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Patriarchy and Domination
Themes and Colors
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The House of Bernarda Alba, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Bernarda Alba’s obsession with purity, reputation, and the family bloodline stems from her family’s traditional place in the Spanish class hierarchy. Much like García Lorca’s family, Bernarda’s family belongs to the lower nobility and was once powerful and respected in their small, traditional Andalusian village; Bernarda clings desperately to this identity, but she recognizes that passing it down to her daughters depends on marrying them to men of a similar class. This is why she refuses to let Martirio marry the fieldhand’s son Enrique Humanas, and why she jumps at the opportunity to marry Angustias to Pepe el Romano, even though he is clearly just interested in her money. Bernarda’s investment in social hierarchy is also clear from her classist attitudes: she tells working-class Poncia that “the poor are like animals” and taunts her because her mother ran a brothel; when Poncia tries to share her sincere concerns about the five sisters’ marriage prospects, Bernarda dismisses her because “you are my servant, and I pay you.” Most of all, Bernarda is obsessed with appearances, rumors, and reputation because she knows that any blemishes could permanently diminish her family’s status in the community’s eyes. Yet her emphasis on class backfires: she ignores Poncia’s warnings to her own peril, loses others’ respect by mistreating them in the name of honor codes, and keeps her daughters single because she can’t find anyone high-class enough for them. Through Bernarda’s self-defeating obsession with class, García Lorca shows that, in unequal societies where status depends on honor and descent, people sacrifice their freedom and happiness for the sake of appearances.
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Class and Honor ThemeTracker
The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of Class and Honor appears in each act of The House of Bernarda Alba. Click or tap on any chapter to read its Summary & Analysis.
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Class and Honor Quotes in The House of Bernarda Alba
Below you will find the important quotes in The House of Bernarda Alba related to the theme of Class and Honor.
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!
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The House of Bernarda Alba opens with Poncia and the Maid frantically cleaning Bernarda’s house during her husband Antonio’s funeral. As they scrub and organize, they warn the audience about Bernarda’s cruelty—which she makes a habit of directing toward people from lower social classes, like them. Bernarda’s arrogance, unpredictability, and penchant for violence make her a thankless boss and mother; Poncia and the Maid live bound to and terrified of her, much like her children, although they at least get to make their own decisions about marriage and family. Opening the play with the servants’ dialogue is a significant stylistic Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi e
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!
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Shortly before Bernarda’s arrival, Poncia describes the resentment she has felt for her boss—and stubbornly held onto—for decades. Given her steadfast dedication to the rural Spanish class system, Bernarda makes Poncia do virtually anything she doesn’t want to at home and goes to great lengths to constantly remind Poncia of her inferior social status. As Poncia explains here, not only does she have to wash Bernarda’s clothes and take care of her when she’s sick, but she also only gets to eat whatever Bernarda and her daughters don’t finish, and she even has to serve as Bernarda’s eyes or ears, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae
(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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Bernarda first comes onstage holding the cane that symbolizes her power over her household and screaming at the Maid to be quiet. The Maid is grieving the loss of Bernarda’s husband, the late Don Antonio, but Bernarda tells her to be quiet because she considers it inappropriate for the servants to speak unless spoken to. This is ironic because, with the exception of Magdalena, Bernarda and her daughters clearly do not mourn him—they perform all the social rituals associated with mourning but do not actually grieve his loss. Bernarda’s refusal to hear the Maid weep clearly shows how she consistently Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque
BERNARDA: The poor are like animals; they seem to be made of other substances.
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After chastising the Maid for crying, Bernarda voices her classism by comparing poor people to animals and declaring that the lower classes are “made of other substances.” This is a convenient, self-serving excuse for class inequality and cruelty towards the poor. It suggests that people like Bernarda have more wealth, power, and status than people like Poncia and the Maid because there is simply something different—and better—about them. If rich and poor people are “made of [different] substances,” then class differences are natural, inherent, and essential: they cannot change, and so Bernarda’s tyrannical rule over people like the Maid is Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo
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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The play is set in the scorching Andalusian summer, and to cope with the heat, Bernarda demands a fan from her daughters. In these lines, Adela graciously offers her fan to her mother, but Bernarda tersely rejects it because it is not black—and only black clothing and accessories are socially permissible during the family’s eight years of mourning. Bernarda is furious to see her daughter defy tradition, as she believes that her family’s status depends on hewing to it meticulously. But she also doesn’t seem to grasp how alien and unreasonable her rules seem to everyone else. Bernarda’s rules against Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas
MAGDALENA: Neither mine nor yours. I know I’m not going to get married. I'd rather carry sacks to the mill. Anything but sit in this dark room, day after day!
BERNARDA: That’s what it means to be a woman.
MAGDALENA: To hell with being a woman!
BERNARDA: Here you do what I tell you to do! You can't run to your father with your stories anymore. A needle and thread for females; a mule and a whip for males. That’s how it is for people born with means.
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This passage offers one of the first clear signs of how Bernarda imposes traditional gender and class norms onto her daughters, to their detriment. All of Bernarda’s daughters, with the possible exception of Amelia, are in some way profoundly dissatisfied with the social role that their mother and society assign them. Magdalena expresses her dissatisfaction by asserting her independence and entirely rejecting the conventional social role of a woman in her society, which revolves around marriage. She concludes that it is better to die single than subject oneself to men’s control (and mistreatment). But since Bernarda’s overriding obsession in life Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atqu
PONCIA: No one can talk to you. Can we or can we not be honest with each other?
BERNARDA: We cannot. You are my servant, and I pay you. Nothing more!
