Notes on La Casa de Bernarda Alba
Historical Context
● La Casa de Bernarda Alba was written in the lead-up to the Spanish
Civil War (in 1936), when the vast majority of Spaniards lived in rural
communities, dominated by religious zeal.
Los Personajes De La Obra (The Characters in the Play)
Bernarda Alba
● One of the play’s antagonists, the 60-year-old matriarch of the home.
● A tyrannical character
○ (“Tirana de todos lo que la rodean”- Tyrant of all who surround
her).
○ She imposes her harsh, traditional social values onto her
daughters, and grows more controlling the more that they resist.
● Her obsession with her family’s alleged social superiority has led her to
forbid her daughters from marrying the men in town, destroying their
one hope of escape from the oppressive home in which they live. The
only exception is Pepe el Romano, who she hopes will marry her eldest,
Angustias.
● Stubborn, with a strong sense of moral superiority, she refuses to
acknowledge any wrongdoing (including her role in Adela’s death).
● Bernarda represents how women (particularly within the rigid social
confines of 1930s rural Spain) internalised misogynistic attitudes and
perpetuated their own suffering, passing on patriarchal rules to their
children and preventing themselves from living free lives. Bernarda is
not under the control of a husband in the play, but her actions are still
dictated by the role she feels the need to play as a woman, and a fear
of “el qué dirán” (what others will say).
,Angustias
● Bernarda’s eldest (aged 39) daughter, and the only one from her first
marriage
● Her name translates to “anguish”
● She is the only of the daughters to have financial security, having
inherited her father’s estate, as well as the most money from her
stepfather (the reason that she received this instead of Antonio’s
biological daughters is never confirmed).
● Desperate to escape her mother, she is prevented from achieving an
advantageous marriage because of her age, ugliness, and sickliness.
Her predicament is that these three things inherently reduce her
perceived value in a patriarchal society. However, she ultimately
becomes attractive to Pepe el Romano, if only for her wealth.
● Angustias has no romantic ideal in regards to Pepe, but is prepared to
ignore the fact that he merely desires her money so that she can
escape her oppressive mother.
Magdalena
● Bernarda’s second daughter (aged 30), and the first in her second
marriage
● The most caring of the daughters (“Era la única que quería al padre”-
She was the only one that loved her father). She is sensitive and gentle,
and attempts to warn her sisters about Pepe.
● Magdalena has no strong desires about marriage, as she has already
accepted that she will not marry. She is disillusioned with life and
womanhood, saying “Malditas sean las mujeres” (Cursed be women).
She wants to live as independently as possible, and recognises how
women can not be free (with or without marriage). Therefore, she is the
most cynical, as well as the kindest, daughter.
Amelia
, ● Amelia is Bernarda’s third daughter (aged 27), and the second in her
second marriage.
● Amelia lacks passion, and is content to fulfil what society expects of her.
● In many ways she represents how Bernarda passes down her
repression to the next generation.
Martirio
● Bernarda’s fourth daughter (aged 24), and the third in her second
marriage.
● Her name translates as “martyr”
● She resents her mother for sabotaging her relationship with Enrique
Humanes, who wished to marry her.
○ Other than Enrique (and, later, Pepe) Martirio is afraid of men,
showing how she hides from the rebellion that Adela embraces.
○ “Es preferible no ver a un hombre nunca. Desde niña les tuve
miedo. Los veía en el corral uncir los bueyes y levantar los
costales de trigo entre voces y zapatazos, y siempre tuve miedo
de crecer por temor de encontrarme de pronto abrazada por
ellos. Dios me ha hecho débil y fea y los ha apartado
definitivamente de mí.”- It’s better never to look at a man. Ever
since I was a girl they have scared me. I saw them in the stable
yoking the oxen and lifting sacks of wheat between shouting and
stamping their feet, and I was always afraid of growing up
because I feared I’d find myself suddenly grabbed by them. God
has made me weak and ugly and has kept them away from me.
