La Casa de Bernarda Alba by Federico
García Lorca is a play in which a newly-widowed woman named Bernarda Alba keeps her
daughters under a tight vigilance and under extreme control from the influence of men.
As a result, the women consistently battle each other, almost as if venting out the
overwhelming pressure that they live under.
The main causes
of the problems in Bernarda Alba's household were Bernarda's inflexible nature, and her
inability to change. The entire household lived as in frozen in time. The daughters were
stuck in a situation in which they were not even allowed to look at men. Their old
grandmother was insane and stuck in her own past. The lack of exposure to the world
outside their household led them to live like prisoners of their mother. Their situation
was maddening.
For this reason, nothing seemed to change in
the story; nothing outside Bernarda's control was allowed to come into the
household: Eventually, the family imploded when Adela hung
herself.
The inflexible nature of Bernarda and her
obstinate ways permeate the play and bring out the profound sense of hopelessness that
is so characteristic. The reader can feel the desperation of the daughters, and it is no
wonder (one thinks) that suicide was Adela's only solution to escape the infernal
atmosphere of oppression and control that filled the house.
Therefore, Bernarda's behavior is what intensifies the
feelings of hopelessness in the story and what prevents change from transforming, and
maybe even enhancing, the situation of the family.
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