The House of Bernarda Alba

In this essay, female oppression in La Casa de Bernarda Alba will be discussed and analyzed. However, in order to be able to understand the importance of this theme and the impact it has had on the play, one must first understand the role of female oppression in the Spanish society in the 1930s.

Poverty and hardship are shown to create vulnerability in female characters, particularly the female servants, allowing powerful men to manipulate and sexually abuse them. Kent illustrates how poverty perpetuates maltreatment and abuse in a society like Burial Rites using the characters of Agnes’ mother Ingveldur and Agnes. Agnes’ mother is forced to make invidious choices as her children are “lugged along” from farm to farm, where she is sexually exploited by her employers. In spite of these circumstances, Agnes’ mother is commonly referred to as a whore in their society which abhors female promiscuity yet disregards male promiscuity as a harmless character trait; as in the case of Natan, who is merely “indiscreet” despite all his philandering. Born into poverty, Agnes experiences similar sexual coercion and manipulation from her “masters” and yet is labelled “a woman who is loose with her emotions and looser with her morals”. The severe poverty of Agnes is explicitly demonstrated to the reader by Kent through the intertextual reference of her entire belongings - a very dismal, piteous list to be “sold if a decent offer is presented”. Furthermore, Kent contrasts the situation of Agnes, a “landless workmaid raised on a porridge of moss and poverty”, to the comparative security Steina has experienced using a rhetorical question from

Many families were broken apart during the civil war, where the father had to leave his spouse and children behind; forcing them to take care of themselves in his absence. In the novel Little Women, Marmee is the ideal representative of a motherly role model in a transcendentalist family during the eighteen hundreds. She continually guided her daughters to find joy in the most menial tasks. She stood strong in the presence of her daughters, although she had to raise them alone in the absence of their father, who has left to volunteer as a Chaplin during the Civil War. Her girls made it clear how they aspired to be as good hearted as she was. A mother’s hard work is seen through her children’s actions.

In the play by Federico Garcia Lorca, The House of Bernarda Alba, a recurring theme throughout the play is freedom. Lorca expresses freedom using characters, situations and objects. The characters in the story are Bernarda’s daughters who are under her control and have extremely little freedom and privacy by being forced to abide by her rules. Freedom and Repression are most significant themes conveyed throughout the play, the two opposing themes together are important to understanding both the characters and the story as well.

As Helen is influenced by the social expectation, she takes the traditional role of women; she symbolizes the powerless housewife mentions in “Doing Gender”. According to “Doing Gender”, it is stated that “[the traditional role of] women would be primarily focused on housekeeping, childcare, and children’s education...Further, in the case of conflict, the man

Not only that but her questioning of gender role was a concern for her. After her parents were separated, her father’s expectations of her were no longer there and did not speak to one another. After a while, blaming one-self after a separation of the parents is always expected from young children and so Roberta’s feeling that the separation of her mother and father was due to her misbehavior at home allowed her to be not happy. The separation of her parents did not only cause Roberta to feel not happy but also her thinking was shaped in ways that blamed all men to be the exact same way and that on one could be the same. This can be related to what each child feels and thinks if that were to happen to their own family, and unfortunately in our current society there are people that still the same way as Roberta’s father and

The novella tells the story of a young migrant worker who is faced the the responsibility to help care for her family not only financially but in a manner of leadership as well. Throughout the story the character of Estrella changes drastically from a timid outcast to an outspoken leader. In the beginning Estrella is portrayed as a quiet young woman who is defined as an outsider. When looking at the character of Estrella she is characterized in the category as powerless. One reason that we can attribute Estrella’s state of power is her socio-economic circumstances. Coming from a family of five, Estrella assumes the role as the oldest daughter as well as second mother due to her father’s recent abandonment on the family. It is because of this abandonment that Estrella resents her mother’s older boyfriend Perfecto, who in return has gotten her mother pregnant.

