“[The] Things What Happened with Our Family”: Property and Inheritance in August Wilson's The Piano Lesson1
ABSTRACT This article examines how property operates in August Wilson's The Piano Lesson. It locates particular questions about property within the historical context of the play's setting and delineates notions of black property and inheritance both in relation to and in contradistinction to the tradition of white property rights and privilege. The author also explains how the piano (as property) functions as both a divisive and a unifying family member among the Charleses.