The House of Bernarda Alba

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The play "The House Of Bernarda Alba" gives an interesting portrayal of a middle class home consisting entirely of women. The plot is set in a small town, middle class house in a society dominated by men. It is believed to be set somewhere in Spain in the 1930s. The play was written in a time when the suppression of woman was still strong. The mother, the head of the household, does everything she believes is necessary to keep her house within a good social standing in the town. The mother had become the master of the house after her husband died, which makes her work harder to keep a good reputation for her house of women. Looking deeper into the story one might find two sides to the dilemmas that cover the house. There are protagonists, principle characters in a story, and antagonists, characters that act adversaries or opponents to the principle characters. In this play one of the maids, Poncia, is forced to be in the middle of much of the drama consuming this house. She, Poncia, can be looked at as both a protagonist and antagonist. One might say that she fits into a back up role; helping support the main characters' roles, in the cast of characters.

In this story it can be easy to point out who were the protagonists, the mother (Bernarda) and Poncia. Poncia had worked for Bernarda for several years and became an important part of the household. In the first act Poncia is speaking with the other maid about how she has been with Bernarda for thirty years, washing her sheets, spending nights watching over her, peeking through cracks to spy on the neighbors to bring her the gossip (195). She has been a loyal servant, although she is just doing her job and doing what she is told. Poncia, later in the play, even tries to help Bernarda realize what has been going on under in her own house (253-256). Even when there was a lot of gossip on Bernarda's house that could have been spread through the town Poncia keeps it from spreading; as she told Bernarda; "I cover up more than you think" (275). Poncia is clearly a protagonist in this story, although she tries to pick sides.

Looking into the lives of these characters the obvious is this: the daughters are against the mother, and Poncia often fits in the middle.

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