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Halfway through Act I, Poncia asks about Angustias’s marriage prospects, and Bernarda replies by complaining that there are no suitably high-class men in their village, but she also won’t send her daughters away to marry anyone from another village. This is the exchange that follows. Poncia asks if they can be honest because she wants to tell Bernarda what everyone else has already realized: that by demanding the impossible for her daughters, Bernarda is setting them up for failure—or, at the very least, spinsterhood. This is the last thing that Bernarda wants, but she doesn’t seem to understand that she Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciat
Act 2 Quotes
ADELA: (Sitting down) Oh, if only I could go out to the fields, too!
MAGDALENA: (Sitting down) Each class does what it must.
MARTIRIO: (Sitting down) That’s how it is.
(AMELIA sits down with a sigh)
PONCIA: There’s no greater joy than being in the fields at this time of year! Yesterday morning the harvesters arrived. Forty or fifty good-looking young men.
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It’s harvest time in the family’s village, and the sisters struggle with the knowledge that dozens of “good-looking young men” have come from far away to work on their land, but they are not allowed to meet them. Since they belong to a traditional upper-class family, they cannot be seen in the fields, not to mention mingling with common field hands. (Worse still, they are supposed to be mourning for the next eight years, which means they cannot even leave the house.) But they want nothing more than to meet men their age, something that their rigid mother and cloistered Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Duc
PONCIA: (With unrelenting cruelty) Bernarda, something monstrous is happening here. I don’t want to blame you, but you haven’t allowed your daughters any freedom. Martirio is romantic, no matter what you say. Why didn't you let her marry Enrique Humanas? Why did you send him a message not to come to her window, the very day he was coming?
BERNARDA: (Loud) And I would do it a thousand times again! My blood will never mix with that of the Humanas family—not as long as I live! His father was a field hand.
PONCIA: This is what comes of putting on airs!
BERNARDA: I do because I can afford to! And you don’t because you know very well what you come from.
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Having noticed the rising tension between Martirio and Adela, Poncia finally confronts Bernarda and warns her about the consequences of keeping her daughters under lock and key. She particularly notes how Bernarda seeded Martirio’s jealousy in the play’s present by rejecting her suitor Enrique Humanas on the grounds of class. But while audiences can easily connect the dots between Poncia’s explanation and Martirio’s increasingly open animosity for Adela, Bernarda stops processing it the moment class comes up. For Bernarda, mixing with commoners is a red line that cannot be crossed, as it would automatically mean permanent reputational damage to the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi a
(Outside, a woman screams, and there is a great uproar)
ADELA: They should let her go! Don’t go out there!
MARTIRIO: (Looking at ADELA) Let her pay for what she did.
BERNARDA: (In the archway) Finish her off before the Civil Guard gets here! Burning coals in the place where she sinned!
ADELA: (Clutching her womb) No! No!
BERNARDA: Kill her! Kill her!
CURTAIN
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Act 2 of The House of Bernarda Alba ends with a jarring, unexpected event that portends the tragedy that will soon befall Bernarda’s family. After catching a young woman killing and hiding the body of a child she bore out of wedlock, a mob of townspeople abducted her and started dragging her down the main road. They will likely kill or torture her as punishment. Upon learning this, Bernarda starts to enthusiastically cry out in support and even describe the horrible punishments she hopes the woman will suffer (like “burning coals” on her genitals). This horrifies Adela, who not only Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Voluptas suscipit alias. In et eveniet. Eaque et repellendus. Dolores aut voluptatibus. Voluptatem qui voluptatum. Voluptatibus sed placeat. Aut tenetur autem. Fugit voluptates in. Quidem impedit sunt. Excepturi ullam nobis. Ducimus odio quo. Ut autem harum. Omnis vel voluptatum
Act 3 Quotes
BERNARDA: You shouldn’t ask him. Especially after you’re married. Speak if he speaks, and look at him when he looks at you. That way, you won’t quarrel.
ANGUSTIAS: Mother, I think he hides many things from me.
BERNARDA: Don’t try to find out about them. Don’t ask him. And, above all, don’t ever let him see you cry.
ANGUSTIAS: I should be happy, and I’m not.
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Angustias voices her concerns about her upcoming marriage to Bernarda, who ignores and overrides her. Bernarda belligerently insists that a woman’s role is to obey her husband and accept her lot in life, no matter how unhappy this makes her. She proposes her own favorite strategy, denial, as the solution for any dissonance between one’s dreams and one’s reality. This illustrates not only the grim reality of womanhood in early 20th-century rural Spain, but also the great lengths to which women like Bernarda went in an effort to convince themselves that this reality was normal and acceptable. Bernarda’s disappointing advice Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error
MARTIRIO: (Pointing at ADELA) She was with him! Look at her petticoats, covered with straw!
BERNARDA: That is the bed of sinful women! (She moves toward ADELA, furious)
ADELA: (Confronting her) The shouting in this prison is over! (She seizes her mother’s cane and breaks it in two) This is what I do with the tyrant’s rod! Don’t take one step more. No one gives me orders but Pepe!
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At the end of the play, Martirio tells Adela that she no longer views her as a sister, then calls over their mother Bernarda and points out the straw on Adela’s petticoats. In this play, adultery is strongly associated with animalistic desire and natural settings, like the olive grove where the field hands take women, sometimes with and sometimes without their consent. Given this link, Bernarda and the audience can reliably interpret the straw on Adela’s petticoats as evidence of adultery. Now finally exposed, Adela knows that her mother’s wrath would ordinarily await her. After all, her adultery is a Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore lab
