Ajmal 1

Saba Ajmal
Ms Zareena Saeed
ELL No. 409
March 17, 2011
Themes And Literary Devices Employed In The House of Bernarda Alba
In The House Of Bernarda Alba, Lorca shows, through the microcosm of a family, the
state of a marginalized or a dysfunctional society that falls into an abyss of blues through the
fascist demeanour of the dominant stratum. Some other thematic strands of the play are these:
class conflict, patriarchy and womens role in strengthening male dominance. Manuel Duran
writes that this play presents the conflict between tradition and individual desire (n.p). Angel
del Rio says:
This play was on the theme sexual obsession and unfulfilled loveat bottom
there is a projection of the conflict between pagan and Christian attitudes . (n.p)
This article will discuss The House Of Bernarda Alba from social, political, feminist,
Marxist, and psychological point of view simultaneously. Moreover it will analyze the play from
formalist point of view and judge the devices employed by Lorca to convey these themes.Lorcas
approach is revolutionary in this play.
First the play will be evaluated on social grounds. Through this play Lorca shows how
oppression in a society leads to insensitivity, hypocrisy, aggression, hatred, and jealousy as one
can see in the daughters of Bernarda. Lack of communion is also responsible for breeding such
poisonous passions. One can trace easily that there is not a good communion between the mother
and the daughters and it is again due to the fascist nature of Bernarda. Sexual suppression is
another issue dealt by Lorca in this play. He depicts what happens when space is not allowed to

Ajmal 1