Stage directions in this excerpt from Act II, Scene 1 of Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun" add to the reader's understanding of the characters by providing information about their personalities and ways of being.
From the directions we can infer that Beneatha is a woman that likes to impress and get the attention of people. She seems to be shallow and conceited. She parades in front of Ruth to show of her new dress make her jealous. She makes a big entrance so that we "can see her thoroughly robed in the costume Asagai brought".
She is arrogant and self-center and has little regard for other people and their lives. We can see this when she "promenades to the radio and, with an arrogant flourish, turns off the good loud blues that is playing". She calls Ruth's music junk, being completely rude and incosiderate.
Ruth, on the other hand, is portrayed as a working woman, since, at the beginning of the excerpt she is "ironing again".
She appears to be a woman easily impressed, due to her reaction upon seeing Beneath's new dress: "she puts down the iron in fascination".
She is also potraited as someone submissive that does not complain about being trated poorly. This can been seen with her reaction to Beneatha's insults to her music. She does not respond, she just "goes to the phonograph and puts on a record and turns and waits ceremoniously for the music to come".
