Download - Blood Wedding Commentary on Symbolism

IB English A Literature HL: May 2015

Works in Translation Essay

Selected Text:

Blood Wedding by Federico Garcia

Research Question:

How does Lorca use symbolism to create sympathy for repressed groups in society?

Name: Stephanie Wong

Candidate Number: 002634-0089

School: Victoria Shanghai Academy

School Number: 2634

Teacher: Ms. Jane Barrowcliff

Word Count: 1,498

Stephanie Wong (002634-0089) English Lit HL Works In Translation

Victoria Shanghai Academy (2634) 2

How does Lorca use symbolism to create sympathy for repressed groups in society?

“Repression” can be defined as “to control what people do, especially by using

force” (Cambridge). Being a gifted writer in a chaotic era, Lorca’s many works reflected

his opinions about the civil disorder in Spain during the 1930s. Living in a patriarchal

society, the characters of Blood Wedding struggles to break free from the bound of

traditional beliefs. The symbolic characters of the Bride and Mother, the Woodcutters

and the Moon are all deeply rooted in the images of repressed groups. Blood too

symbolises the inhumane treatments of repressed groups. His sympathetic attitudes

towards the repressed are rooted from his own identity as a social outcast. Lorca’s

employment of the diverse range of symbols in Blood Wedding in order to portray his

own sympathy evokes a sense of pathos from the audience for repressed groups in a

conservative society.

Lorca’s sympathy for the repression of women is evident in the characters of the

Bride and Leonardo’s wife. Ironically, they are both romantically linked to Leonardo. The

Bride and Leonardo are madly in love with each other, but Leonardo is married and the

Bride is forced into an arranged marriage; she has no power to refuse or choose her

fate1. Women were expected to know their place, to marry and live a stagnant life with

her husband’s family. Marriage in Blood Wedding is portrayed as “a shining white bed.

And a woman. And a man” (II.I). Where the white bed suggests sexual intercourse, it

indicates that marriage is purely driven by sexual desires that bring “endless pleasure”

(II.I) instead of true love. Leonardo’s wife is treated unjustly and as a sexual object. It

1 The character of the Mother challenges the Bride by asking her, “Do you know what marriage is, little one?” (I.III). The Bride replies, “I know my duty.” (I.III), as if the ‘duty’ is out of her control.



could be argued that Leonardo and his wife’s marriage is purely driven by sex.

Moreover, Leonardo suppresses the voice of his wife, often telling her to “shut up” and

“leave [him] alone” (I.II.). She is not given a chance to express her feelings or her

worries about their current situation as they “don’t have the money” (II.II). The Wife is

also very distant from Leonardo. She doesn’t know “what’s wrong with [Leonardo,]

what’s going in [Leonardo’s] head” (I.II), and despite her attempts to force Leonardo

confess “look[ing] straight into [her] eyes” (I.II), Leonardo stops her and abruptly leaves

the scene. Leonardo’s estrangement from his wife symbolizes women’s traditional role

restricts them to household chores and nurturing children; husbands would not share

their concerns with their wives. The restricted duties of women are a form of repression,

as the Francoist government stressed to preserve the traditional Catholic beliefs.

Red is a symbolic colour throughout the play, directly connected to blood and the

title of the play. Blood is often associated with death, which is the ultimate fate of

Leonardo and the Bridegroom. The inevitable deaths of Leonardo and the Bridegroom

represent society’s expectations for individuals to obey traditional rules. Being a lover of

the Greek chorus, Lorca embodies a chorus in the form of a group of young girls. “Red

wool, red wool, what will you make? […] One thread of my wool will fetter your ankles.

Will knot and choke the bitter wreath” (III.II). The presences of the red wool and thread

to the Greek chorus suggest a link to the Greek mythology, Moirai, the personification of

fate.2 The link to Moirai strengthens the red wool’s link to fate and death. A Chinese

reading for red wool or red string would be the link between Lovers and commonly

2 Moirai are usually depicted as three sisters: Clotho: In charged of measuring the thread of lifespan. She knows all of the past. Lachesis: In charged of spinning the thread of lifespan. She knows all of the present. Atropos: In charged of cutting the thread of lifespan. She can foresee the future.



known as the ‘red string of fate’3. This may suggest that the fate of the Bride,

Bridegroom and Leonardo are bound together due to their love triangle and they are

destined to die, as suggested by the link of the colour red to death. Another reading into

the symbol of blood suggests sin and sinners. The Lovers are condemned as sinners by

their society due to their affair. Lorca presents his sympathy for ‘sinners’ who desire

freedom and true love, yet they are bound by society’s constrains. The character of the

Mother also condemns Leonardo as a sinner due to the death of her husband and son

caused by Leonardo’s family. She insists that “I have to spit – I have to spit – or I shall

have to kill” (I.I) whenever she hears the last name ‘Felix’, and she strongly proclaims

that she “don’t forgive it” (II.I). Lorca’s use of anaphora in the mother’s speech

emphasises her blind hatred for Leonardo due to her past with the Felix clan. This

shows Lorca’s own sympathies for people who are condemned for things they have not

done, or the faults of their ancestors, like Leonardo. It could also represent Lorca’s

sympathy for people who were condemned for something out of their hands. This might

be reinforced by Lorca’s feeling towards his own homosexuality, which was not

something he chose to be.

