The House of Bernarda Alba and Other Plays (Penguin Modern Classics) [Paperback]

Federico Garca Lorca (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2009 | Series: Penguin Modern Classics

In "The House of Bernarda Alba", a tyrannical matriarch rules over her house and five daughters, cruelly crushing their hopes and needs. The other plays here also portray female characters whose desires are tragically and violently frustrated: a woman's longing for a child in "Yerma", and a bride's yearning for her lover in "Blood Wedding". All appeal for freedom and sexual and social equality, and are also passionate defences of the imagination: in Christopher Maurer's words, 'poetic drama unsurpassed by any writer of our time'.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Nimble and wise . . . A fresh, flowering translation."—Robert Kohler, The Los Angeles Times

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Spanish --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Group(CA) (March 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141185759
• ISBN-13: 978-0141185750
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,113,797 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful plays by LORCA set in SPAIN, September 24, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Charlottesville, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Three Plays: Blood Wedding, Yerma, The House of Bernarda Alba (Paperback)

These are all well worth reading and deal with themes including indominable passion, society's strictures on women (and men), revenge, family, poor Andalusian society, and much more. Highly recommended (though better in the original Spanish, of course)

Note that these are plays by Federico Garcia Lorca, not Ana Maria Matute, as stated in the above review. Also, they are set in Spain, not Peru. Just for your information...

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply brilliant, March 9, 2000

By 

Alex (London) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Three Plays: Blood Wedding, Yerma, The House of Bernarda Alba (Paperback)

Lorca uses simple mathematical expressions to convey emotions. A colour, for example white, combined with an object, for example a baby in the opening sequence of Yerma, will add up to a symbolic meaning where either two factors can be used somewhere else. Basically, anything white is a dream of happiness which is destroyed by an event. This very basic set of symbols and the application of "equations" makes Lorca one of the most powerful and accessible writers i've come accross. Oh and the stories are good too (!)

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lyrical, but not captivating, January 17, 2009

By 

ScrawnyPunk (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Three Plays: Blood Wedding, Yerma, The House of Bernarda Alba (Paperback)

To my understanding, the three tragedies included in this volume are considered to be amongst the author's most well-known plays. Each play is strongly influenced by his primary literary outlet (poetry) and exhibits a lyricism and scripted efficiency that is rarely exhibited in modern theatrical works. His use of symbolism is also well-documented is attributable, no doubt, to his involvement in the Spanish Avant-Garde movement in the 1920's and 30's. With that being said, two of the three are less than impressive upon a first reading which leads me to believe that either a) they require multiple readings and instruction to be fully appreciated, or b) the plays' critical acclaim is related more to the act of critical acclamation than actual content. The introduction by Lorca's brother attempts to make a case for the former and provides a valuable postscript to the three plays (assuming you read it after the plays, as opposed to before).

* Blood Wedding
A simple story of forbidden love and deadly revenge. Perhaps it is better in its original language, but the story is nowhere near as compelling as other love-or-death dramas in my opinion. Songs and choruses provide thematic direction in most instances and remind me of Greek dramas without the mythological background which would otherwise ease character development. The emotional impact is stunted somewhat by the groom's lack of clear interest in his bride other than honor.

* Yerma
Poetry and lyricism take center stage here more so than the other two dramas. However, it is difficult to emotionally connect with the protagonist, especially the perversion of her matronly desire into the abrupt murder of her husband. It is almost as if the play requires not a suspension of disbelief, but a willing acceptance of a dramatic conclusion withouth knowing anything about any character other than Yerma. It feels more like an experiment than a timeless piece of literature.

* The House of Bernarda Alba
This is the best-constructed of the three in terms of character and plot development. The first act seems much more immediate than anything in the other two plays and the pacing makes it easy to understand the conflict between the oppressive tradition required by the mother and the cloistered daughter's desire to choose and act for themselves. Here we see the mother's oppression translating into secrecy and conspiracy amongst the daughters, similar to the behavior of a populace during dictatorial regimes. In such a case, it is easy to see that the end of repression is a violent transition, even if directed inwardly.

My presumption is that this is required reading for students of theatre and Spanish literature. However, the casual reader will probably be better served to read `Bernarda' and skip the other two.