Argument of La casa de Bernarda Alba by acts

One of the masterpieces of the writer Federico García Lorca is "La casa de Bernarda Alba", the last piece he wrote before being assassinated at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. It is a play that is divided into three acts during which the story is presented to us of Bernarda and her daughters who live locked up in her home mourning the death of her father and husband.

It is one of the writer's most applauded works because, in it, he manages to surpass his contemporaries by creating a text theater elaborated with a literary and metaphorical language that aims to portray the situation of women in the Spain of the epoch. The prose that we find in this text is charged with lyricism and emotionality, achieving scenes with a strong poetic and dramatic charge.

In a PROFESSOR we are going to show you the argument of La casa de Bernarda Alba by acts so that you can prepare your exam or your text commentary and, thus, better discover this great work of Spanish literature.

Index

1. Bernarda Alba's house, one of García Lorca's most important works
2. Bernarda Alba's house: Summary act 1
3. Bernarda Alba's house: Summary act 2
4. Bernarda Alba's house: Summary act 3
5. Structure of Bernarda Alba's house

If we study the life and work of García Lorca we find that "La casa de Bernarda Alba" is one of his most applauded pieces. It was written in 1936, before the death of the author, but it was not performed on stage until 1945 due to the great social criticism that can be read between the lines.

It is a rural tragedy of Lorca which premiered for the first time in Buenos Aires, at the Avenida Theater. It was Margarita Xirgu who, together with her company, was in charge of giving life to this play that was silenced for almost twenty years because of the war.

The predominant theme of this work is honor, a concept that is understood as the reputation and image that you give to others about yourself, your values ​​and your family. In it you can see influences of Modernism since the characters we see on stage present a strong determinism social, faced with this "innate" condition, we find characters who want to fight against this determinism and be masters of their own life.

The plot of La casa de Bernarda Alba is presented in a linear way and with a very deep construction of the characters that, each one of them, represents a way of living and conceiving the condition of woman at the time. Bernarda, the mother, is the one who embodies the most conventional and traditional principles of the woman who was relegated to wife and mother; Among her daughters, however, we find some who are more open-minded and others more closed that are still a faithful portrait of the situation that women lived then.

In a teacher we discover the short biography of Federico García Lorca so that you get to know this author better, as well as his work. We also offer you the Characteristics of the characters in La casa de Bernarda Albaso you can prepare for your lesson.

We already started with the summary of La casa de Bernarda Alba by acts and we will focus on the first act. So that the information is well cohesive, we will show it following the same order of scenes that Lorca creates in his play, so you can also see the structure of this play.

Scene 1: First description of Bernarda Alba

We meet at Bernarda's home. Here the two maids begin to clean the room and meanwhile they begin to talk about the lady. The character of Bernarda Alba is portrayed as a woman who produces fear and a feeling of repulsion, at this moment she is when we meet the description of this character from the point of view of her workers who have a strong antipathy.

We also know Bernarda's story thanks to these two ladies who explain to us that she has 5 daughters and that, of all of them, only Angustias, her eldest, is the daughter of her first husband. After the conversation, a beggar enters the scene to ask for some money and this moment is taken advantage of by Lorca so that the maid deliver a monologue that reflects the contrasts between rich and poor, that is, between herself and Bernarda.

Scene 2: We meet Bernarda and her social behavior

We continue with the argument of La casa de Bernarda Alba and, now, in this second scene is when the protagonist will appear surrounded by other women of the town with whom she has attended the funeral of her husband. Here we begin to know the personality of Bernarda since she is very authoritative with one of the maids, an unequal relationship between the rich and the poor that Bernarda's character reflects maximum.

In this scene the name of Pepe el Romano will appear for the first time, a man who was also at the funeral but Bernarda refuses to accept his presence. García Lorca presents some "parts" in the plot that he takes advantage of her so that the characters who are with Bernarda insult her and show the hatred they feel towards her.

