The House of Bernarda Alba

563 Words2 Pages

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.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of The White Apron

    1067 Words  | 3 Pages

    The White apron is a powerful play about socioeconomic problems and inequality in our community. In the play we are introduce to two main characters, the madam and the house cleaner. Secondary characters include the distinguish gentleman and swimmers on the beach. The play takes place on the beach during the month of March. In the beginning of the play, the author reminds us the readers the immediate difference between the physical appearances of the two women. We are also made aware that there are not only physical differences between the two women, but also that of social status and financial stability. The madam is a woman of her thirty; she has light hair and has a somewhat attractive face. We also know that the madam has a husband and a young son. Whereas the maid is in her twenties, she has a fair complexion, black hair, placid and pleasant face. She is from a lower social class.

    Read More

  • Characters in Like Water For Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

    1213 Words  | 3 Pages

    Write-up: Tita is the main character of the story, also the narrator, who suffers from unjust oppression from Mama Elena, her mother. She is raised to excel in the kitchen and many entertaining arts where she is expected to spend her whole life taking care of her mother. This is following the family tradition that the youngest daughter takes care of the mother until she dies. With her frivolous wants, Mama Elena denies her marriage and happiness to any man especially Pedro. She eventually breaks down and meets John Brown, the family doctor, who recovers her until she finds happiness again after Mama Elena's death with Pedro. Overall, Tita goes through a very dynamic change in the story which obviously entitles her to be a main character.

    Read More

  • Women In Voltaire's Cunegonde

    988 Words  | 2 Pages

    Which is caused by the narrator having a male perspective. The narrator does not give the women and credit or redeeming qualities. All the women follow a general stereotype. If they tried to break away from the stereotype, they would me more important and influential characters. Paquette, a chambermaid in the Baron’s castle, is described as “a pretty and obedient brunette” (5). She is identified obedient not because of her job as a chambermaid, but because she is willing to exploit her soul and body to the men around the castle. In regards to the old woman, she doesn’t even have an actual name, which does not matter since is ugly and useless. The old woman has the mindset that she is; an object; a mistake; a disgrace. That her time has passed as a beautiful useful woman. All the rape and abuse has physically affected her and she is out of luck. In fact, she is lucky if men talk to her, or even look at her without

    Read More

  • Women In Federico García Lorca's La Casa De Bernarda Alba

    1401 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Federico García Lorca’s La Casa de Bernarda Alba, a tyrant woman rules over her five daughters and household with absolute authority. She prevents her daughters from having suitors and gives them little to no freedom, especially with regard to their sexualities and desires. They must conform to the traditional social expectations for women through sewing, cleaning, as well as staying pure and chaste. While, as John Corbin states in The Modern Language Review, “It was entirely proper for a respectable woman in [Bernarda’s] position to manage her household strictly and insist that the servants keep it clean, to defend its reputation, ensure the sexual purity of her daughters, and promote advantageous marriages for them,” Bernarda inordinately

    Read More

  • Trifles and A Dollhouse

    855 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the plays, the reader can visualize how men dismiss women as trivial and treat them like property, even though the lifestyles they are living in are very much in contrast. The playwrights, each in their own way, are addressing the issues that have negatively impacted the identity of women in society.

    Read More

  • Much Ado About Beatrice: The True Hero Of Messina

    1385 Words  | 3 Pages

    In William Shakespeare's short play Much Ado About Nothing, he focuses on the social standings and the roles of women in 16th Century Europe. The female protagonist of the play, Beatrice, understands the restrictions placed upon her by society and how these restrictions should limit her as a woman, but she inexorably escapes them by refusing to succumb to the unifying hand of marriage. Throughout the play, Shakespeare displays his profound respect for woman as independent individuals who are fully capable of making their own decisions and suffering their own consequences. Through the plot, he proposes the idea that women who deviate away from the passivity that society expects them to perform attain a more active role in the determination of their future. Contrary to the roles of women of the 16th Century, Shakespeare depiction of Beatrice's independence is symbolic of his stance on the progression and transformation of women's reputation in society.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Margaret In Much Ado About Nothing

    826 Words  | 2 Pages

    Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing is, on the surface, a typical romantic comedy with a love-plot that ends in reconciliation and marriage. This surface level conformity to the conventions of the genre, however, conceals a deeper difference that sets Much Ado apart. Unlike Shakespeare’s other romantic comedies, Much Ado about Nothing does not mask class divisions by incorporating them into an idealized community. Instead of concealing or obscuring the problem of social status, the play brings it up explicitly through a minor but important character, Margaret, Hero’s “waiting gentlewoman.” Shakespeare suggests that Margaret is an embodiment of the realistic nature of social class. Despite her ambition, she is unable to move up in hierarchy due to her identity as a maid. Her status, foiling Hero’s rich, protected upbringing, reveals that characters in the play, as well as global citizens, are ultimately oppressed by social relations and social norms despite any ambition to get out.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles in Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing"

