Federico Garcia Lorca: Master of Poetry and Drama
Federico Garcia Lorca: A Master of Poetry and Drama
Poetry
Federico Garcia Lorca was a rigorous poet who wisely combined inspiration, knowledge of diverse authors and sources, and compositional technique. He converged his ability to learn and absorb all kinds of poetry, and the ability to customize and embrace all influences. Formally, his poetry appears united in its passion and perfection, the human and the pure aesthetic, the popular and the revered. He was attracted to traditional poetry, *cante flamenco*, the songbooks of the 15th and 16th centuries, Arabic poetry, Góngora, Bécquer, Juan Ramón Jiménez, Machado, and others.
In his work, one finds inspiration from popular folkloric themes, memories of games, impossible love, melancholy evocation of childhood, of Andalusia, or the sea. In his compositions of personal inspiration, there is the feeling of the tragic destiny of man and his inability to resolve outstanding issues.
Major Poetic Works
- Canciones (1921-1924): Lorca essentializes and purifies popular poetry, which he fully felt in the form of games and songs during his childhood.
- Poema del Cante Jondo (written between 1921 and 1924, published in 1931): This work was a great success. Lorca is concerned with the marginalized and their misfortunes, reflecting the theme of the tragic destiny of man.
- Poet in New York (1929-1930): This is a surrealist work, written in blank verse, reflecting the impact that this great city had on Lorca. It warns of the flooding and rebellion against a dehumanized world. The themes of the book are materialism, the enslavement of man by machine, and social injustice. One part is devoted to Black people (also marginalized, like the Roma).
- Llanto por Ignacio Sánchez Mejías (1935): This is a great elegy on the death of his bullfighter friend, which masterfully fuses the popular and the revered.
- Sonnets of Dark Love (1935-1936): This work develops the theme of forbidden love.
Drama
Overall, Lorca’s dramatic work is an attempt to purify and a constant quest for restoring the original purity of classical and popular theatre in the best sense of the word. Thanks to the universal value of his plays, Lorca has become one of the most well-known Spanish playwrights of all time, a classic whose pieces are represented by the most prestigious theatre companies in the world.
Principles of Lorca’s Theatre
- Debugging poetic drama: He wrote drama in verse, but he knew how to use the right word to evoke the environments in which he placed the action. The incorporation of popular forms and rhythms through song, *letrillas*, litanies, or choruses connects his output, on the other hand, to classical theatre, also poetic excellence.
- Incorporating both avant-garde trends and the typical features of traditional theatre into his drama: Thus, we can recognize many different influences: Valle-Inclán’s nonsensical theatre, some of Surrealism, Marquina, the best of Benavente, classical and popular theatre. However, what stands out in Lorca is his ability to harmonize and make his own very different styles.
- Bringing theatre to the people.
Themes in Lorca’s Plays
On the thematic level, Lorca often chose a woman as the protagonist. This usually represents the desire for freedom in a patriarchal and sexist society, a woman always marked by a tragic fate and passions that will be condemned to oblivion or rejection.