Analysis of The House of Bernarda Alba

One of the masterpieces of the literature of Federico Garcia Lorca en La casa de Bernarda Alba, a play that portrays the situation of women in Spain in the early twentieth century. A work that is included within the genre of manners and that shows a drama starring Bernarda Alba and her daughters. In this lesson from a TEACHER we are going to offer you a complete analysis of The House of Bernarda Alba that will help you better understand this literary work.

To begin with this analysis of La casa de Bernarda Alba de Federico Garcia Lorca it is important to frame the work well. The first thing we have to know is that the subgenre is that of costumbrista drama since the play is dramatic, it tells a story loaded with elements of drama and with a very tragic and is also customary since it narrates the customs and traditions that existed in the Spain of that weather.

The title is very prominent because it gives us two very relevant information in the story:

1. On the one hand, it tells us the only space
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   in which the whole plot unfolds. The house is the only setting that appears in the story and, therefore, the entire work revolves around this place
2. On the other hand, the title also makes it very clear whose house is It: by Bernarda Alba. Although more people live there, that house is only hers, therefore, the rules that are followed inside it all pass through its filter and the way of understanding her life.

To continue with this analysis of La casa de Bernarda Alba, it is important to highlight what is the main theme and sub themes of this work. The whole story is about the desire for freedom that all Bernarda's daughters have as opposed to the bernarda's authority that prevents them from being free. This power struggle between freedom and imprisonment is the main theme on which the characters grow and make their decisions.

But during the play a lots of sub themes which we analyze below:

• The world of appearances: is one of the most important subtopics of this piece by Lorca. Bernarda only lives worried about what they will say and, therefore, confines her daughters and herself to a life of silence so that no one talks about her family. Even when her daughter Adela hers commits suicide, Bernarda forces her daughters to shut up and continue to pretend that they are a decent family.
• The woman in the society of the time: this work is carried out by a great majority of female characters who live totally subject to the rules of a time where the role of women was totally silenced. Women without a man seem to be of no use in this play and, therefore, Bernarda secludes her daughters and promotes the marriage between Pepe and her daughter Angustias. The only thing that the mother of the family intends is to protect her daughters from the evil tongues of the people since, now, without the man they are totally helpless in a society that does not take them into account.
• The power of passion: This is another of the most important subtopics of La Casa de Bernarda Alba. All women are looking forward to finding a man with whom they can marry and leave home. Pepe symbolizes that possibility of escape and, in addition, also of sexual and passionate liberation. At home, the girls are totally repressed and with Pepe they begin to dream and let themselves be carried away by their most primal instincts. In fact, passion is the force that makes tragedy take place in this silent house.
• The importance of conservative morals: Bernarda is very concerned that her daughters comply with what Christian morality imposes on women. Her obsession with the virginity of her daughters or religious practices are a constant in this piece by Lorca.
• Social classism: During the play we also find that the relationship between Bernarda and the maids is totally unequal. Although they have been together for most of their lives, Bernarda makes it very clear who the lady of the house is and marking the distances well so that the maids do not have more confidence than they should.
• Authoritarianism: Bernarda's figure is 100% authoritarian. In fact, the staff with which she is represented at all times is still another symbol of her authority in the house and of her status in the hierarchy.
• Envy: Among the sisters who are secluded in that dark and silent house there is a feeling that jealousy and envy that makes them hate each other. The fact that Angustias has the inheritance from her father is also a cause of conflict between all of her sisters since she, for this reason, is Pepe el Romano's desired one.

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The external structure of the work is divided into three acts that follows the traditional presentation, middle and end scheme. In act I the author places us in the morning, in act II in the afternoon and in act III at night, therefore, there is a temporal correlation between the different acts of the work that is closely related to the future of the events.

Instead, the internal structure It has these characteristics that we must analyze:

• Approach: it is when what happens in the family is presented. There is both a presentation of the characters from The House of Bernarda Alba as well as the place where the events narrated here will take place.
• Knot: during the second part is when we find the development of the work. Here it is announced that Angustias is going to marry Pepe el Romano and this announcement is what will cause the whole plot of the work. The peak moment of the knot will be when it is found out that Pepe and Adela have met secretly.
• Outcome: the final outcome of the play takes place when Bernarda finds out what happened and decides to shoot Pepe. After this decision, Adela will commit suicide believing that Pepe has died.

In order to continue with this analysis of La casa de Bernarda Alba, it is important to talk about the style of the work. García Lorca manages to create a suffocating environment, full of pessimism and seriousness. A totally oppressive world and where traditions and appearances become the gag of the women who live inside the house.

Below we will analyze in detail the key aspects of the style of the work:

• Dialogue: this work is made with dialogues that are charged with intensity and passion. There is an abundance of short and quick replies here that makes the text more agile. Let's not forget that Lorca was an impeccable poet and, therefore, his poetic style is also very present throughout the work with sentences that are sententious.
• Language: it is a realistic language although with the presence of lyrical elements. Each character is very well defined on a linguistic level since, depending on his age and his personality, he has one way of speaking or another. It is a very dynamic and credible work that has a "poeticization" of everyday language.
• Stylistic resources abound: throughout the work, Lorca enriches the text with a large number of literary resources as, for example, comparison, metaphor, onomatopoeia, and so on.

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And, finally, in this analysis of La casa de Bernarda Alba we will talk about the symbolism that appears in the work since Lorca created a work full of symbolic elements that contributed to create that atmosphere of authority and suffocation so characteristic of the construction site.

Here we will analyze some of the symbols of La Casa de Bernarda Alba most prominent and recurring:

• Water: is a symbol that refers to sexual desire. In the play the characters are thirsty and we find ourselves in a town that does not have rivers but only has wells, an element that is also a symbol of darkness and death. The stagnant water in the village wells is rotten while in the sea the water is clean and eternal.
• The walls of the house: The whole house is surrounded by very thick and impassable walls. These show the deprivation of liberty that is experienced inside the house, a place that seems more like a prison than a place to live.
• Moon: in the play we find that Adela, the youngest of the girls, is enraptured by the moon and the stars. This is nothing more than a symbol of the desire for freedom that she has, she wants to fly into the sky and meet these stars that are free and bright.
• Black and white: in this work we find that the black and white colors refer to the positive and the negative. The white that covers the walls of the house fades as the work progresses, an element that indicates that purity is being lost.
• The green color symbol: in Lorca's works, he always uses green to show rebellion. In this play, Adela will wear a green dress as well as a green fan, the character who decides to rebel and free herself from the impossibility of doing so.
• Bernarda's cane: And finally another of the most important symbols of the work is the cane with which Bernarda is characterized. An element that indicates her power and his authority over his daughters.