The House of Bernarda Alba

by

Federico García Lorca

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The Maid Character Analysis

The Maid is the lower-ranking servant in Bernarda’s house. Her duties consist primarily of cooking and cleaning, announcing visitors, and looking after of Maria Josefa. Except in the first scene, where she reveals her past relationship with Don Antonio and her dialogue with Poncia introduces the audience to Bernarda’s tyrannical personality, her role is primarily to accompany and announce major action in the play.

The Maid Quotes in The House of Bernarda Alba

The The House of Bernarda Alba quotes below are all either spoken by The Maid or refer to The Maid. 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:
Freedom, Desire, and Tragedy  Theme Icon
).
Act 1 Quotes

VOICE: Bernarda!

PONCIA: (Calling out) She’s coming! (To the MAID) Scrub everything clean. If Bernarda doesn’t see things shine, she’ll tear out the little hair I have left!

MAID: What a woman!

PONCIA: She tyrannizes everyone around her. She could sit on your heart and watch you die for a whole year without taking that cold smile off her damn face! Scrub! Scrub those tiles!

Related Characters: The Maid (speaker), Poncia (speaker), Bernarda Alba
Page Number: 194
Explanation and Analysis:

PONCIA: Thirty years, washing her sheets. Thirty years, eating her leftovers. Nights watching over her when she coughs. Entire days peering through cracks, to spy on the neighbors and bring her the gossip. A life with no secrets from each other. And yet—damn her! May she have a horrible pain—like nails stuck in her eyes!

Related Characters: Poncia (speaker), Bernarda Alba, The Maid
Page Number: 195
Explanation and Analysis:

(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!

Related Characters: Bernarda Alba (speaker), Adela, The Maid, Antonio María Benavides
Page Number: 199
Explanation and Analysis:

BERNARDA: The poor are like animals; they seem to be made of other substances.

Related Characters: Bernarda Alba (speaker), The Maid, Poncia
Page Number: 199
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 3 Quotes

PONCIA: There’s nothing I can do. I tried to put a stop to all this, but now it frightens me too much. Do you hear this silence? Well, there’s a storm brewing in every room. The day it bursts, we’ll all be swept away! I’ve said what I had to say.

Related Characters: Poncia (speaker), Bernarda Alba, Martirio, Adela, The Maid
Page Number: 276
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Maid Quotes in The House of Bernarda Alba

The The House of Bernarda Alba quotes below are all either spoken by The Maid or refer to The Maid. 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:
Freedom, Desire, and Tragedy  Theme Icon
).
Act 1 Quotes

VOICE: Bernarda!

PONCIA: (Calling out) She’s coming! (To the MAID) Scrub everything clean. If Bernarda doesn’t see things shine, she’ll tear out the little hair I have left!

MAID: What a woman!

PONCIA: She tyrannizes everyone around her. She could sit on your heart and watch you die for a whole year without taking that cold smile off her damn face! Scrub! Scrub those tiles!

Related Characters: The Maid (speaker), Poncia (speaker), Bernarda Alba
Page Number: 194
Explanation and Analysis:

PONCIA: Thirty years, washing her sheets. Thirty years, eating her leftovers. Nights watching over her when she coughs. Entire days peering through cracks, to spy on the neighbors and bring her the gossip. A life with no secrets from each other. And yet—damn her! May she have a horrible pain—like nails stuck in her eyes!

Related Characters: Poncia (speaker), Bernarda Alba, The Maid
Page Number: 195
Explanation and Analysis:

(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!

Related Characters: Bernarda Alba (speaker), Adela, The Maid, Antonio María Benavides
Page Number: 199
Explanation and Analysis:

BERNARDA: The poor are like animals; they seem to be made of other substances.

Related Characters: Bernarda Alba (speaker), The Maid, Poncia
Page Number: 199
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 3 Quotes

PONCIA: There’s nothing I can do. I tried to put a stop to all this, but now it frightens me too much. Do you hear this silence? Well, there’s a storm brewing in every room. The day it bursts, we’ll all be swept away! I’ve said what I had to say.

Related Characters: Poncia (speaker), Bernarda Alba, Martirio, Adela, The Maid
Page Number: 276
Explanation and Analysis: