70 pages 2 hours read

Federico García Lorca

La Casa De Bernarda Alba

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1945

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Introduction

La Casa de Bernarda Alba

  • Genre: Fiction; realistic drama
  • Originally Published: 1945
  • Reading Level/Interest: College/adult
  • Structure/Length: 3 acts; approx. 112 pages; approx. 1 hour, 19 minutes on audio
  • Protagonist and Central Conflict: Bernarda decides to follow the family tradition of an eight-year mourning period after her husband’s death, insisting her five adult daughters participate as well. When a man enters the picture, ostensibly wanting to marry the oldest daughter while secretly having an affair with the youngest daughter, events unfold that lead to tragedy for all.
  • Potential Sensitivity Issues: Death by suicide

Federico García Lorca, Author

  • Bio: Born 1898 in a small town in Fuente Vaqueros, Spain; died 1936; studied at Columbia University and University of Granada; traveled internationally; joined artists’ group Generación del 27, becoming friends with Salvador Dalí; influenced by surrealism; appointed as director of Teatro Universitario La Barraca; was executed by firing squad in the Spanish Civil War; La Casa de Bernarda Alba adapted for opera, ballet, and film
  • Other Works: Libro de Poemas (1921); Odes (1928); Blood Wedding (1932); Yerma (1934)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

  • Sexual Repression
  • Cycles of Oppression
  • Cycles of Violence

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

  • Develop an understanding of the historical and social contexts regarding the oppression of women through traditional social norms and institutions that incite the frustration of the Alba women.

Related Titles

By Federico García Lorca

Study Guide

logo

Ode to Walt Whitman

Federico García Lorca

Ode to Walt Whitman

Federico García Lorca

Study Guide

logo

The Guitar

Federico García Lorca

The Guitar

Federico García Lorca