Analysis of Themes in Lorca’s ‘The House of Bernarda Alba’
Josefa María Adela and Suicide
Sensual love. SEEKING MALE
The drama of these women is embodied in the absence of love and the fear of remaining single. The tyrannical rule of Bernarda precludes any possibility that they will enter into a relationship.
Thus, the emergence in the closed world of Pepe el Romano unleashes the passions of these women who wish to marry to get rid of the tyranny of Bernarda. From that moment, the conflict between the sisters is established. The presence of man and the passion of love are specified in two different ways:
- Through allusions to love stories that have occurred offstage: Paca references to the Rosetta, daughter of the pound to the harvesters…
- Through the experiences of the characters: Adela’s passion is apparent in the first act. The desire to love also appears in other sisters: the secret passion of Martirio or the meeting of Angustias with the men at the funeral of her father.
Hypocrisy
Hypocrisy is one of the recurrent motifs of the work, symbolically reflected in Bernarda’s obsession with cleanliness. Fear of gossip is a constant in people’s lives and checks the behavior of Bernarda, coming to conceal from his mother because he is ashamed of his madness. Hypocrisy is also a feature of Martirio throughout the work.
Hatred and Envy
These sentiments are evident by stage directions (“always with cruelty,” “to hate”), insults (“bossy!” “Parent!”) and innuendo (“Beware the language in the hole!”). They exist between Bernarda and her daughters, the servants and neighbors on the one hand, and between the sisters on the other.
The sources of this hatred are the desires to love and to be free of the daughters, social inequality (maids) and the pride of caste Bernarda, which attracts the hatred of the village women.
The Pride of Breed and Honor
Bernarda is the character who embodies the pride of caste. She feels superior to the maids, whom she mistreats badly, and the rest of the villagers, whom they despise.
There is a social hierarchy. In the highest tier stands Bernarda and her family, then La Poncia, then the Maid, and finally, the Beggar.
Regarding honor, the predominant need is to have a flawless social image and the importance of “what people say.”
Thus, Lorca reveals the tensions of the society of his time, denouncing injustice, class pride, and cruelty that presided over the relations of society.
Exclusion of Women
To denounce the marginalization of women, Lorca faces two female role models:
- One which is based on moral laxity: Paca, the prostitute who contracted the reapers and the daughter of a pound. These women are condemned morally and even physically come to the conviction.
- One based on a certain conception of decency: Bernarda’s daughters, whose behavior, because they are women and economically affluent, involves a total submission to social norms that discriminate against women for the benefit of man.
Note the progression of Adela, who is slowly being identified with women of loose morals.