Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Blood Wedding, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Love, Passion, and Control
History and Fate
Violence and Revenge
Ownership and Unhappiness
Summary
Analysis
The Bridegroom’s mother and the Bride’s father return after the wedding ceremony and ask the servant if they’re the first to arrive, but she informs them that Leonardo and his wife made it back before them, driving dangerously fast the whole way. Commenting on this, the father notes that Leonardo doesn’t have “good blood,” and the mother says, “What blood could he have? The blood of his entire family.” Going on, she once again talks about how the Felixes murdered her husband and son, but the Bride’s father tells her to stop obsessing about the matter, though she reminds him again that she will never forget what happened. The two then discuss the prospect of having grandchildren, and the father says, “I want them to have many. This land needs arms that are not paid for.”
Once more, the Bridegroom’s mother appears unwilling to let go of the past. In turn, García Lorca shows the audience how difficult it is to forget about one’s personal history, which doesn’t bode well for the Bride, who is trying desperately to put her romantic history with Leonardo out of her mind. On another note, the Bride’s father once again demonstrates his all-consuming obsession with land ownership, finding a way to fixate on such superficial notions even when thinking about having grandchildren. He doesn’t want grandchildren so he can love nurture them; he wants grandchildren so they can love and nurture his land.
Themes
Finally, the rest of the wedding party returns, and the Bridegroom’s mother talks to the Bride, noting that her “blessings weigh heavily” even though she should be “light as a dove.” The Bridegroom then comes to the Bride and asks if she likes the orange blossoms, proudly pointing out that the wreath will “last for ever” because it’s wax. “I’d like you to have worn them all over your dress,” he says, though she tells him such a thing would be unnecessary.
It’s apparent in this moment that the Bridegroom is quite proud of the impressive wreath he gave the Bride. Of course, it’s worth bearing in mind that Leonardo—who knows the Bride on a more personal level—has already made it clear that she doesn’t care about such lavish material items. As such, the Bridegroom’s boast that the wax orange blossoms will “last for ever” only underscores how little he knows about his new wife.
Themes
As the party begins, the guests dance merrily while Leonardo’s wife wonders where he has gone. During this time, the Bridegroom flirts cheekily with the servant and prepares to spend his first night with the Bride, who is currently talking to a group of young women who are giddy and jealous of her, though they sense her somberness. “It’s a difficult step to take,” she tells them, insisting that she has “lots of things on [her] mind” because she has just gotten married. As this conversation ends, the Bridegroom hugs her from behind, and she immediately says, “Don’t.” Confused, he asks why she’s afraid of him, and she’s surprised to see that it’s him, pretending to have thought he was her father. She then tells him to stop touching her, acting as if she doesn’t want the guests to see them.
When the Bridegroom hugs the Bride from behind, she reacts strongly because she assumes that he is Leonardo. This is why she says, “Don’t,” and also why she quickly has to think of a reason she would be so startled by her own husband’s touch. Indeed, even if this isn’t the case—and she knows all along that the Bridegroom is behind her—her reaction reveals how uncomfortable she is about the mere idea of the Bridegroom touching her romantically.
Themes
Interrupting the Bride and Bridegroom’s conversation, Leonardo’s wife asks if they’ve seen Leonardo, saying she has looked all over for him. In a carefree manner, the Bridegroom suggests that he must have taken his horse for a ride, and the wife continues to search. Seeing the Bride’s unhappiness, the servant asks her what’s wrong. “It’s as if someone’s struck me on the head!” the Bride answers, declaring that she’s going to the bedroom to rest for a little while. When the Bridegroom offers to accompany her, she forces him to stay. “Whatever you want,” he says. “But don’t be like this tonight!” On her way out, she says, “I’ll be better tonight.”
It’s worth noting that the Bride suddenly comes down with a headache as soon as people start talking about Leonardo, a fact that indicates how profoundly affected she is by the mere mention of his name. Furthermore, when the Bridegroom tells her not to decline his advances later that night—when they’re inevitably expected to have sex for the first time—the audience understands that he sees himself as someone who can tell her what to do, now that she’s his wife. In turn, it becomes clear that he views sex in the same way that he views land ownership and materialistic possession, clearly thinking he’s entitled to whatever he wants because he has gone through the transactional process of marriage.
Themes
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The Bridegroom’s mother walks over to him and asks him where the Bride has gone. “A bad day for brides,” he jokes after answering her question. “A bad day?” she asks. “The only good one. For me it was like an inheritance.” At this point, the Bride’s father enters and asks where his daughter is, and the partygoers soon discover that she’s nowhere to be found. As everybody begins to panic, Leonardo’s wife comes in and screams, “They’ve run way! Her and Leonardo. On horseback! Arms around one another!” With this, the celebrants jump to action as the Bridegroom prepares to mount a horse and follow the lovers into the woods.
When the Bridegroom’s mother says that her wedding day was like an “inheritance,” García Lorca once again spotlights the fact that the majority of the characters in Blood Wedding see marriage as a transaction, not necessarily as a celebration of love. Indeed, it is perhaps because of their obsession with the superficial and material benefits of marriage that everyone surrounding the Bride has failed to recognize the discontent that led her to elope with Leonardo.
Themes
As the Bride’s father dumbfoundedly expresses his disbelief that his daughter would elope with another man, the Bridegroom’s mother entreats him to rally his side of the family to chase down the runaway lovers. “Now there are two sides here. My family and yours. All of you must go,” she says. “The hour of blood has come again. Two sides. You on yours, me on mine. After them! Get after them!”
Although the Bridegroom’s mother is supposedly so averse to violence (recall her earlier tirade against knives), she suddenly advocates for bloodshed when her son’s new wife escapes with Leonardo. By saying that “the hour of blood has come again,” she expresses her desire to take revenge on Leonardo, a member of the Felix family, ultimately playing into the same violent narrative that led to her husband and son’s deaths. In this way, she perpetuates the embattled history that she claims to detest.
Themes
