Amelia:- Nacer mujer es el mayor castigo. (Act II, p.

48)
Do you agree with this statement in the context of the society portrayed in La casa de Bernarda Alba?

Para: Sexual Expectations of men vs women . Women are seen merely as things to be desired rather
than being alowed to desire themselves

The infidelity of the man (the husband of Bernarda, Pepe ...)

Prostitution is tolerated (the son of Poncia) Man needs to give vent to his sexual instinct so it is
understandable that he goes to a whore to satiate his desires. Adela exclaims "They are forgiven
everything" and adds Amelia "being born a woman is the greatest punishment"

In the same way, Poncia blames Adela for being responsible for what happens with Pepe, since she has
provoked him and "a man is a man".

Paca la Rosette.

The daughter of La Librada.

Counter- has nothing to do with being a women in general bit a women in this context and a certain
class

Bernarda is the main oppressor

Social expectations of genders especially in mourning

the effect of absence males

Women are punished for the transgressions of men

 Adela
 Paca la Roseta


THe sins of the father carry thrpugh to the women of the family

Adela

Act 1 “rompiendo a llora con ira”

No me acostumbrare
Quotations:

Page Quotation Explanation

119 “A very white room in This quotation shows the
BERNADA’S house. Thick walls. emotionless lack of life (white) in
Arched doorways with jute Bernada’s house with the whole
curtains trimmed…Church bells family imprisoned within the
are tolling” room. The ‘thick walls’ highlights
the theme of imprisonment or
oppression of the family
reflecting the oppressive
conservative forces of the time.
The only sounds that can get
through the walls are the church
bells which suggest that the
church has enough power to
control anyone and anywhere.
The arched doorways implies the
grandness, powerful, or
dominance of the record of the
family once being rich or possibly
wanting to appear rich

This quotation shows how the

townsfolk such as the Alba family
fear the eyes and ears of their
fellow townspeople. This
quotation may also suggest the
irony that the social rules which
constrain the people of the
pueblo have been, like these
thick walls, built by the people
themselves.

119 Poncia: The old lady. Is she
locked up tight?
Maid: With two turns of the key
Poncia: You should fasten the
bolt, too. She has fingers like five
skeleton keys!
The old lady is locked up as she
is considered mad due to her
outspoken nature, which, in this
society, is dangerous as certain
things have to be kept secret.

120 Poncia: On that day I will lock The maid’s jealousy/anger for
myself in a room with her, and Bernarda is overflowing as the
spit at her for a whole year! maid wants to corner Bernarda
and let her feelings be known.

121 “the walls trembled, and when he
sang ‘Amen’, it was as if a wolf
had come into the church”
This shows that that even the
walls that are powerful enough to
keep anyone out or in even give
into the power of the church as
they trembled. It shows that
amount of power and control the
church has to flex its influence
over society and social order.
123 Bernarda: Have them leave they
way they came in. I don’t want
them coming through here.
126 Bernarda: Well, look for another
– you’re going to need one.
During our eight years of
mourning, no wind from the
street will enter this house!
Pretend we have sealed up the
doors and windows with bricks.
This was how it was in my
father’s house and in my
grandfather’s house.
127 Bernarda: It’s not that – out there,
the neighbours can see her from
their window.
127 “I saw her peering through a
crack in the front door. The men
had just left”
It reveals the power that
Bernarda has in the house as
she controls how and where
people move.
This is a key quote as it illustrates
what Bernarda is presently
doing; sealing up the house. It
also reveals her motives behind
it (her father and his father did it).
This quotation also shows that
Bernada is imposing the social
rules and orders upon her family
and herself, which implies that
the social order of society is kept
up because we impose it upon
ourselves to obey and suffer.
Bernarda says why her mother
shouldn’t be seen and through
this, reveals that the actions of
her mother are unacceptable to
her as it reflects poorly on her in
the eyes of society.
In addition, this quotation reveals
the importance of gossip and the
fear of being spied upon that runs
throughout the play. Gossip
travels through spaces such as
doors and windows and so those
portals must be kept closed.
Obviously this also shows that
Bernada cares more about
appearances rather than the
health for her mother; showing
just how importance
appearances are to her.
This quotation shows how the
daughters of Barnarda Alba are
denied their freedom which is
represented by the world outside
which can be seen through the
crack in the front door. It also
shows the desperation of the
daughters that they are willing to
peer through the front door
through a small crack rather than
try to open the door itself.
It also shows that looking at the
men is frowned upon suggesting

