The House Of Bernarda Alba La casa de Bernarda Alba

by García Lorca, Federico; Edwards, Gwynne

• ISBN13: 9780713686777
• ISBN10: 0713686774
• Edition: Student
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-09-03
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Methuen Drama

Summary

Bernarda Alba is a widow, and her five daughters are incarcerated in mourning along with her. One by one they make a bid for freedom, with tragic consequences. Lorca's tale depicts the repression of women within Catholic Spain in the years before the war. The House of Bernarda Alba is Lorca's last and possibly finest play, completed shortly before he was murdered by Nationalist sympathisers at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. Inspired by real characters and described by the author as 'a true record of village life', it is a tragic tale of frustration and explosive passions in a household of women rulled by a tyrannical mother. Edited with invaluable student notes - a must for students of Spanish drama

Author Biography

Federico Garca Lorca was born in 1898, in Andalusia, Spain. A poet and dramatist, and also a gifted painter and pianist, his early popular ballads earned him the title of 'poet of the gypsies'. In 1930 he turned his attention to theatre, visiting remote villages and playing classic and new works for peasant audiences. In 1936, shortly after the outbreak of Civil War, he was murdered by Nationalist partisans. His body was never found.

Table of Contents

Federico Garcia Lorca: 1898-1936
Plot
Commentary
Lorca and the theatre of his time
The real-life source of The House of Bernarda Alba
The social background and meaning of the play
The broader meaning: symbolism and imagery
The characters
The play as tragedy
Staging of Lorca's plays in his lifetime
Production history of The House of Bernarda Alba
The translation
The Spanish text
Further reading
The House of Bernarda Alba
Act One	p. 4
Act Two	p. 46
Act Three	p. 86
Notes	p. 120
Questions for further study	p. 142
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