How Does This Extract Reflect the Wider Issue of Freedom and Oppression as It Appears in the Play?

How does this extract reflect the wider issue of freedom and oppression as it appears in the play?

Extract to be used in essay:

La Poncia. Mejor será que no me meta en nada

To

Bernarda. ¡Matadla! ¡Matadla!

Telón.

(End of Act 2) (Lorca & Edwards, 2013)

Important actions in extract:

• Bernarda and Poncia discuss the daughters and their infatuation with Pepe el Romano.

• It is discovered that Pepe leaves at 4 not 1 every night

• Martirio and Adela discuss Pepe el Romano.

• The audience learns about Librada’s daughter who has had an illegitimate baby and killed it thus making the towns people want to kill her, to the outrage of Adela.

Commentary

The Oxford English Dictionary defines freedom as the power or right to act, speak, or think freely, and oppression as the subjection to hardship (Soanes & Stevenson, 2006). The themes of freedom and oppression are apparent throughout the whole of La Casa de Bernarda. For example Lorca’s staging directions represent the oppression of the characters; surrounded by heavy walls with little decoration. Furthermore, the oppression of women throughout the play is clear; they have a reduced agency that is to say that they have little say over their own lives, which is then reinforced by Bernarda.

In this extract the idea of freedom can be seen, principally, through Adela’s dreams of a life with Pepe el Romano. Even Poncia acknowledges Adela as “la verdadera novia del Romano”. Adela dreams of a life outside of the dungeon that her house has become since the death of her father, thus becoming a symbol of freedom and rebellion. Yet this is a problematic representation as Adela will also do whatever Pepe wants of her, emphasising the male vitality that threatens and oppresses women (Lorca & Ramsden, La casa de Bernarda Alba. Pg x). However, this idea of oppression is emphasised when Martirio, another daughter in love with Pepe el Romano, shows her determination towards the parting...