The House of Bernarda Alba: A Character Analysis and Thematic Exploration
1. The Characters in The House of Bernarda Alba
We must distinguish between the different types of characters in the play:
Visible Characters
These characters appear on stage. They can be further divided into:
- Main Characters: Bernarda, her daughters, Maria Josefa, and Poncia.
- Secondary Characters: Maid, Beggar, and Prudence.
Invisible Characters
(noaparecen before our eyes but affect the development of the action) Pepe el Romano, Lahij of books and reapers and characters referred to (they are characters I mentioned some peculiarity, or a story we are told): Antonio Maria Benavides, Enrique Humanes, Paca la Rosette … Bernarda is the repressive force, subject to approaches to old and outdated. yet the criticism, is represented with a cane on stage and male attitudes. Imposes their daughters, the “honor “and” decency, “the obsession with virginity and save the forms before the people. Cree belong to a higher social class and do not let their daughters marry men from the village and want to ban everything that goes beyond its conception life based on the principle of authority and exercise of power. Angustias is the oldest child marriage and heir to a fortune that attracts the eyes of men, including the Pepe el Romano, who love with Adela, preferred seek security. appears in the work as unfortunate from an aesthetic point of view and without passion or enthusiasm for the marriage, but this is the only way to escape from prison. Magdalena, 30 years, much development is not enough, just to make a submission and acceptance of the situation at one time or another for cursing in the paper that the woman was convicted in his time. I also love the Roman, who suffers from not being able to attract their attention. Nor Amelia, 27, shy, plays important role in scene, resigned, with little play in the scene, like Magdalena, reserved primarily for Martyrdom, 24 years old, ugly, sick, humpback, self-conscious and aggressive, who plays a tough chew, a quick temper. The desire to win the love of Pepe el Romano, because his encounter with Adela, the tense atmosphere is created and the ongoing fighting. Adela, age 20, is the scene that embodies the role of rebellion. She is the youngest, the prettiest, the ready to pursue his passion of love to Pepe el Romano, who comes off stage, which ends with suicide once thought that Pepe el Romano is dead. She , the rebel, is that you put the green suit to oppose black that has imposed strict mother, who breaks the baton of Bernard. It is worth noting the presence, among the characters in the play, Mary Joseph, grandmother of five. It seems at all times like an old crazy and eccentric, which reveals the problems faced by her granddaughters, such as the imprisonment to which they are subjected, the frustration of women, the desire for marriage … His madness is what gives him the strength to proclaim their desire for freedom, his eagerness to confront and expose their tyranny Bernarda. Poncia is another important person in their parliaments to Bernarda, the past of the house and half conflicts that are happening in the work. Full of wisdom, popular taste, gives stitches are not accepted by the owner, Bernard. These are the “drama of women in Spain.”
LCBA Topics: central theme: the confrontation between the authoritarianism of B., who tries to impose its oppressive rules and the desire for freedom, embodied above all by Maria Josefa and Adela. Authoritarianism is a constant in his attitude and character. All women of the household must submit to its discipline. Marca rigid behavior that have to keep their daughters in relation to men. The desire for freedom and the promotion of Adela are stronger than his fear of maternal authority, shows his contempt, expressed their desire for freedom and his decision to break with the rules of Bernarda. At the end there is a confrontation with his mother, he grabs the stick, breaks it in half and defends his “recovered” freedom. But after his suicide, is closed to her and her sisters the way to freedom. M ª Josefa channeled his rebellion through the madness, an escape character for abused and held in a room. The oppression of B. provokes two responses: the madness of Maria Josefa and Adela’s suicide. Sub-topics: a) love sensual. The search for the boy. The tyrannical rule of Bernarda and the sentence imposed mourning daughters to the absence of love. These single women who wish to marry to get rid of the tyranny of B. and be happy. b) the hypocrisy, false appearances .- This is one of the recurring themes in the work: a concern for the opinions of others, fear of gossip, the desire to appear what is not. The fear of gossip is a constant in people’s lives and check the behavior of Bernarda, who fear what the neighbors might say. c) The hatred and envy. Human relationships are dominated by hatred and envy is Bernarda detested character; Sorrows is hated and envied by her sisters. The desire to love and be free and unable to reach them, drive to the daughters of Bernarda to fuel strong feelings of hatred and envy. Complaint Lorca Spanish society reflected in “The House of Bernarda Alba”: d) The moral or traditional mentality, against a book that defends moral values such as tolerance, joy, sincerity, love, mercy and charity . e) social injustice .- Lorca reveals the tensions of the society of his time, shows the injustice and social differences, class consciousness and pride, and cruelty which governs human relationships. . Each character tends to humiliate that is in the lower stratumthe social pyramid f) The marginalization of women .- Lorca crudely reflects the marginalization of women in the society of his time. The behavior based on social norms that discriminate against women for the benefit of man.’s work men and women is clearly differentiated and are not equal before the law. In the field of love, she must repress their impulses.