128 Poncia: …And she stood at the
window, listening to the men’s
conversation – which as always,
was not fit to hear.
130 Martirio: I knew she wouldn’t be.
Her fiancé won’t let her go out,
not even to the front door. She
used to be full of fun; now she
doesn’t even powder her face.
that the rules are strict with
severe consequences if not
obeyed.
This obviously illustrates the
spying that goes on in society,
and the fact that women were not
allowed to mix with the men but it
also suggests that cracks in
windows and doors provide
women the opportunity to find out
the gossip and news of towns
from their comfort of home and a
sense of freedom.
The fact that men are outside
their windows suggests that men
are more free than women as
they can roam about and do as
they please unlike women who
can usually never go out and do
anything without worrying. It
shows that they are near
freedom, but can never be free
like the men are.
In addition the cracks may
suggest the fact that the control
of the authoritarian forces is not
complete or it may reflect that
small desire within everyone to
rebel and to search for personal
freedom.
This is a parallelism as Bernarda
takes the same stance as the
fiancé in treating her daughters
and reveals the degree of power
that men can have over women’s
lives.
The fact that he doesn’t let her
near the front door implies the
freedom that lies behind that
door and that the women crave it
and will possibly never come
back the husbands once having
discovered it.
We also see the girls indulging in
gossip as this is their only source
of information about the outside
world and also the only thing they
have to alleviate their boredom.
134 Adela: Is that why she went out
after the funeral and was looking
through that door? And that man
has the nerve to…
Adela: I will not get used to it! I
can’t be locked up! I don’t want
my body to dry up like yours! I
don’t want to waste away and
grow old in these rooms.
Tomorrow I’ll put on my green
dress and go walking down the
street. I want to get out!
136 Bernarda: Until I leave this house
feet first, I will make the decisions
– my own, and yours!
137 A white inner room in
BERNADA’s house. The doors at
the left lead to the bedrooms.
137 Amelia: Open the door to the
patio, to see if we can get a little
fresh air.
138 Poncia: …Angustias was still at
her window with Pepe.
Poncia: Tell me Angustias – what
did he say to you, the first time he
came to your window?
Martirio: It really is strange how
two people who have met
suddenly see each other through
a window grating and – just like
that – they’re engaged!
Angustias: Not me, because
when a man approaches a
window grating, he already
knows – from people who come
and go, who fetch and carry –
that the answer will be yes.
Adela comments on the spying
that occurs in society and also
expresses her desire for freedom
away from Bernarda’s house.
The pain she feels from the
entrapment enrages her and her
rebellious spirit explodes out in
anger.
Bernarda once again asserts her
dominance in the house and
makes it clear that she and only
she has the power in this
“prison”.
Once again reflects the plain,
simplistic life the women in the
house lead (lack of life). This is
due to Bernada imposing the
social rules upon herself and her
daughters. The doors possibly
could signify the existence of
privacy within the house as well
as the doors to each other’s lives
that exist within one house.
As the daughters are only able to
open the door and not go out, this
quote reinforces the entrapment
of the daughters.
This dialogue here shows the
importance of the window in
Spanish society for the women
as men propose to them from
there. It reveals that the window
represents the hope of freedom
for women as they can look at the
outside through it (which is
emphasised in the play by the
fact that women rarely leave the
house).
This also suggests the existence
of the society of male
predominance- that women’s
lives will forever be controlled by
men’s actions, needs and wants
as it is up to them to approach the
windows.
139 Poncia: The first time my
husband, Evaristo the Birdman,
came to my window – ha, ha, ha!
139 Amelia jumps up and peers out of
the door.
140 Adela: Concern? Or curiosity?
Weren’t you all sewing? Well, go
on! I wish I were invisible, so I
could walk through these rooms
without being asked where I am
going!
140 “You would know better than me,
since you sleep with only a wall
between you.”
141 Poncia: Why were you standing
at the open window, half naked,
with the light burning – the
second time Pepe came to talk
with your sister?
145 Chorus: Open your doors and
your windows, Ladies who live in
this pueblo! Harvesters beg for
your roses, Roses to trim their
sombreros!
Adela: Let’s go and watch them
from the window in my room!
Poncia: Be careful not to open it
too wide – they’re bold enough to
give it a push to see who is
looking.
Shows the reader that men in this
society typically go up to
windows to propose.
This shows the fear of social
rules and expectations as Amelia
is clearly nervous about whether
or not their conversation and
laughter has been overheard.
Adela questions why everyone is
society spies on others and
complains that nothing can be
done without others knowing.
This may suggests that walls can
keep things (mainly gossip and
news) from travelling, but two
things cannot be stopped by
walls. They are the church and its
influence over everyone and
spying on one another that even
members of the same family do.
Similarly the activities and events
that occur within the house can
suggest that another power that
is great enough to travel through
the walls are family matters that
are hazardous to destroying the
family and the whole ‘house’.
This quote uses a number of
motifs to strengthen the belief
that Adela wants to be free. The
open window, lack of clothes (as
clothes are restrictive), and the
light (suggesting hope) all
combine effectively to express
Adela’s wish for freedom from
her mother.
The fact that the men are singing
the song to persuade(?) the
women to come out and ‘show’
themselves to the men suggests
the power the men have over
women. It also shows the
relationship between men and
their freedom that contrasts
greatly with that of the women as
they watch from their open
windows who can see the

