The House of Bernarda Alba: Themes & Character Analysis
The Characters in The House of Bernarda Alba
We must distinguish three types of characters in the play:
Visible Characters
These characters appear on stage. They include:
- Bernarda
- Her daughters
- Maria Josefa
- Poncia
- Maid
- Beggar
- Prudence
- Girl
- Women (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th)
Invisible Characters
These characters do not appear on stage but affect the development of the action. They include:
- Pepe el Romano
- La hija de los libros (the daughter of the books)
- Reapers
Referred Characters
These are characters mentioned for some peculiarity or a story we are told. They include:
- Antonio Maria Benavides
- Enrique Humanes
- Paca la Roseta
- Woman of the sequins
- Don Arturo (the notary)
- The man with the lace
Character Analysis
Bernarda
Bernarda is the repressive force, subject to old and outdated approaches. She is represented with a cane on stage and exhibits male attitudes. She opposes the erotic impulses of her daughters, prioritizing “honor” and “decency,” the obsession with virginity, and saving face before the people. She seeks to impose her point of view at all times. She believes she belongs to a higher social class and does not allow her daughters to marry men from the village. She wants to ban everything that exceeds her designed life, based on the principle of authority and the exercise of power, even if it is unfair.
Angustias
Angustias is the oldest daughter and heir to a fortune that attracts the eyes of men, including Pepe el Romano. She appears in the work as unfortunate from an aesthetic point of view and without passion or enthusiasm for marriage, but sees it as the only way to escape from her prison.
Magdalena, Amelia, and Martirio
Magdalena, 30 years old, represents submission and acceptance of the situation. Amelia, 27 years old, is shy, resigned, and has little presence on stage. Martirio, 24 years old, is ugly, sick, hunchbacked, self-conscious, and aggressive. She plays a tough character with a quick temper.
Adela
Adela, 20 years old, embodies the role of rebellion. She is the youngest, the prettiest, the “unbroken mule.” She is willing to pursue her passion for Pepe el Romano, who remains offstage. Her rebellion culminates in suicide once she believes Pepe Romano is dead. She is the one who gets the green dress to oppose the black her mother has imposed. She is the transgressor willing to defy the laws imposed by her mother, breaking Bernarda’s cane.
Maria Josefa
Maria Josefa is the grandmother. She appears as an eccentric old fool and occasionally appears on stage, but she is the one who, with sympathy and humor, reveals the problems that afflict her granddaughters, such as the imprisonment to which they are subjected, the frustration of women, the desire for marriage, the desire to be a mother, and the desire for freedom. Her madness gives her the strength to proclaim her desire for freedom and her eagerness to confront and expose Bernarda’s tyranny.
Poncia
Poncia, in her dialogues with Bernarda, reveals the past of the house and participates in the conflicts. Full of wisdom and popular taste, she offers advice that Bernarda, deaf to any suggestion, does not accept. The maid and some neighbors do not reach significance in this “drama of women in Spain” (subtitle of the work).
Main and Secondary Themes in “The House of Bernarda Alba”
Clash Between Authoritarianism and the Yearning for Freedom
The play raises the clash between Bernarda’s authoritarianism, which attempts to impose oppressive norms based on her position as “head of household,” and the yearning for freedom, embodied above all by Maria Josefa (Bernarda’s mother) and Adela, who try to rebel.
Hatred and Envy
Human relationships are dominated by hatred and envy. Bernarda hates the maids and neighbors and is a hated character. Angustias is hated and envied by her sisters. Adela accuses Martirio of jealousy, envy, and hatred. Women live locked in a hostile and savage environment. The desire to love and be free, and the inability to achieve them, drive Bernarda’s daughters to harbor strong feelings of hatred and envy.
Social Criticism
Other sub-themes highlight the scourge of rural Spain at the time. Lorca critiques Spanish society.
Traditional Mentality vs. Progressive Values
The play contrasts the traditional mentality with a perspective that defends moral values such as tolerance, joy, sincerity, love, mercy, and charity.
Social Injustice
Lorca reveals the tensions of the society of his time, showing the injustice and social differences, class consciousness and pride, and the cruelty that governs human relationships. Human relationships are hierarchical and stained with cruelty and meanness, especially in the lower strata. Bernarda is greedy and vile, incapable of any generous impulse. Each character tends to humiliate those who sit in the bottom tier of the social pyramid.
Marginalization of Women
Women, reduced to certain roles that are not always liberating and rewarding in society, have fewer resources than men to fight for their own happiness. If a woman deviates from these functions (bride-mother-wife), she is labeled by society as a failure and as useless and worthless. Lorca crudely reflects the marginalization of women in the society of his time, presenting two extreme models of female behavior: one based on moral laxity (Paca la Roseta, the prostitute hired by the reapers, and the daughter of Librada), and the other based on a certain idea of decency. The first group of women lead a life of apparent freedom. Behavior based on decency apparently involves submission to social norms that discriminate against women for the benefit of men, who can do as they please. The work of men and women is clearly differentiated: the former in the field, the latter at home, cloistered. Men and women are not equal before the law. In the field of love, women also have to suppress their impulses. Family submission of women to men is evident. Family honor, as in the works of the seventeenth century, relates to the behavior of women.
Moral Clash Between Authoritarianism and the Desire for Freedom
The central theme of the play is the conflict between authoritarianism, represented by Bernarda, and the desire for authenticity, embodied by Adela and Maria Josefa. Secondary issues appear, such as the search for a man, falsehood, envy (jealousy), social differences, the concept of honor, violence, and death. The confrontation between authoritarianism and freedom starts from the beginning, with Bernarda imposing an eight-year mourning period on her daughters with absolute authority. They are obligated to submit to their irrational mother’s discipline. There are times when Bernarda’s authoritarianism leads to physical violence (end of Act 1, Act 2, and Act 3). Adela’s desire for freedom and love is stronger than her fear. Adela and Bernarda’s personalities collide. In Act 1, Adela cries and says: “I think this mourning has caught me at the worst time of my life to endure it…” At the end of the play, before dying, Adela confronts her mother and breaks her cane. Adela’s free time is fleeting because it ends with her own death, defying her mother’s power. In the case of Maria Josefa, her rebellion is channeled through madness, which appears as the only escape for a person locked up and abused. Responses and the rejection of oppression yield useless results, such as madness or death. In the work, authoritarianism triumphs, as seen in Bernarda’s last words.
Structure
The House of Bernarda Alba follows the classical tripartite division of a play. It is divided into three acts that internally reflect the classic pattern of presentation, middle, and end. Interestingly, the author did not divide the acts into scenes. The work responds to the law of the three unities: unity of place (the house) and unity of action, but it does not respect the unity of time. This work also presents a repetitive structure. Internally, each act repeats the same process, which follows three stages: quiet, conflict, and violence. Somehow, each act repeats the internal structure of presentation, middle, and end. This repetitive structure is reinforced by recurring elements that unite the work. Act 1 and Act 3 begin in the same way: a shady silence that is interrupted, in one case, by the bells and in the other by the clatter of dishes, silverware, etc. The three acts begin with scenes of everyday life. Throughout the play, and especially from Act 2 onwards, certain omens of the tragic outcome recur. The play revolves around these facts: it begins with a death and ends with another; it begins with the tolling of bells and ends with Bernarda’s cries; it ends and begins with the word “Silence.”