The Usage of the Motif of Eyes in Federico Garcia Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba

The Usage of the Motif of Eyes to Illustrate Defiance, Effects of

Repression and Confinement, and Foreshadow in Federico Garcia Lorca’s

The House of Bernarda Alba

Although the human body functions the best when all five senses work,

the sense of sight is arguably the most important of the senses. With

that intact, it is definitely easier to get by because one will always

be aware of the events occurring around him or her. In Federico Garcia

Lorca’s “The House of Bernarda Alba”, the motif of eyes and sight is

prevalent, and is used for various purposes: to show rebellion against

a greater force, to show the effects of repression and confinement,

and as well as a way of foreshadowing. In the play, Lorca could be

said to be establishing that confinement and repression from a greater

force can lead to one’s end, and through the way he uses the motif of

vision, he is continuously reinforcing that idea.

Because of the authoritarian figure of Bernarda Alba, a strict mother

who confines her five adult daughters within the four walls of her

house, subtle rebellion, usually through what they see, is the one

method that her daughters use to defy her. For instance, Adela, the

youngest of all the daughters, once told on her sister, Angustias, “I

saw her looking out through the cracks of the back door” (Lorca 166).

Here, she was referring to Angustias spying on the men outside their

house, which could also suggest that she is looking out from the

boundaries that her mother had set. This is an act of rebellion

against her mother because firstly, she is disobeying her, since she

knows her mother disapproves of it, and secondly, she is aware that

snooping around during her father’s funeral is wrong, and perhaps even

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motif of eyes and vision to illustrate defiance against a domineering

force, the effects of a greater force on the repressed, as well as a

porthole into the future. Although this was not mentioned previously,

Lorca also emphasized this motif through other things, such as the

materialistic issues such as class, wealth and beauty. Bernarda had

not let one of her daughters marry because the man was of a lower

class than them. Also, despite the fact that others kept emphasizing

Angustias’ ugliness, she was the only one with the marriage proposal

because she had money. Thus through this idea that materialism counts,

Lorca could have been suggesting that what is perceived and seen plays

a great role in the way people act. In all, the presence of this motif

of eyes shows that vision is important in keeping one aware of the

events occurring in the environment.