Bible and in the writings of Herodotus and Homer. For much of its history, Ethiopia was known as Abyssinia. Although it is documented that as early as the first century B.C. some Middle Eastern traders settled there, Ethiopian history cites Queen Makeda of Ethiopia and King Solomon as being the parents of Menelik I who, during his reign, founded the kingdom of Ethiopia in 10 B.C. Queen Makeda was known by many names: "Bilquis" to the ancient Moslems, "Black Minerva" and "Ethiopian Diana" to the Greeks, "Queen of Sheba" to King Solomon, and to her own people, she was "Makeda, the beautiful." Queen Makeda was so impressed with the wisdom of King Solomon that she visited him in Jerusalem, adopted his religion of Judaism and, upon the birth of their first child, who was a male, she crowned this child King of Ethiopia, an act which united the two nations. She named this child Ibn-alHakim, which means "son of the wise man," but he was popularly known as Menelik. In 1889, Sahaba Mariem rose to power in Ethiopia, ascended the throne, and changed his name to Menelik II, signifying blood ties to Menelik, Makeda's son. Menelik II initiated the modern age of Ethiopian development by defeating the Italians, who were trying to establish a protectorate over Ethiopia. Under his reign, roads were constructed, formal education and social services were instituted, and electricity was introduced. Menelik II is also responsible for relocating the capital at Addis Ababa and for modernizing the operation of government. The most dominant figure in recent Ethiopian history is Haile Selassie I, also known as "the Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Elect of God, and King of Kings." He was crowned Emperor in 1930. Five years later, in 1935, after Selassie had offered his people a written constitution and educational and administrative reforms, Mussolini invaded Ethiopia and occupied the country until 1941, when the British forced the Italians out, and Haile Selassie returned to his throne. During the following decades, Haile Selassie became a symbol of leadership to other African nations that eventually would demand their independence. The founding of the Organization of African Unity, under Haile Selassie, and the headquartering of the OAU in Addis Ababa attest to the respect that Selassie received from the people of Africa.
fanning herself . . . mistakenly more like Butterfly than any Nigerian This stage direction refers to Beneatha's exuberance after receiving the gift of the Nigerian robes and headdress from Asagai. Because Beneatha is not accustomed to African dress, she does not "wear" it properly. Although she is dressed like a Nigerian woman, she begins to dramatically fan herself in order to accentuate her outfit, but she inadvertently loses the African look and appears more Asian, looking as though she's Madame Butterfly instead of African royalty.
fly-by-night proposition a reference to Walter Lee's idea for a business, a proposition that appears to his family to be risky, irresponsible, and unreliable.
Gimme some sugar then a southern expression that means "Give me a hug, a kiss." Mama says this to Travis as she tells him about the house that she is planning to buy.
hand-turned hems This refers to sewing that is done "by hand" and not in a factory on a machine. Ruth has purchased some curtains for the new house, proof of her exuberance over the possibility of their moving away from the ghetto, for Ruth did not even measure the windows before rushing out and buying curtains. When she is asked if she considered whether these curtains will even fit the windows of the new house, Ruth says, "Oh well, they bound to fit something." The curtains, she brags, have "hand-turned hems," which would, of course, make them more valuable than machine-made curtains.