● Martirio embraces her poor looks as a gift from God that has prevented
men from harassing her. However, she is still subject to the rules of a
man’s rules.
● Martirio later falls for Pepe, despite the fact that this feeling is not
reciprocated. She is not jealous of Angustias, despite her impending
marriage, because she knows that the relationship is only transactional.
, However, jealousy destroys her relationship with Adela, as she cannot
bear the thought of Pepe truly loving (or, at least, desiring) her.
○ This is particularly tragic as, according to Poncia, Martirio and
Adela were once the closest sisters. However, Martirio arguably
has the largest role to play in Adela’s death.
● A remarkably bitter character, Martirio symbolises the festering impact
of a rigid and destructive social code, which poisoned her attitude and
destroyed her relationship with her sisters as well as ruining any hope of
happiness she had with Enrique Humanes.
Adela
● Bernarda’s fifth, and youngest (aged 20), daughter, the fourth from her
second marriage.
● It is suggested that her name comes from the verb “adelantarse”, which
translates as “to gain” or “to get ahead”.
● Beautiful but naive, Adela has grand hopes for romance that she dies to
fulfil.
● She secretly has an affair with Pepe el Romano, who is courting her
eldest sister (Angustias). It is suggested that she is pregnant with his
child at the time of her death.
● Adela is the only one with the nerve to rebel against Bernarda. Whilst
most of the sisters desire love, marriage, and/or freedom, Adela is the
only to take action to avoid being spurned and depressed (like Martirio)
or a spinster (like Magdalena).
● Believing Pepe to be dead, she kills herself. This can be seen as a
parody of Romeo and Juliet, as Adela also dies wrongfully thinking that
her lover is already dead. However, Adela’s affair was purely sexual and
it’s implied that she would not have been more than Pepe’s mistress (at
least until after Angustias’ death).
● Adela’s death shows how Spanish women can never be free to live
under patriarchal tyranny.
Historical Context
● La Casa de Bernarda Alba was written in the lead-up to the Spanish
Civil War (in 1936), when the vast majority of Spaniards lived in rural
communities, dominated by religious zeal.
Los Personajes De La Obra (The Characters in the Play)
Bernarda Alba
● One of the play’s antagonists, the 60-year-old matriarch of the home.
● A tyrannical character
○ (“Tirana de todos lo que la rodean”- Tyrant of all who surround
her).
○ She imposes her harsh, traditional social values onto her
daughters, and grows more controlling the more that they resist.
● Her obsession with her family’s alleged social superiority has led her to
forbid her daughters from marrying the men in town, destroying their
one hope of escape from the oppressive home in which they live. The
only exception is Pepe el Romano, who she hopes will marry her eldest,
Angustias.
● Stubborn, with a strong sense of moral superiority, she refuses to
acknowledge any wrongdoing (including her role in Adela’s death).
● Bernarda represents how women (particularly within the rigid social
confines of 1930s rural Spain) internalised misogynistic attitudes and
perpetuated their own suffering, passing on patriarchal rules to their
children and preventing themselves from living free lives. Bernarda is
not under the control of a husband in the play, but her actions are still
dictated by the role she feels the need to play as a woman, and a fear
of “el qué dirán” (what others will say).
,Angustias
● Bernarda’s eldest (aged 39) daughter, and the only one from her first
marriage
● Her name translates to “anguish”
● She is the only of the daughters to have financial security, having
inherited her father’s estate, as well as the most money from her
stepfather (the reason that she received this instead of Antonio’s
biological daughters is never confirmed).
● Desperate to escape her mother, she is prevented from achieving an
advantageous marriage because of her age, ugliness, and sickliness.
Her predicament is that these three things inherently reduce her
perceived value in a patriarchal society. However, she ultimately
becomes attractive to Pepe el Romano, if only for her wealth.
