Patriarchal And Class Systems In Garcia Lorca's La Casa De Bernarda Alba

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How are the patriarchal and class systems presented in García Lorca's "La casa de Bernarda Alba"? In the twentieth century, women were finding it hard to express who they were in a patriarchal system that generally refused to let them choose. Many women expressed themselves anyways and exposed the conditions that they face in public. One novelist that was writing about such topics was Federico Garcia Lorca. He wrote about one the of serious topics at the time about patriarchy in Spain and the way classes were run. An example to show how class systems were portrayed was from his play titled "La casa de bernarda alba" de Garcia Lorca. In the play, there are various characters that play a significance in the patriarchal systems and how they role as it centres on the events of a house in Andalusia during a period of mourning. Throughout this essay, one will discuss how patriarchal and class systems were presented through the various characters in the novel, which represented the different types of people at the time living in Spain. Throughout the play, we see various scenarios which tests out the class systems that runs in Spain. At the beginning of act 1, we see Ponica carrying out orders to Criada, as if she is running the household. Nonetheless, if Bernada was there, she knew she wouldn't get away it. " ¡Maldita sea! ¡Mal dolor de clavo le pinche en los ojos!" (Act 1, pg48). This indicates how violent and bossy Bernada can be. Bernarda thinks of the poor as petty people and seems to be passionate only about material things. According to the class systems in Spain, the higher up in society than you're based in, the more power tend to have over others. Even though both Ponica and Criada are both housemaids, Poncia would be h... ... middle of paper ... ... in society. The extent of Lorca's tragedy acts out the denial to their freedom. Lorca does a good job of portraying a serious theme such as patriachical society and does this, in the one way he does best i.e. his plays. He writes these plays during the Spanish civil war as he is aware of the issues that are of threat in that century. Bibliography Gabriele,J.P. Of Mothers and Freedom: Adela’s Struggles for Selfhood in La casa de Bernarda Alba. Symposium, Vol 47. No 3. 188-199. 1998 Galén,E. La casa de Bernada Alba: Federico García Lorca. Claves De. Ciclo. 2nd Ed. Madrid:Spain. 21-52. 1996. García Lorca,F. La casa de Bernarda Alba. Alianza Editorial: Biblioteca García Lorca. Ed. M.Hernádez. Madrid:Spain. 2008.

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