70 pages • 2 hours read
La Casa De Bernarda Alba
Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1945
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Introduction
La Casa de Bernarda Alba
- Genre: Fiction; realistic drama
- Originally Published: 1945
- Reading Level/Interest: College/adult
- Structure/Length: 3 acts; approx. 112 pages; approx. 1 hour, 19 minutes on audio
- Protagonist and Central Conflict: Bernarda decides to follow the family tradition of an eight-year mourning period after her husband’s death, insisting her five adult daughters participate as well. When a man enters the picture, ostensibly wanting to marry the oldest daughter while secretly having an affair with the youngest daughter, events unfold that lead to tragedy for all.
- Potential Sensitivity Issues: Death by suicide
Federico García Lorca, Author
- Bio: Born 1898 in a small town in Fuente Vaqueros, Spain; died 1936; studied at Columbia University and University of Granada; traveled internationally; joined artists’ group Generación del 27, becoming friends with Salvador Dalí; influenced by surrealism; appointed as director of Teatro Universitario La Barraca; was executed by firing squad in the Spanish Civil War; La Casa de Bernarda Alba adapted for opera, ballet, and film
- Other Works: Libro de Poemas (1921); Odes (1928); Blood Wedding (1932); Yerma (1934)
CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:
- Sexual Repression
- Cycles of Oppression
- Cycles of Violence
STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:
- Develop an understanding of the historical and social contexts regarding the oppression of women through traditional social norms and institutions that incite the frustration of the Alba women.