    1497 Words  | 3 Pages

    In conclusion, gender role in Elizabethan era is very complex with respect to women’s role. Men are the masters of the home and society; they preside over every aspect of life. They are however, expected to take care of their family and also be actively involved in politics, war, and they inherit their father’s properties. Women role varied a according to their social status. All women were raised to be subservient to men. Unlike upper class women, lower class women were denied any kind of education. And all women are expected to get married and bear children. The qualities Shakespeare gave Beatrice are very significant because it contrasts traditional Elizabethan theater. Gender role has evolved over time, especially women’s role and it will continue to evolve as long as there are women like Beatrice around.

    Read More

  • A Doll's House A Raisin in the Sun

    3074 Words  | 7 Pages

    A Doll House, by Henrik Ibsen, and A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, both have central themes of search of self-identity within a social system. This is demonstrated by women characters from both plays breaking away from the social standards of their times and acting on their own terms. In most situations women are to be less dominant than men in society. These two plays are surprisingly different from the views of women in society and of the times and settings that they take place in.

    Read More

  • A Doll's House and Trifles

    1060 Words  | 3 Pages

    In conclusion, Even though both Ibsen and Glaspell are showing the responsible for giving women insight to what their lives could be as an independent person who is treated as an equal, their plays deals somewhat different sight to deals with the problems of the inequality between men and women. In other words, in A Doll’s House, Nora – like many others – begins to realize that she is more than capable of thinking and living for herself. Unlike Nora, however, in Trifles, Mrs. Wright chose to stay married to her unloving and murder her husband. Moreover, unlike what A Doll’s house portrayed, in Trifles, Glaspell shows the power of women can gain by sticking together and looking out for one another in order to improve their social positions from the behavior of Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters.

    Read More

  • representation of women in much ado about nothing

    1270 Words  | 3 Pages

    (Essay intro) In the modern day, women have the luxury of belonging to themselves but unfortunately this was not always the case. During his life, William Shakespeare created many positive female characters who defied the traditional gender roles and brought attention to the misogynistic patriarchy of Elizabethan England. One of these true feminist icons is ‘Much Ado about Nothing’s. Beatrice. The women in ‘Much Ado about Nothing’ defy traditional gender roles. Beatrice represents a brave and outspoken woman who defies the oppressive, traditional gender roles for the female sex. Her cousin Hero, however, represents those women who were successfully oppressed by the patriarchy and accepted the traditional gender roles without much complaint.

    Read More

  • Power Of Women In Othello

    1037 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the Elizabethan era women had a status of subordination towards men. They had a role to marry and oblige to their husband’s wishes. Shakespearean literature, especially illustrates how a woman is psychologically and physically lesser to their male counterpart. The play, Othello, uses that aspect in many different ways. From a Feminist lens others are able to vividly examine how women were subjected to blatant inferiority. Being displayed as tools for men to abuse, women were characterized as possessions and submissive; only during the last portion of the play did the power of women take heed.

    Read More

  • What Are The Similarities Between The Kitchen Maid By Marie Antionette And Her Children

    438 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Kitchen Maid and Queen Marie Antionette and Her Children illustrates both contrasting and similarities in the lives the of the aristocracy and peasants.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Nora In A Doll's House

    1074 Words  | 3 Pages

    Nora, from Ibsen’s play A Doll House, plays the main role. Both in the play itself and ironically seems to be acting throughout the whole play. It is not until the Act III that the reader sees Nora standing up, revolting against the role others have given her. It is crucial to acknowledge that the period the scene is taking place is during the late 19th century in Norway. This was a time where most residents were conservative, unlike Ibsen. Ibsen was a social revolutionary, wanting to role changing and present modern ideas of marriage. Thereby making theater more realistic such as A Doll House. Ibsen precisely used the character of Nora as a social revolutionary woman, to channel his voice, and cause dispute amongst specially couples.

    Read More

  • Gender Inequality In A Doll's House Essay

    819 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the late 1800s, gender inequality was one of the common issues that existed in the society. Men and women were often distinguished among themselves. Men were regularly portrayed as the one who had power and strength, whereas women were supposed to do all the household work and they were seen as weak and trivial. Henrick Ibsen shows a prefect illustration of this example in the play A Doll’s House. Ibsen develops a notion of how the existence of gender roles in society affected one’s lives. The protagonist Nora, whose identity is shaped after seeing her husband’s actions, which depicts his beliefs of gender inequality, demonstrates this idea.

    Read More

More about The House of Bernarda Alba

Open Document