145 “Let’s go watch them from the
window in my room”
147 “The neighbors must have their
ears glued to the wall“
148 “Because if I talk, the walls will
collapse in shame!”
152 Angustias: I talk through the
window in my bedroom.
153 Maid: There’s a big crowd up the
street! And all the neighbours are
at their doors!
153 They stand listening, not daring
to take another step towards the
outside door.
154 Four white walls lightly bathed in
blue. The décor must be one of
perfect simplicity. The doors,
illuminated by the light from
inside, cast a delicate glow on
the scene.
freedom, but never actually
experience it.
This is a very important quotation
in the play as it is juxtaposition to
the normal representation of
windows as a barrier because
here the window seems to be a
provider of freedom.
Shows that most of the
townspeople are always on the
lookout for other people’s gossip.
This also could suggest that the
gossip creates but is also
fostered by the imprisonment
and boredom of women that are
stuck within the house.
The image of collapsing walls
suggests the destructive results
of going against the conventional
social rules. It is in order to avoid
this shame that Bernarda (and
others) have constructed such a
cage around themselves.
Angustias makes it clear that
Pepe will marry her as he comes
to the window in her bedroom.
This quote reveals that people
feel in power and control when
they stand next to their doors and
this makes the door a symbol of
power.
It might appear that they are
fearful of the outside world
(nature/freedom), but it is rather
the consequences that they
would face if they were caught.
Their fear comes from the strict
and powerful Bernada that instills
fear into them through violence
and her status as the widower of
the house.
The scene color now changes to
a blue suggesting a of tragic, sad
atmosphere that will occur in this
act. This also suggests that the
atmosphere that will happen
inside the house will not affect
the outside world, for the lightly

154 Poncia: …But some dogs, with
more feelings than many
creatures, pulled it out, and as if
by the hand of God, they put it on
her doorstep. …
155 Prudencia: You know how he is.
Ever since he fought with his
brothers over the inheritance, he
hasn’t used the front door. He
puts up a ladder and climbs over
the wall and the corral.
155 The breeding stallion, locked up
and kicking the walls
157 Adela: I’m going to the front door
to stretch my legs and get a little
fresh air
158 Angustias: I often stare very hard
at Pepe, until he goes blurred
behind the bars of the window, as
if her were being covered by a
cloud of dust like the ones the
sheep stir up.
163 She looks furtively from side to
side and disappears through the
door to the corral
bathed blue light cannot escape
and is entrapped within the 4
walls. This relates closely to the
theme of imprisonment and
captivity of the girls in the house.
The door is once again a symbol
of power as it claims that God
himself placed on the most
prominent location of the house
that everyone can see.
Out of shame, he stops using the
front door to prevent allowing the
eyes of society to look at him. It
shows the pressure that society
can exert upon a person.
However, he still enters the
house, only this time by a ladder.
This story helps to suggest how
ludicrous our adherence to social
rules is.
This quotation reveals the theme
of nature against social rules
which may imply that the social
rules of the pueblo are unnatural.
The stallion represents nature as
he tries to kick down the walls
built by the society which box him
in the small space of the corral. It
also shows how the males, man
or animal, are granted freedom
because Bernarda commands
that he be let out of the corral.
This is the first time that a woman
goes outside the house and it
hints at the rebellion building up
within Adela.
It is important to note that the
windows have bars covering
them and this enforces the prison
like atmosphere within the
house. Also, it reveals
Angustias’s own hopes of being
free from her mother.
This quotation shows the fear
created by breaking the rules.
 163 Maria Josefa: Are you going to
open the door for me?
The “mad” woman wants to be
escape and be free but is unable
to do it herself as Bernarda has
banished her away from the eyes
of society.

167 Adela: Get away from that door! Adela is rebelling against her
family and is trying to break free
from the prison she feels she is
in.

168 “Open up! Don’t think these walls
can hide your shame!”
Echoes the quotation on page
148 about the walls collapsing in
shame; that the shame of
disgracing your family with their
sinful acts cannot be hidden by
the walls. This implies that the
sinful acts are too powerful and
that even the strong walls cannot
withstand the burden of a huge
secret. On the other hand,
however, it appears that
Bernarda is powerless to open
the door suggesting that Adela
currently has the upper hand.

168 Bernarda: Open up, or I’ll break Bernarda is no longer in control

down the door! Adela! Bring a of her own household and is
hammer! unable to make Adela do what
she wants her to do.

Key moment:

Adela’s suicide is by far the most important scene in the play for this motif. The door plays a pivotal role in
showing Bernarda’s loss of control in the house as she is unable to open the door. The door itself used to
be a barrier for Adela to break down but as she gains control over her life and Bernarda loses her authority,
this role reversal is reflected by who controls the door, “Open up, or I’ll break down the door! Adela!”. The
door also sheds light on Bernarda’s character as her overbearing and cruel personality is apparent. The
importance of the door in this scene is further highlighted by the fact that it is the climax of the play and it is
part of the very last scene, which is the scene the audience will remember when they leave. The door also
plays a key role in the plot as it prevents Bernarda from trying to stop Adela committing suicide. Neighbours
are also denied the opportunity to spy on Bernarda, “the neighbours are awake”, due to the door that is
blocking their view, and this shows the extent to which spying and gossip stretch in this society.

'Era como si un lobo hubiese entrado en la iglesia.'

