House of Bernarda Alba- Elements of House
“Bernarda’s house serves on a number of levels as the central image in the play. How does Lorca use the house to convey his ideas?” In order to arrive at the central idea in Federico Garcia’s last play, “House of Bernarda Alba”, the title is the first factor to be reflected on. Lorca has not presumably named the play “Bernarda Alba”, or “Day of Bernarda Alba”. He had named the play “House of Bernarda Alba” because it will let the reader draw attention both to Bernarda’s ‘house’ in the sense of Bernarda’s family and to the physical space of house itself, which functions as the central image of the play. The play employs number of themes which are supported by the central image of house. The state of house such as colour, size, temperature, condition and props, which are nonverbal elements all link with the theme which Federico is trying to convey. These features will aid to provide the audience with information about the setting of the play and give insight to the underlying ideas such as dictatorship, purity, fate and choice, freedom, confinement, and sexual oppression. The play commences with the brief description of the house, which aid to communicate the central idea of purity, and fate and choice to the audience; “Very white inner room in Bernarda’s house. Thick walls. Arched doorways with jute curtains trimmed with black beads and ruffles.” These descriptions are the important elements of the house. Readers are able to obtain the associated idea from the play by having a general understanding of the setting. From the description, first, colour is the element to consider. The walls of the house are all painted white. Because the play is set in Spain, this is the characteristic of homes in the country, since white reflects the sunlight and prevents house from heating. Though, the “white” colour in a deeper meaning, symbolises the purity and virginity. All the daughters in the house have not married yet, and after the funeral of the second husband,