● Angustias has no romantic ideal in regards to Pepe, but is prepared to
ignore the fact that he merely desires her money so that she can
escape her oppressive mother.
Magdalena
● Bernarda’s second daughter (aged 30), and the first in her second
marriage
● The most caring of the daughters (“Era la única que quería al padre”-
She was the only one that loved her father). She is sensitive and gentle,
and attempts to warn her sisters about Pepe.
● Magdalena has no strong desires about marriage, as she has already
accepted that she will not marry. She is disillusioned with life and
womanhood, saying “Malditas sean las mujeres” (Cursed be women).
She wants to live as independently as possible, and recognises how
women can not be free (with or without marriage). Therefore, she is the
most cynical, as well as the kindest, daughter.
Amelia
, ● Amelia is Bernarda’s third daughter (aged 27), and the second in her
second marriage.
● Amelia lacks passion, and is content to fulfil what society expects of her.
● In many ways she represents how Bernarda passes down her
repression to the next generation.
Martirio
● Bernarda’s fourth daughter (aged 24), and the third in her second
marriage.
● Her name translates as “martyr”
● She resents her mother for sabotaging her relationship with Enrique
Humanes, who wished to marry her.
○ Other than Enrique (and, later, Pepe) Martirio is afraid of men,
showing how she hides from the rebellion that Adela embraces.
○ “Es preferible no ver a un hombre nunca. Desde niña les tuve
miedo. Los veía en el corral uncir los bueyes y levantar los
costales de trigo entre voces y zapatazos, y siempre tuve miedo
de crecer por temor de encontrarme de pronto abrazada por
ellos. Dios me ha hecho débil y fea y los ha apartado
definitivamente de mí.”- It’s better never to look at a man. Ever
since I was a girl they have scared me. I saw them in the stable
yoking the oxen and lifting sacks of wheat between shouting and
stamping their feet, and I was always afraid of growing up
because I feared I’d find myself suddenly grabbed by them. God
has made me weak and ugly and has kept them away from me.
● Martirio embraces her poor looks as a gift from God that has prevented
men from harassing her. However, she is still subject to the rules of a
man’s rules.
● Martirio later falls for Pepe, despite the fact that this feeling is not
reciprocated. She is not jealous of Angustias, despite her impending
marriage, because she knows that the relationship is only transactional.
, However, jealousy destroys her relationship with Adela, as she cannot
bear the thought of Pepe truly loving (or, at least, desiring) her.
○ This is particularly tragic as, according to Poncia, Martirio and
Adela were once the closest sisters. However, Martirio arguably
has the largest role to play in Adela’s death.
● A remarkably bitter character, Martirio symbolises the festering impact
of a rigid and destructive social code, which poisoned her attitude and
destroyed her relationship with her sisters as well as ruining any hope of
happiness she had with Enrique Humanes.
Adela
● Bernarda’s fifth, and youngest (aged 20), daughter, the fourth from her
second marriage.
● It is suggested that her name comes from the verb “adelantarse”, which
translates as “to gain” or “to get ahead”.
● Beautiful but naive, Adela has grand hopes for romance that she dies to
fulfil.
● She secretly has an affair with Pepe el Romano, who is courting her
eldest sister (Angustias). It is suggested that she is pregnant with his
child at the time of her death.
● Adela is the only one with the nerve to rebel against Bernarda. Whilst
most of the sisters desire love, marriage, and/or freedom, Adela is the
only to take action to avoid being spurned and depressed (like Martirio)
or a spinster (like Magdalena).
● Believing Pepe to be dead, she kills herself. This can be seen as a
parody of Romeo and Juliet, as Adela also dies wrongfully thinking that
her lover is already dead. However, Adela’s affair was purely sexual and
it’s implied that she would not have been more than Pepe’s mistress (at
least until after Angustias’ death).
● Adela’s death shows how Spanish women can never be free to live
under patriarchal tyranny.
