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Pepe el Romano
Antonio María Benavides is Bernarda Alba’s second husband and the father of Magdalena, Amelia, Martirio, and Adela. He dies shortly before the events of the play, much of which deals with his family’s conflicts over how to mourn him. While Bernarda remembers him as an honorable, ethical man, the Maid reveals that he used to “lift up [her] skirts” in the corral. Like Pepe el Romano, he is more of an idea than an actual character in the play, which further shows how men abuse their power over women. The perception of honor matters more than actually honorable behavior in the rural culture that Bernarda and her family uphold.
Antonio María Benavides Quotes in The House of Bernarda Alba
The The House of Bernarda Alba quotes below are all either spoken by Antonio María Benavides or refer to Antonio María Benavides. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Act 1 Quotes
(As the two hundred women mourners finish coming in, BERNARDA ALBA and her five daughters appear. BERNARDA is leaning on a cane)
BERNARDA: (To the MAID) Silence!
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ADELA: Here you are. (She gives her a round fan decorated with red and green flowers)
BERNARDA: (Hurling the fan to the floor) Is this the fan you give to a widow? Give me a black one, and learn to respect your father’s memory!
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Act 3 Quotes
BERNARDA: I want no weeping. We must look death in the face. Silence! (To another daughter) Be quiet, I said! (To another daughter) Tears, when you’re alone. We will all drown ourselves in a sea of mourning. The youngest daughter of Bernarda Alba has died a virgin. Did you hear me? Silence! Silence, I said! Silence!
CURTAIN
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Antonio María Benavides Character Timeline in The House of Bernarda Alba
The timeline below shows where the character Antonio María Benavides appears in The House of Bernarda Alba. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1
...herself, and she kicks the woman out of the house. She curses Bernarda’s late husband, Antonio, who used to lift up her skirt. But then, all the mourning women enter the...
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...that Don Arturo has come to talk about the will. Bernarda orders her to hide Antonio’s clothes and insists that they won’t part with any of his possessions. Bernarda and the...
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Bernarda and Poncia enter and complain that Don Antonio left too much to Angustias in his will. Angustias enters and Bernarda criticizes her for...
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