Literary Analysis of Lorca and García Márquez
Literary Analysis
1. Federico García Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba
Contextualization
This analysis focuses on Act 3, penultimate scene of The House of Bernarda Alba by Federico García Lorca (1898-1936). Lorca, belonging to the Generation of ’27, was influenced by the Generation of ’98 and writers like Valle-Inclán, Juan Ramón Jiménez, and Antonio Machado. His work, reflecting the authoritarian Spain of his time, remained unpublished there until the 1970s. Lorca’s theater, considered the most important written in Castilian, shares common themes with the Golden Age theater: omens, love triangles, and honor.
Characterization
Theme: Adela’s disgrace. Martirio reveals Adela’s affair with Pepe el Romano, Angustias’s fiancé, to their family.
Characters:
- Martirio: Betrays her sister to the family.
- Bernarda: The authoritarian mother who condemns Adela.
- Adela: Defies her mother’s rules and has an affair with Pepe.
- Magdalena: Remains overlooked throughout the play.
- Angustias: Engaged to Pepe, disrespects Adela for the affair.
Language: Imperative verbs highlight authority. Exclamatory and interrogative sentences create realism. Sexual symbolism is present (e.g., “skirts filled with wheat straw”). The setting, the house, is filled with tension.
Personal Opinion
This section will summarize key points, challenge the author’s ideas with new arguments, assess the text’s relevance to different audiences, evaluate the relationship between the text and the author’s methods, connect the text to other philosophical and literary arguments, and utilize rhetorical questions.
2. Gabriel García Márquez’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold
Contextualization
This analysis examines Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez (1928-2014). Raised by his grandparents in Aracataca, Colombia, García Márquez was a key figure in the Latin American narrative boom of the 1960s. He combined journalism and writing, achieving international recognition with One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967) and winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982. Chronicle of a Death Foretold has a circular structure, beginning and ending with the protagonist’s death. Its five untitled chapters follow a linear progression.
Characterization
Theme: This analysis focuses on Chapter 1 and the theme of Adela’s disgrace, revealed by Martirio. Pepe el Romano is engaged to Angustias, the wealthiest sister.
Characters:
- Martirio: Betrays Adela to the family.
- Bernarda: The authoritarian mother who condemns Adela.
- Adela: Defies her mother’s rules and has an affair with Pepe.
- Magdalena: Remains overlooked throughout the play.
- Angustias: Engaged to Pepe, disrespects Adela for the affair.
Language: Imperative verbs highlight authority. Exclamatory and interrogative sentences create realism. Sexual symbolism is present (e.g., “skirts filled with wheat straw”). The setting, the house, is filled with tension.