Class Conflict in Lorca’s “The House of Bernarda Alba”
Analysis of a Passage from “The House of Bernarda Alba”
1. Contextualization
This passage comes from Act II of The House of Bernarda Alba, a play by Federico García Lorca (1898-1936). Written in 1936, it was Lorca’s last work before his tragic death during the Spanish Civil War. Lorca, a prominent member of the Generation of ’27, was a celebrated poet and playwright. This specific passage reveals the escalating tension and suspicion between Adela and Pepe.
2. Construction and Features
This scene involves two characters: Bernarda, the domineering matriarch representing absolute power and fear of gossip, and Poncia, Bernarda’s loyal servant and confidante. Set in the afternoon, Act II follows the events of the morning (Act I) and precedes the night (Act III). Lorca uses the progression of a single day to symbolize the eight years of mourning imposed by Bernarda, highlighting the monotony and oppression faced by the women. The setting, a room within the house, symbolizes the prison-like environment where the characters are confined. The stage directions emphasize the harsh and hateful dialogue, reflecting Bernarda’s tyrannical nature and Poncia’s conflicting emotions of loyalty and resentment.
3. Language Characteristics
Lorca masterfully employs a seemingly simple yet nuanced style. The dialogue incorporates colloquial language, reflecting the characters’ social class and the spoken language of the time. Through their exchanges, Poncia tries to warn Bernarda of impending tragedy, but Bernarda remains stubbornly unreceptive, asserting her authority with categorical phrases, exclamations, and imperatives. While Bernarda’s language is often blunt and assertive, Poncia’s is marked by loyalty and submission. Lorca utilizes emphatic and resounding phrases to showcase Bernarda’s belief in her own superiority and her authoritarian nature. Her classism is evident in her disdain for those of lower social standing, particularly the maids, and in her refusal to allow her daughters to marry beneath their class.
4. Relationship Between the Author’s Views and the Topic
The House of Bernarda Alba starkly portrays the pervasive class differences of Lorca’s time. Bernarda’s character embodies this classism, which permeates her personality and actions. Lorca uses her as a vehicle to critique the rigid social hierarchy and its oppressive consequences. Bernarda’s actions, such as forbidding her daughter’s marriage to a man of lower social standing and her contemptuous treatment of the maids, highlight the injustices of the class system. By portraying the negative impacts of classism through Bernarda, Lorca invites the reader or viewer to question and reject such societal structures.