Poncia, Act 1: It was if a wolf had entered the church.
'Las mujeres en la iglesia no deben mirar más hombre que al oficiante y a ése porque tiene
faldas.'
Bernarda, Act 1: The only man a woman should look at in church is the priest. And only because
he wears a skirt.'
'Hilo y aguja para las hembras. Látigo y mula para el varón. Eso tiene la gente que nace con
posibles.'
Bernarda, Act 1: Needle and threat for females. Mule and whip for the man. That is the fate of
people of substance.'
'Porque los hombres se tapan unos a otros las casas de este índole y nadie es capaz de
delatar.'
Martirio, Act 1: Because men always stick up for eachother and no one has the guts to speak
up. (about Adelaida's father)
'es preferible no ver a un hombre nunca. Desde niña les tuvo miedo.'
Martirio, Act 1: It's better to never see a man. Since I was a child the made me scared.
'Como árboles quemados! Dando voces y arrojando piedras.'
La Poncia, Act 2: Like burnt trees! Shouting and throwing stones. (about the reapers)
'El caballo garañón, que está encerrado y da coces contra el muro. Trabajadlo y que salga al
corral! Debe tener calor.'
Bernarda, Act 3: The stallion. He's locked in the stable and is kicking the walls. Hobble it and let
it out into the yard! He'll be feeling the heat. (to Prudencia)
'Habla si el habla y míralo cuando te mire. Así no tendrás disgustos.'
Bernarda, Act 3: Speak if he speaks and look at him if he looks at you. That way you'll have no
trouble. (to Angustias, about marriage)
'No sabe la fuerza que tiene un hombre entre mujeres solas.'
Criada, Act 3: (Bernarda) doesn't know the strength a man has between single women.
'Un hombre es un hombre.'
Poncia, Act 3: A man is a man. (meaning: he's only a man)
'Ahí fuera está, respirando como si fuera un león.'
Adela, Act 3: He's out there, breathing like a lion (about Pepe)

