Lorca's The House of Bernarda Alba and Essay Writing

The House of Bernarda Alba

The culmination of Lorca's theater comes with The House of Bernarda Alba, written in the spring of 1939 and published in 1945 in Buenos Aires.

The book is subtitled A Drama of Women in the Villages of Spain. The subject of the play is an exaggeration of a rural practice where Bernarda Alba, after the death of her husband, requires her children to undergo a long and strict confinement. It has come to be said that the central theme of the play is the confrontation between authority and freedom, with Bernarda Alba representing authority.

In the play, there are a series of secondary issues such as social inequality and the status of women in society. The action takes place in a confined space (the house), which represents the world of mourning and silence. Bernarda fears facing the outside world.

Regarding the characters, we find Bernarda, who is the representation of social and moral conventions. Her older children live between seclusion and the desire for the outside world, obsessed with the erotic.

Regarding the structure, the development of the action shows an exceptional sense of dramatic progression: Lorca raises the conflict, and it increases in moments of greatest tension. The dialogue achieves a sense of reality and popular speech, using very literary language full of images and comparisons that contradict the lore.

The Essay

Prose of a didactic and interpretative nature, on various subjects treated subjectively and with a clear intention of style, aimed at a non-specialist general reader. It is part of the teaching literary genres.

Although Michel de Montaigne is considered the creator with the work Essais, in ancient times, we had Plato's dialogues, the meditations of Marcus Aurelius, or Seneca's Epistles to Lucilius.

They are free-thinking and have a didactic style. In the past 100 years, the essay has had a spectacular development due to its appeal in explaining a society under constant ideological and social changes.

It is usually published in book form but also appears in the press, featuring articles by renowned authors on topics such as friendship, religion, and international relations.

Essay Traits

• Brevity: It is said to be able to be read in one sitting. When a book brings together a number of essays, it is divided into independent chapters.
• Variety of themes: Predominantly humanistic issues, but there are also scientific and everyday topics.
• Free structure: Although it prefers to go from the general to the particular, the conclusion is recorded at the end.
• Subjective: It is not a research treatise, but a synthetic and enjoyable reflection.
• Will of style: Religion and language are developed. The essayist makes their culture clear with quotes and knows that a certain aesthetic is expected. It is a work of art.
• Intent: It is intended to persuade the reader, to communicate certain ideas, and ways of speech that are an argument or an exposition-argument.

Essay Types

• Creation: The matter is addressed by creating. Many artistic and literary devices are used.
• Criticism: Reviews of literary works, music, etc.
• Interpretation: Addresses issues of general interest.

Linguistic Features

• Phonic Level: Declarative intonation.
• Morphosyntactic Level: Generalizing particular article, but nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. There is a more dynamic description, written in the first person, with evaluative adjectives and complex syntax.
• Semantic Level: Abstract nouns derived from adjectives and verbs. Permanent lexicon, wealth of terminology within a single area of knowledge.

Literary Features

Will of style: To bring together leading figures of style, and that is the style that will cause their inclusion in the literary genres, particularly teaching.