Scene 3: Bernarda and her behavior as a family

The next scene shows us how Bernarda relates to her daughters. This is when she communicates to her daughters that they will mourn for eight years for the death of her father, during this time they must be dressed completely in black and not associate with any man. Magdalena, her daughter, complains because she wanted to marry and Bernarda re-asserts her strong and indisputable authority.

It is in this scene when we discover that another woman lives in this home, María Josefa, the mother of the protagonist and grandmother of her granddaughters. She is locked in a room because Bernarda did not want the women of the town to see her.

Scene 4: Poncia and Bernarda

Poncia, one of the maids, is the one who suggests that Angustias spends some afternoons or evenings at the window listening to the men talking. Let us remember that Angustias is her eldest daughter, she is 39 years old and Bernarda still does not allow her to marry or get together with any man and, even less, with a peasant or lower class.

Scene 5: Bernarda's daughters and her obsession with men

The plot of La casa de Bernarda Alba shows us the clash between the women of yesteryear and the For this reason, in this scene we find that the five daughters are obsessed with the mens.

Adela, the youngest girl, dresses up in a green dress and goes for a walk to the corral to show it off; Angustias, her older sister, is nervous in and out of the scene, something that makes her sisters mock. since they believe that she is waiting for Pepe el Romano, a young and very attractive man who will hardly pretend to Heartaches. Then, the maid will announce that Pepe is on the street and all the daughters will go out the window to see him except Adela who goes quickly to her room.

Scene 6: María Josefa and her story

She is Bernarda's mother and totally the antithesis of her. María Josefa appears on the scene with flowers on her head and on her chest, she has a jovial and fun attitude. Bernarda, embarrassed, will scold the maid for letting her leave the room where she is locked up.

We continue with this summary of the plot of La casa de Bernarda Alba now focusing on the second act that takes place in another room. Some time has passed since the father's death.

Scene 1 - Preparation for Angustias's wedding

The daughters and Poncia, the maid, are sitting silently sewing. They are preparing Angustias' wedding with Pepe and Pepe, who realizes the envy that arouses among her sisters, is more aggressive and uptight than ever. Then we learn from the maid that her future husband was the night before until 4 in the morning at Angustias's window, but she is denying it. Here we find the first suspicions about this relationship.

Scene 2: Adela in love

Poncia suspects that Adela is also in love with Pepe el Romano and, in this scene, both are left alone and talk about the subject. The maid will advise you to leave her sister alone, but the young woman will not accept this advice and will end up threatening her. This is a climactic moment in the plot of La casa de Bernarda Alba because the maid has discovered that Adela is madly in love with Pepe.

Scene 3: Men and women

In the street you can hear the voices of men happy to have finished work. Life explodes out there and the girls cannot leave their house. This everyday event produces a conversation between the sisters and, here, we meet Adela's spirit that yearns for the freedom that all men have; the other sisters only lament their misfortunes.

Scene 4: Martyrdom's suspicions

Martirio and Amelia are left alone. The latter sees that her sister is a little strange, the reason is that she has well-founded suspicions about Adela and Pepe since, during the last nights, she heard some noises under her sister's window little.

Scene 5: Conflict between the sisters breaks out

Angustias appears angry on the scene because she has disappeared the portrait of Pepe, her fiancé. She believes that one of her sisters has stolen her photograph and claims it aggressively and angrily. Before such shouting, bernarda will appear that she will try to calm the spirits of her daughters, to solve The conflict will order Poncia to go through all the rooms to find out who has the portrait.

At the end he finds himself in Martirio's bed and she defends herself saying that it was just a joke. In these moments, Adela jumps full of jealousy and Martirio explains to all of her sisters that she is suspicious of her.

Scene 6: Poncia talks to Bernarda

Bernarda and Poncia are left alone and here we witness a conversation between the two. She realizes that her eldest daughter will have to marry as soon as possible to prevent problems of this type from happening again. The maid will take advantage of this conversation to hint at what is happening at home, cast her suspicions and accusations but Bernarda does not quite believe her because she believes that she, being raised, she tends to lie and malmeter.