The House of Bernarda Alba Quotes and Analysis

PONCIA: All we have is our hands and a hole in God's earth.
Act I, p. 159
This statement, which aligns well with Lorca's view on death, poses an implicit
challenge to all the forces that beleaguer the women in the play. The world in
which the Albas live is one of deep and severe repression, one that drives them to
bitterness towards one another, frightened to ever challenge the status quo. And
yet La Poncia is aware that giving in to such a world is foolish, since nobody truly
has or owns anything. Everyone, from the relatively rich Bernada or her husband,
to the poor hunchback Martirio, has nothing but herself and her impending
death. It is a call for action that La Poncia never follows, and only Adela has the
strength to realize. And yet what makes the play so tragic is that despite such a
rallying cry, the tragic forces are too strong and even Adela is brought down to an
untimely death. The power of the individual is not enough.
MAGDALENA: …I know I'm not going to marry. I'd rather carry sacks to the mill.
Anything except sit here day after day in this dark room.
BERNARDA: That's what a woman is for.
MAGDALENA: Cursed be all women.
BERNARDA: In this house you'll do what I order. You can't run with the story to
your father any more. Needle and thread for women. Whiplash and mules for
men. That's the way it has to be for people who have certain obligations.
Act I. p. 165
This exchange reveals one of the play's most intense critiques, that of the way
women are kept repressed to the point of self-hatred. There are two levels of self-
hatred represented here. The first is in Magdalena. Because of her limitations –
she has no outlet for individuality unless she gets married, and yet she will not be
able to get married without a dowry – she is doomed to a painful repetitive life
that she despises. She hates herself. However, perhaps the worse self-hatred
represented here is in Bernarda. She has very firm ideas about what a woman
should do - "needle and thread," which speaks to service and loneliness –
whereas men get to express their liveliness outside. What's perhaps most
depressing of all is that Bernarda has not only accepted this truth (so has
Magdalena, after all), but that Bernarda deliberately reinforces this order, with a
type of perverse glee. She has come to believe that women are naturally inferior,
which means that those under her authority are unlikely to ever transcend their
limitations.
BERNARDA: … Oh, what one has to go through and put up with so people will be
decent and not too wild!
PONCIA: It's just that your daughters are of an age when they ought to have
husbands. Mighty little trouble they give you. Angustias must be much more than
thirty now.
BERNARDA: Exactly thirty-nine.
PONCIA: (furiously) And she's never had a beau…
BERNARDA: None of them has ever had a beau and they've never needed one!
They get along very well.
Act I, p. 169
In the midst of the main argument between La Poncia and Bernarda, the latter
reveals how deeply her desire for repression goes. She does not only want to limit
her daughters from embarrassing her through their behavior (if they are "too
wild," then people will talk), but she actually wants to deprive them of a husband.
We know that in the past, she has done so to Martirio and now she wants it for all
of them. She is willing to let Angustias go only because Angustias is so old.
Bernarda honestly believes that the girls would be better not tying themselves to
a man who can use "whiplash and mule" to further repress them. Whether
Bernarda is blind or unusually sensitive to how terrible the world can be to a
woman is a subject for discussion.
MARTIRIO: She's afraid of our mother. Mother is the only one who knows the
story of Adelaida's father and where he got his lands. Everytime she comes here,
Mother twists the knife in the wound. Her father killed his first wife's husband in
Cuba so he could marry her himself. Then he left her there and went off with
another woman who already had one daughter, and then he took up with this
other girl, Adelaida's mother, and married her after his second wife died insane.
AMELIA: But why isn't a man like that put in jail?
 MARTIRIO: Because men help each other cover up things like that and no one's
able to tell on them.
AMELIA: But Adelaida's not to blame for any of that.
MARTIRIO: No. But history repeats itself. I can see that everything is a terrible
repetition.
Act I, p. 169
In Martirio's story about a local family whose patriarch practiced cruel incest,
there is some character detail about Bernarda, about her unusual command of
local gossip and the way she uses it to her advantage. However, what is most
clear in this exchange is a depiction of the different expectations the world has for
men and women. As Martirio says, men are able to do whatever they want, and
not only are excused for it, but are expected to act in that way. There is a terrible
imbalance: woman are not allowed to show any sexual energy without being
punished, whereas men are expected to show sexual feelings to the point of
depravity. Adelaida is punished by the community despite her being the victim,
whereas her father/husband is let off the hook. These expectations have
engendered a sad apathy – it is a terrible "repetition" that leads someone like
Martirio simply to embroil herself in sadness and accept her suffering, rather than
to actively confront it.
ADELA: I'm thinking that this mourning has caught me at the worst moment of my
life for me to bear it.
MAGDALENA: You'll get used to it.
ADELA: (bursting out, crying with rage) I will not get used to it! I can't be locked
up. I don't want my skin to look like yours. I don't want my skin's whiteness lost in
these rooms. Tomorrow I'm going to put on my green dress and go walking in the
streets. I want to go out!
Act I, p. 173
Adela reveals two strong facets of her character in this exchange. Magdalena,
who has embraced the mourning perhaps more fully than any of the others (we
get the sense she was closest to her father), suggests that Adela needs to learn to
quash her rebellious individual feelings and learn to live under the expected
repression. Adela, in her response, first shows her individual spirit. Unlike any of
the other daughters, she refuses to "get used to it." Instead, she wants to wear
her "green dress," her symbol of individuality and thereby flaunt the strictures
that keep women in black. However, Adela also indicates a touch of her meanness
when she mocks Magdalena's skin. Despite her seeming individuality and
transcendence of the repressive limitations, we see on several occasions how
Adela has grown bitter, how she is a victim of the meanness brought on by
repression. Nobody can ever fully escape, which is the essence of tragedy.
PONCIA: Then he acted very decently. Instead of getting some other idea, he
went for raising birds, until he died. You aren't married but it's good for you to
know, anyway, that two weeks after the wedding a man gives up the bed for the
table, then the table for the tavern, and the woman who doesn't like it can just
rot, weeping in a corner.
Act II, p. 180
This passage, taken from La Poncia's story about her late husband, provides a
counterpoint to the idea of marriage as salvation. The girls live under Bernarda's
strict repression and as such idealize marriage as a way out, a way not only to
escape their mother's tyrannical eye but also to express their sexuality in a
legitimate way. However, La Poncia makes clear in her story that marriage is
merely another type of repression for a woman. Following the first part of her
story, in which she indicates that she had a degree of power in the first stages of
her relationship with her husband, here she reveals not only that marriage offers
only a small, short sexual fulfillment, but also that the woman will have to learn to
accept this injustice. Much as she counsels the daughters to accept their mother's
strictures, so does she make clear that they will either need to accept the
limitations of marriage or they will "rot" in suffering. In other words, there is no
full salvation for females in a world immersed in repression.
PONCIA: Don't defy me, Adela, don't defy me! Because I can shout, light lamps,
and make bells ring.
ADELA: Bring four thousand yellow flares and set them about the walls of the
yard. No one can stop what has to happen.
PONCIA: You like him that much?
 ADELA: That much! Looking in his eyes I seem to drink his blood in slowly.
PONCIA: I won't listen to you.
ADELA: Well, you'll have to! I've been afraid of you. But now I'm stronger than
you!
Act II, p. 183
A tragedy, in which an individual attempts to flaunt his or her spirited individuality
in the face of immovable forces, requires that individual to have a heroic strength
and desire. In this exchange, Adela pronounces the desire for which she will
ultimately suffer in the face of the tragic repressive forces in the world. La Poncia,
who time and time again is the most grounded voice for accepting the repressions
women must face, offers Adela practical advice through their conversation, but
Adela heroically flaunts such advice. She will triumph for love and individuality,
and it is this unflinching desire that makes her death not just sad, but tragic, since
she dies despite her best efforts. What adds a level of irony to Adela's persistence
is the potential lack of worth in Pepe. He does not strike one as an admirable
man, and indeed seems representative of the hypocrisy and ugliness of which
men in their community are capable. The fact that Adela defines her own
individuality in terms of him suggests that even at her most heroic, she is still
unable to see herself except through the lens of a relationship with a man.
BERNARDA: Silence, I say! I saw the storm coming but I didn't think it'd burst so
soon. Oh, what an avalanche of hate you've thrown on my heart! But I'm not old
yet – I have five chains for you, and this house my father built, so not even the
weeds will know of my desolation. Out of here!
([The daughters] go out. Bernarda sits down desolately. La Poncia is standing
close to the wall. Bernarda recovers herself, and beats on the floor.)
I'll have to let them feel the weight of my hand! Bernarda, remember your duty!
Act II, p. 190
In this speech, in part directed toward her daughters, in part toward La Poncia,
and in part toward herself, Bernarda reveals not only her philosophy of repression
but also gives window into the reasons for it. She acknowledges that she is not
oblivious to the truth of female sexuality, but in fact takes pains to prevent the
"avalanche" of repressed sexuality from coming. Her philosophy is not that people
are good, but that they must be kept repressed so as not to let their 'badness,' or
sense of an individual spirit, come out. The second half of her speech reveals to us
that these tyrannical activities are not something she does out of cruelty, but
instead because they are "her duty." By keeping the girls under strict physical
confines, she might keep them from hurting themselves. It's a sad truth that
Bernarda, in trying to make 'good' daughters, keeps her daughters from being
themselves.
BERNARDA: And let whoever loses her decency pay for it!
(Outside a woman's shriek and a great clamor is heard.)
ADELA: Let her escape! Don't you go out!
MARTIRIO: (looking at Adela) Let her pay what she owes!
BERNARDA: (at the archway) Finish her before the guards come! Hot coals in the
place where she sinned!
ADELA: (holding her belly) No! No!
BERNARDA: Kill her! Kill her!
Act II, p. 195
This exchange, which ends Act II, provides dramatic irony that makes the end,
when Adela kills herself, all the more tragic. In the same way the tragedy of
Oedipus is greater because he unknowingly pronounces banishment on whoever
has caused the curse, so does Bernarda here, when talking about the village girl
who had a child out of wedlock and killed the child, unknowingly pronounce
death on her own daughter. We know from other statements of Bernarda that
she does not realize she is hurting the girls, and in fact that her tyranny comes
from perverse love. So she would not want to damn Adela, and yet that is exactly
what she is doing. So pervasive are the tragic forces of repression that Bernarda
commits to them without realizing how terrible they can actually be.
MARIA JOSEFA: When my neighbor had a baby, I'd carry her some chocolate and
later she'd bring me some, and so on - always and always and always. You'll have
white hair, but your neighbors won't come. Now I have to go away, but I'm afraid
 the dogs will bite me. Won't you come with me as far as the fields? I don't like
fields. I like houses, but open houses, and the neighbor women asleep in their
beds with their little tiny tots, and the men outside sitting in their chairs. Pepe el
Romano is a giant. All of you love him. But he's going to devour you because
you're grains of wheat. No, not grains of wheat. Frogs with no tongues!
Act III, p. 206
Though it's easy to write off Maria Josefa's final speeches as the ranting of a
senile old woman, there are grains of prophetic wisdom in them. They are
extremely poetic and theatrical examinations of the major themes of the play. In
this speech, she addresses the female desire to have a baby. It's not motherhood
that draws her towards having a baby, but rather the sexuality that is implied by
it. Further, the baby she speaks of in this scene is the lamb she is holding, which
equates her sexuality with innocence, a far cry from the depraved nature of
Bernarda's tyranny. Further, Maria Josefa does not equate Pepe with innocence,
but rather with danger. She says he will devour them all, because they are all
infatuated with him. They all have been hardened into repressed, mean people
who cannot experience the beauty of imagination, of going far away like Maria
Josefa herself does ("to the fields"), even if that escape is only in her imagination.
She pronounces the tragic end – they will be devoured because they cannot
properly appreciate the way sexuality can bring release.