Symbolically, through the Woodcutters, Lorca presents society’s lack of pity for

individuals who go against society, and exposes the Bride and Leonardo as lovers. It is

suggested that Lorca’s homosexuality translates into his sympathy for these repressed

groups, who could not openly express their opinions and had no freedom of speech in

the conservative society. The Woodcutters act as spectators who comment on the

Lovers being on the run, allowing the audience to follow the lover’s elopement and their

3 It is based on a Chinese proverb: An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstances. The thread may stretch or tangle but will never break.



current whereabouts in the forest. They have committed adultery, and now are in hiding

in order to escape the punishments set by the society. The Lovers’ motives were purely

out of their love for each other, yet the repression of this relationship suggests that a

conservative society do not allow true love to exist. The Woodcutter attempts to shield

the Lovers from the Bridegroom’s hunting crew, “cover their love, with a branch of

shadow” (III.I.54-56), providing a glimmer of hope for the audience that the Lovers might

be able to escape their punishments. Ironically, the profession of a Woodcutter is to

“have [trees cut] down” (III.I). Lorca might have intended to show a failed attempt by the

Woodcutters to shield the Lovers, as their professions requires destroying ‘lives’. This

may translate into Lorca’s sympathy for the failed attempts of breaking free from the

traditional societies by people desiring freedom, as they are ultimately captured and

executed by the government. In Blood Wedding, Leonardo pays his price of violating

society’s rules when he is shot dead as soon as his whereabouts is exposed by the

moon.

The moon works with the Woodcutters to symbolise fate in Blood Wedding as a

channel for Lorca to show his sympathy for repressed individuals who succumb to fate.

Personified as a young man, specially a woodcutter4, the moon is in contrast with the

Three Woodcutters. Lorca had shaped Leonardo, as Gibson (1989) describes, the

“victims of ineluctable fate”. Moon is symbolically the personification of fate. Its ability to

shine down its moonlight, spilling the luminescent glow of “intense blue light” (III.I)

throughout the forest, it exposes the lover’s locations. The colour of blue used in the

stage directions may represent sorrow or death, as the paleness of a corpse is close to

4 III.I. Stage directions “Enter the Moon… white face”



a greyish blue tone. The use of a blue lighting may be Lorca’s way of hinting at the

death of the love triangle, and in turn represents the exposure of people who violate

society’s rules. Lorca’s stylisation of the Moon is different to the romantic, serene Moon

common in literature. The fact that Lorca’s Moon works together with the Beggar

Woman, who represents death, suggests that the Moon, and a patriarchal society,

seeks to find and shun those who violate traditions and committed ‘sins’, like the Lovers’

and their elopement. The Moon’s ability to place judgements and verdict on the Lovers

presents to the audience that it can manipulate their fate, in order to satisfy its own

bloodlust “to warm [his] cheeks” (III.I). This is suggested by its symbolic representation

of fate, and its identity as a young man, while the majority of the characters in Blood

Wedding are women. As mentioned previously, Lorca has a tendency to create female

characters with a higher status, yet they are unable to challenge the Moon’s status as

someone who manipulates fate. This suggests that Lorca has sympathy for people who

are freedom fighters and individuals, yet they are unable to challenge society’s

traditions in the face of possible prosecutions.

Being a part of the forces of change in society, Lorca expresses his sympathy for

the repressed groups, due to his personal experiences and struggles in a patriarchal

society. Lorca’s female characters, like Mother and Bride, are bounded by the

patriarchal society despite his tendency in granting them power. Lorca’s own liberalist

stance motivated him in presenting sympathy for individuals who seek freedom, like

Leonardo, as they are bounded by the restrictions of a conservative society. Their

inability to speak up evokes pathos in the audience and bystanders, as their passion to

fight for what they desire proves to be the pavement to their downfall. Blood Wedding is



a controversial play that gives a platform for Lorca to express his sympathy for

repressed groups. The social overtones in Blood Wedding are apparent through the use

of symbolism; it dramatizes the harshness of societal norms in a patriarchal society.

Such dramatization calls into question how severe the repression of groups were during

Lorca’s era, which is a key feature that makes the play so controversial and enduring.



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Print



Gibson, I. Federico García Lorca: A Life. New York, NY: Pantheon, 1989. Print. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge UP, 1998. Print. Garcia Lorca, Federico. Blood Wedding. Trans. Ted Hughes. N.p.: Faber & Faber, 1996. Print.

Download - Blood Wedding Commentary on Symbolism

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