White, Black, and Color
The House of Bernarda Alba is suffused with the contrast between white and black, which represents the binary of virgin and widow that defines women’s social value in Bernarda’s village. The play is also…
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Embroidery
Embroidery represents not just women’s traditional role in the honor code governing Spanish village life, but also the collapse of this code as those roles start to shift in modern times. Customarily, upper-class men in…
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Horses
Horses represent traditional masculinity, male sexuality, and men’s power over women in Bernarda’s village. While the association between men and horses stems from the Spanish nobleman’s traditional occupation, overseeing his fields on horseback, it…
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