“I want a man so I can get married and be happy!” Pg 136

The quote on page 131 shows the priorities in those times where the idealistic ideas of marriage based on
love is not in practice. Like Martirio, Pepe el Romano is marrying Angustias for her wealth and land. This is
contrasting to Maria Josefa’s intention of marrying for love and be happy. She links this to the sea, feeling
that marriage will grant her freedom. However, this is ironic as given an example from previous pages;
marriage is simply another form of imprisonment.

Quotation Analysis

122 ‘Never again will you lift up my The intercourse here is

skirt behind the back corral’
animalistic suggesting either the
exploitative nature of the
relationship (man to woman /
master to servant) or the over-
powering urge of desire. The
 setting is also importance
because like the olive grove the
corral is a place where rules can
be broken or, alternatively, it
indicates how rule-breaking must
be carried out in secrecy.

123 ‘Standing very near your aunt.’ Bernarda hints indirectly that the
aunt was behaving improperly.
Her proximity to the ‘widower
from Darajali’ hints at an
attraction between the two but
the fact that something so
insignificant is looked down upon
reveals how strictly controlling
the social rules in this town are
and also how much of a vicious
gossip Bernarda is. This is
confirmed on p.124 when
Bernarda exclaims that
‘Whoever turns her head is on
the prowl for a man.’ where the
use of ‘prowl’ is meant to
insinuate how base, animalistic
and immoral any woman who
would do such a thing is.

127 “What were you looking at? And This is when Bernada is
who? terrorizing her daughters and is
angry that they dare look at men
during their father’s funeral
mass. This reveals how the girls
have no freedom whatsoever
and their lust for a man is so
strong that they will take every
opportunity they have to study
the men around them. They are
reduced to ‘peering through a
crack in the door’ and this is the
closest they can get to a man.

128 ‘They say she rode with her Paca le Roseta is obviously a
topless with her breasts hanging symbol of sexual freedom. The
out.’ open clothing suggests her lack
of inhibitions and the fact that she
is associated with animals like
the horse, distant places like the

130 ‘Her father killed his first wife’s
husband in Cuba so he could
marry her himself. Then, here, he
deserted her and ran off with
another woman who had a
daughter. And then he had an
affair with this girl, Adeleida’s
mother, and he married her after
his second wife went made and
died.’
137 As if she had a lizard between
her breasts
138 “It really is strange how two
people who have never met
suddenly see each other through
a window grating and – just like
that – they’re engaged!”
141 Why were you standing at the
open window half naked?
olive grove and other symbols of
nature like the crown of flowers
reinforce this idea.
This is the story of Adeleida’s
father and it is a good example of
the kinds of stories of sexual
gossip that Bernarda, Poncia
and, presumably the other
members of the town are
constantly on the look out for. It
appears that Bernarda ‘needles’
Adeleida about this every time
that she visits and it is clear that
possession of this kind of
information has given Bernarda
some kind of hold over Adeleida
as she is anxious for the truth to
remain hidden.
The sexual imagery here is used
to suggests Adela’s jittery nature
and her desire for Pepe.
This quotation reveals how
restrictive the society is at the
time. People are not given an
opportunity to get to know their
future partner before agreeing to
marry them – everything is
arranged in advance so that
nothing inappropriate can
happen. The travelling to the
window for the first time also has
a symbolic or performative
aspect to it – it is more of a
gesture to the other townspeople
of the intention to marry rather
than a gesture of love. As such it
reinforces how many actions are
done for the sake of appearance
and how the town is watching
you all the time.
This quotation is clearly meant to
suggest Adela’s desire for Pepe
but also the rebellious and
unconstrained nature of her

142 “- I’d fight my mother, to put out
this fire that rises from my legs
and mouth.”
146 “No reason, except I thought I
heard people in the corral”
character. It also reveals how
closely watched Adela is and
how nothing can escape
Poncia’s eyes.
Here Adela is being openly
honest with Poncia. The fire that
rises from her legs is referring to
her passion and desire for Pepe
and probably freedom in general
and an escape from the house.
This quotation from Martirio
reveals that she knows about
Adela’s relationship with Pepe.
The fact that it occurs in the
corral (an animalistic / natural
place) bespeaks the freedom
associated with this action as
Adela begins to tear free of the
despotism of Bernarda’shouse It
also suggest how transgressions
of the rules need to be kept
secret. Martirio’s attempt to make
her comment seem innocuous
while actually desperate to find
the truth or perhaps prompt a
punishment for Adela reveals
how the house and town is riven
with gossip and how Martirio,
even though she suspects the
affair, has to maintain an
appearance of innocence.
On p.148 we find out that Martirio
stolen Pepe’s photo and has
placed it under her sheets
suggesting she is jealous of
Adela’s affair as she too lusts
after Pepe. Thus it reveals how
all of the sisters are willing to
betray one another. Lorca
appears to be implying that one
of the results of the overly
oppressive rules in place at the
time is that people who should
care for one another will be

155 “The breeding stallion, locked up
and kicking the wall. Shackle
him and let him out in the corral!
He must be hot.”
162 “They are women without men,
that’s all.”
165 “Stay away from that man!”
‘He loves me! He loves me!’
166 “Let my breast explode like a
bitter pomegranate!”
166 “If one of us has to drown, let her
drown! Pepe el Romano is mine!”
168 She died a virgin
turned against each other … and
ultimately will be turned against
themselves as their jealousies
and passions consume them and
drive them towards self
destructive behaviour.
The heat she refers to is the
passion and lust while ‘locked up’
suggests how little freedom the
daughters have. Ironically
animals, however, are free.
This quotation sums up their
continuous lust for sex in order to
claim a man and marry them to
be free.
Their passion to escape from the
house is so deep that their even
willing to betray their own sisters
in order to get out. The repletion
and exclamation also suggest
the extent of Adela’s fervor.
This release of anger shows how
much they long for passion or
some form of love but how, after
continually having to repress
these desires the daughters have
become bitter and rotten inside.
This quotation re-enforces how
badly the daughters want to
escape with a man that their
willing to sacrifice their own
sisters for a life of their own. The
idea of being carried away by a
river which is also mentioned
here suggests the uncontrollable
force of Adela’s passion.
This reveals not only the
importance of maintaining the
appearance of following the rules
 of the town (as opposed to
actually following the rules) it
also reveals the price that Adela
has to pay for being an individual
and her death actually implies
that there is no place for a free
and passionate character like
Adela in this play nor in Spanish
society of the time. This
quotation also reveals how cold
Bernarda is – her daughter has
died and her first concern is to
avoid scandal and protect the
name of the house.

