Critics frequently discuss Wine in the Wilderness in terms of Childress's successful characterization of Tommy as an African-American heroine. Susan Bennett, in the International Dictionary of Theater, notes that Childress's "creation of many major female characters" is "perhaps the most significant contribution" of her plays.

Elizabeth Brown-Guillory, in "Images of Blacks in Plays by Black Women," praises Childress as a creator of plausible heroines in her dramatic works, particularly Wine in the Wilderness. She asserts, "Wine in the Wilderness is the best illustration of Childress' superb handling of characterization," commenting, "Childress' heroines, in general, are at once courageous, discerning, vulnerable, insecure, and optimistic. In short, they are human, real." Brown-Guillory further observes, "Childress writes largely about poor women for whom the act of living is sheer heroism." She notes that the character of Tommy "epitomizes the typical heroine who peoples Childress' plays," in the sense that...