The narrator is totally crushed by the gender discrimination. She longed to be seen by her mother and her grandma. The narrator is heartbroken that her mother loved her brother more than her and failed to notice her. “When she went into Nonso’s room to say good night, she always came out laughing that laugh. Most times, you pressed your palms to your ears to keep the sound out, and kept your palms pressed to your ears, even when she came into your room to say Good night, darling, sleep well. She never left your room with that laugh” (190). Her agony can be easily seen by the way of her narrating. She does not get the affection that she deserves. She really needs the affection from her own mother, but she is not getting it. She compares the love which her mother shows to his brother and herself. This is gender discrimination can be seen with her grandmother too. She hated her grandma as she would always support her brother and find fault with her. Even though what the brother did, no matter what crime. Her mother and grandmother always supported her brother and never supported or showed interest towards

However, Mildred does not completely free herself of all familial responsibilities as she is still held captive through her obsession with her daughter Veda. As with many housewives, her sense of self-identity is drawn from her role as a mother and she caters to the desires of her daughter to the point that they are almost self-destructive. It is Veda’s extravagant tastes that drive her mother to work hard and draws resources away from her business ultimately resulting in its collapse. Moreover, Mildred must deal with the lack of gratitude and outright contempt that she receives from her own daughter for working in a “blue collar” job.

So when Mrs. Burrage wants to propose Verena for her son, Olive feels she must defend her attachment to Verena and, taking a “superior tone,” becomes hostile toward Mrs. Burrage: “‘You do believe – though you pretend you don’t – that I control her actions, and as far as possible her desires and that I am jealous of any other relations she may possibly form” (James, Bostonians 312). Olive puts herself as the guardian or caretaker for Verena and this is not her real role; it is the role of Verena’s father. It is the patriarchal role Olive wants to play.

The mother/daughter relationship between Mrs. MacTeer and her two daughters, Claudia and Frieda, is loving and strong. They are taught their own self-worth through their mother’s strength and example, although this love isn’t fully appreciated by the girls until they are older. During Claudia’s illness, she is treated with a mixture of concern and anger. Although Claudia is scolded and her mother complains of cleaning her vomit, at the same time her mother is nursing her, giving her medicine, and checking on her throughout the night. Claudia discovers later that her mother’s anger is not directed at her, but at the world, as she must raise her black family in a world ruled by white culture. She protects her children and equips them for survival in a hostile environment.

Lope de Vega’s play touches upon several key components and ideas that were brought up in many of the other stories read throughout the semester. This included the role of gender and how men and women are viewed differently in the Spaniard town of Fuenteovejuna. Another topic included the importance of family, love, and relationships and their connection on loyalty, trust, and personal beliefs. The last major influence found in other literature and in Fuenteovejuna, were the political and religious references made throughout the play. Even though Lope de Vega didn’t make these views obvious, the reader could still pick up on their connotation and the references made towards these specific ideas. With all of this in mind, each of these

Not only can she not have Pepe, but she can't have any man. She must stay in mourning and take care of her mother until she dies. Bernarda is a nasty, mean, unsympathetic lady, and having to spend all your time loced up with her for the rest of her life is about as bad a punishment as I can think of. The meetings with Pepe continue until inevitably, things start to get out of hand. The sisters tell Bernarda that Pepe has been coming and staying late at night, and Angustias insists that it's not with her. One night, Bernarda catches Adela with straw on her skirt and realizes that she has been out with him. Bernarda goes out and shoots at Pepe. She shoots at him, but as Bernarda says herself, "It was my fault. A woman can't aim." Adela believes that Pepe has been shot and kills herself. All things considered, I can't blame her at all, in fact, I very well may have done the same. The only other woman in the town to have an affair, Paca la Roseta, came back with, "her hair loose and a wreath of flowers on her head." She was killed, as was her child as she had become impregnated. Adela was in alomst the exact same boat, as we find out that she too was pregnant, however with Pepe's child, and her punishment would be similar to that of Paca's. However, I believe that she wasn't afraid somuch of being publically chastized, but by knowing that she would never be able to have a life with Pepe, the man she loved with all of her heart.

After marriage, the father’s control was transferred to the husband. Cato not only controlled his wife’s life by making her only take approved medicines, he also forced her to nurse both her children and slaves, an undesirable

The story is about Rosaura, the nine-year-old daughter of a woman who does housecleaning for a wealthy family. Rosaura often accompanies her mother to work and does her homework with Luciana, the daughter of the house. As a result, or so she thinks, Rosaura is Luciana’s friend and has