Key Moment:

One key moment for the motif “Sex and Passion” is the end of Act three, where everything is in chaos. This
is the part where Adela hangs herself because she feared that Bernarda has killed Pepe. This was clearly
an act of passion, giving the audience a sense of how much Adela loved Pepe. Furthermore, Bernarda’s
announcement that “She died a virgin”. is important because it tells the audience that the whole play
revolves around rumors, gossip and the keeping up of appearances: Bernarda said this to protect the Alba
family name.

Another key moment is when Adela ‘bursts into angry tears’ on page 134 and says she ‘can’t be locked up!’
and she doesn’t want her ‘body to dry up like’ her sister’s and she doesn’t want to ‘waste away and grow
old in these rooms’. These quotations shows what all the other daughters are thinking, even though Adela
is the only daughter unafraid to speak out. The quotation suggests how the daughters don’t want to die
alone, or die a virgin or die without ever having felt love, but due to their surroundings and the way they’ve
grown up, it’s already too late for some of the daughters to change this.

She’s the only one who knows A clear example of how marriage
the true story of her father and is no longer special: now
how he got his land. Her father everybody marries just for the
killed his first wife’s husband in wealth or the land.
Cuba so he could marry her
himself. There, here, he deserted
her and ran off with another
woman who had a daughter. And
then he had an affair with this girl,
Adelaida’s mother, and he
married her after his second wife
went mad and died.
131 A wedding lasted ten days and Again we can see that weddings
wagging tongues were not the have changed. In the past there
fashion. Today, there is more seemed to be more celebration,
finesse, brides wear white veils
 like in the big cities and we drink
bottled wine.
132 Pepe el Romano wants to marry
Angustias. He was circling the
house last night, and I think he’ll
send someone to ask for her
hand soon.
132 If he wanted Angustias for
herself, Angustias as a woman, I
would be glad. But he wants her
money.
In this family we know she’s old
in poor health and has always
had the least to offer of any of us.
After all, if she looked like a
scarecrow when she was twenty,
what can she look like now that
she’s forty?
She is the only rich one in the
house.
They’re coming after her
133 The best thing she could do is
present it to Angustias to wear
when she marries Pepe el
Romano.
136 I don’t want you to get anything
of mine. Not my rings nor my
black moiré dress. Because none
of you is going to get married!
Not one!
I escaped because I wanted to
get married, because I want to
get married to a beautiful man
from the edge of the sea.
more happiness while today
there is more gossip.
Ironically the weddings look
better – hence the white veils –
but they have lost the vitality that
they had before.
This reveals how men were the
ones in control in the patriarchal
society of the time. In this image
we can almost literally see the
picture of knight on horseback
coming to rescue a helpless
maiden. The women have no
control, no self determination,
they just have to wait until their
hand is asked for.
Here it becomes clear that Pepe
is only planning to marry
Angustias because of her wealth
and land.
Angustias’s dress can portray
herself to Pepe in many ways. A
nicer dress to Pepe will mean
she will more likely get married.
It is all because of beauty.
Bernada’s mother is weak and
powerless. She is a widow and is
mostly controlled by her daughter
and her granddaughters.
However she is insightful and
can see the truth – none of the
daughters is going to get married
and she foresees the barrenness
and sterility of the house.
Her desire to marry a man from
the edge of the sea suggests her
desire for freedom but once
again reveals how women seem
only to be able to conceive of
 escaping through marriage to a
man.

139 Anyway its best for single women
like you to know that fifteen days
after the wedding, a man leaves
the bed for the table, then the
table for the tavern.
Once again this makes it clear
that men do not marry for love. It
also makes it clear that there are
very different roles assigned to
men and women – the man is
allowed, even expected, to go
out drinking with his friends while
the implication is that the woman
must stay at home

150 Why didn’t you let her marry
Enrique Humanas? Why did you
send him a message not to come
to her window, the very day he
was coming?
My blood will never mix with that
of the Humanas family – not as
long as I live! His father was a
field hand.
When Bernada says “his father
was a field hand” it reveals how
concerned she is with
maintaining her position in
society and not allowing her
daughters to marry beneath
themselves. It also makes it clear
how vicious Bernarda is and how
concern for public appearance
can have destructive effects on
the individual as it is presumably
(at least partly) the
disappointment suffered with
Enrique Humanas that has
turned Martirio into the bitter
person she is.

156 Engagement rings are supposed The fact that the ring is not a
to be diamonds. diamond (for strength) but a pearl
(for tears) foreshadows the
unhappy results of Pepeand
Angustias’ marriage.

The dragging of the daughter of Librada - “Mirror image of Adela” “Recalls Christ’s walk to calvary”
Title Text & Presentation, 2012
Volume 9 of The Comparative Drama Conference
Series
Editor Graley Herren
Edition illustrated
Publisher McFarland, 2012
ISBN 0786471093, 9780786471096