Angustias appears and listens to the conversation between Bernarda and the maid. She indicates that Pepe has been leaving at 1 in the morning, information that Poncia denies since she hears him until well after three.

Scene 7: Adela and Martirio, rivals

We continue with the summary of act 2 of La casa de Bernarda Alba talking about this scene that begins with a strong discussion between Adela and Martirio since the first She believes that her sister is also in love with Pepe (having discovered her with her portrait) and Martirio ends up recognizing that, indeed, she also feels something for he.

Let's now continue with the plot of The House of Bernarda Alba making a summary of act 3, the last of all. This is the final moment of this play and in it all the conflicts that have accumulated during the previous scenes are resolved.

Scene 1: Contrast between Prudencia and Bernarda

Now we are in an interior patio where Bernarda, her daughters and Prudencia, a friend of the family, are. Here we meet this new character who finds himself in a very complicated family situation: her husband has denied her daughter because of an offense. Bernarda defends the attitude of man while Prudencia suffers the consequences of this decision that seems irrevocable.

Scene 2: Angustias' Fears

After dinner Angustias and her mother stay talking. Her daughter is afraid that her fiancée has deceived her and her mother recommends that she not seek explanations, that he not notice anything; a feeling of conformism and acceptance with whatever situation is what we find in this scene.

Adela and Martirio once again clash over Pepe and, once again, Bernarda has to intervene to calm the spirits of her daughters.

Scene 3: A new conversation between maid and maid

Another scene in which Poncia and Bernarda are alone talking about the situation at home. The mother indicates that she is watching over all of her daughters to keep her honor intact, but the maid again conveys her suspicions.

Scene 4: The growing suspicions

Now we meet the maid and Poncia who hear how the dogs begin to bark outside. Then Adela will enter with the excuse that she is thirsty and the maids will begin to see how her suspicions regain more and more strength.

Scene 5: María Josefa, again

María Josefa, Bernarda's mother, reappears on the scene. This time we see again that this character is tinged with a touch of freedom and madness that is sympathetic to the reader. Adela will enter the scene to get into the corral; Martirio will be following her.

Scene 6: Tension breaks out between Adela and Martirio

Martirio will go to the door of the corral in which her sister has just entered and, then, will call her. Adela comes out with disheveled hair and Martirio, dead with jealousy, will recognize her feelings for Pepe el Romano. It is at this point in the play that Adela will recognize that, indeed, she is Pepe's lover. Her sister, desperate, will begin to shout to wake up her mother and the rest of her sisters.

Scene 7: Final scene

We finish the plot of La casa de Bernarda by acts discovering the shocking and tragic final scene. Bernarda will appear at the door of the corral and, upon hearing Martirio's accusations, she will approach Adela to punish her with her cane. The young woman will take it from him and her mother, angry, will go to get the shotgun. Suddenly, a shot is heard and they say that Bernarda has killed Pepe, however, this death will not be real.

Adela, who finds out what happened, locks herself in and, when they manage to open the door, they discover that she has committed suicide. The last word in this piece will be the first we hear Bernarda pronounce at the beginning of the play: Silence.

Now that you know this summary of La casa de Bernarda Alba and its full plot, it is important that you know how this play is structured. To do this, we are going to analyze the external and internal structurewhich will provide us with more information about this literary text. We started!

External structure of La casa de Bernarda Alba

Externally Bernarda Alba's house is divided into 3 acts that have a very similar extension. With this we observe that Lorca adapted to the patterns of the theater when creating his work.

The genre of La casa de Bernarda Alba is theater with the subgenre of drama.

Internal structure

We are facing a circular structure where at the end of the work we find ourselves in a situation very similar to how it begins. With this, the author refers to the fact that the world is tragic and that, no matter how much we seem to move forward, in the end everything is always the same, like an eternal return.

We also find this circular structure at the beginning of each act that always begins with the pronoun "I". And, both at the beginning and at the end of the work we find the same words as Bernarda: silence.

The three acts that make up this theatrical piece correspond to the parts of the development of the play, that is, the approach, the middle and the end.

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