Theatre test 2 reading notes

After the death of her second husband, Bernarda Alba, a dominating woman, imposes a period of mourning on her household to last eight years, as has been traditional in her family. Bernarda has five daughters, aged between 21 and 40, whom she has shielded and controlled to an excessive degree and prohibited from any form of relationship. The mourning period further isolates the daughters, and tension mounts within the household. After a mourning ritual at the family home, Angustias, the eldest daughter, enters, having not been present while the guests were there. Bernarda is angered, assuming she had been listening to the men's conversation on the patio. Angustias inherited a small sum of money upon the death of her father, Bernarda's first husband. In addition, Bernarda's second husband also gave Angustias most of the wealth, more than sum of the other four sisters. Angustias' wealth attracts a suitor, the young and attractive Pepe el Romano from the village. Passion and jealousy among the sisters increases. They feel it is unfair that Angustias, the oldest and most sickly of them, should receive both the majority of the money and the freedom to marry and leave the constraints of the house. Adela, the youngest, is stricken with sudden spirit and jubilation on the day of her father's funeral. Defying Bernarda's orders to dress only in black and mourn, she refuses to take off her green dress. Her brief time of feeling young and free is suddenly shattered when she discovers that Angustias will be marrying Pepe. Poncia finds out that Adela has feelings for Pepe and says Adela should bide her time; Angustias will probably die delivering her first child. In her distress she threatens to run into the streets in her green dress, but her sisters are able to stop her. Suddenly, Pepe el Romano is seen coming down the street. Adela stays behind while her sisters rush to get a look at him--until a maid hints that she could get a better view from her own bedroom window. As Poncia and Bernarda discuss matters of the daughters' inheritance upstairs, Bernarda spots Angustias wearing makeup and a purple dress. The purple dress symbolizes freedom within the Generation 98 culture.[citation needed] Appalled that she would defy her orders to stay in a state of mourning, Bernarda violently washes the makeup from Angustias's face. The daughters all enter in the commotion. Finally María Josefa, Bernarda's elderly mother who is usually locked away in her room, enters. She says she wants to escape the house and get married. She also warns Bernarda that she is going to turn her daughters' hearts to dust if they cannot be free. Bernarda forces her back into her room. It transpires that Adela has been conducting an illicit affair with Pepe el Romano. She becomes increasingly passionate, refusing to submit to her mother's will and arguing with her sisters, particularly Martirio, who reveals her own feelings for Pepe. The tension in the story comes to a head as the family confronts one another. Bernarda chases Pepe with a gun. A gunshot is heard from outside, implying that Pepe has been killed. Adela slips into another room while the family anticipates the outcome. As Martirio and Bernarda re-enter, Martirio states that Pepe el Romano got away with his life, and Bernarda remarks that as a woman she cannot be blamed for not knowing how to aim. With Pepe el Romano dealt with, Bernarda turns her attention to calling for Adela, who has locked herself in a room. Bernarda and Poncia work at bringing down the door through force after being met with silence from Adela. Upon gaining entrance to the room, Poncia shrieks. Returning with her hands clasped about her neck, she warns the family to not enter the room--Adela, not knowing that Pepe survived, hanged herself. The closing lines of the play show Bernarda characteristically preoccupied with the family's reputation. She calls for it to be made known that Adela died a virgin (which is not the case, as the play alludes that she and Pepe have been meeting in secret). No one is to cry.

Bernarda - A widow who exerts excessive will over her daughters. She is preoccupied with ideas of honor and tradition, in particular relating to the role of women in society, and is too proud to see the truth about her own daughters. Portrayed dictatorially within the household, her walking stick is a symbol of the power she holds over the household. Bernarda's name is the Spanish version of the Teutonic name Bernard meaning "having the force of a bear". La Poncia - The sturdy housekeeper of Bernarda's abode. Poncia means the "swollen ankle". In Lorca's times there was a children's story about a helpful pony named Poncia. Poncia was the most popular maestro's pet but he hurt his ankle during a performance. This story is Lorca's favorite story. Angustias - The eldest and sickliest daughter. She inherited a fortune from her father, Bernarda's first husband. Her stepfather's estate has been split between the other four daughters, making Angustias the richest. Angustias becomes engaged to Pepe el Romano, who is interested not in her, but in her money. Aware that he is interested only in her money, she continues, desperate to marry and be free of her oppressive mother. She is described by her sisters as the ugliest, and Poncia comments that she is unlikely to survive childbirth. Her name comes from the Spanish word for anguished. Magdalena and Amelia - The two middle sisters. Magdalena feels unhappy at the loss of her father and cries frequently. She also has a tendency to sleep all day. Amelia is gossipy but submissive to Bernarda. Martirio - Her name is Spanish for 'Martyr', and this subtle allusion goes some way to explaining her. She is in love with Pepe and has had a previous relationship that failed due to the destructive intervention of her mother. Her upbringing and negative experiences with men in the past lead to what she describes as a feeling of weakness and inferiority when in the presence of men. Adela - The youngest of the daughters and the only one to defy Bernarda. She is in love with Pepe el Romano and carries on a secret rendezvous with him, until her sister Martirio intervenes and they have a scuffle, drawing the attention of the sleeping household. Adela's guilt is revealed by the discovery of straw on her skirt. She then freely admits that she has been with Pepe el Romano. At the climax of the play, she hangs herself. María Josefa - Bernada's mother, who is locked up in her room by her daughter. Maid - Another maid in Bernarda's house. Prior to the occurrences of the play, she either had an affair with or was raped by Bernarda's late husband Antonio. In some translations this maid is given the name "Blanca", and in many she is referred to as "Servant". Prudencia - A dinner guest of Bernarda. Her name is taken from "Prudence" one of the four cardinal virtues. Pepe el Romano - Angustias' suitor and the lover of Adela. Although he never appears within the play, his actions create most of the drama within it. Beggar with a child - She enters the courtyard during the funeral and begs scraps from the maid. Women in Mourning - Mourners for the funeral of Bernarda's late husband, Antonio María Benavides.

Water/Thirst - is normally a reference to sexual desire. At one point, Adela rushes downstairs to meet her lover when she is spotted by Poncia. She explains by saying that she is thirsty and needs a drink of water. The horse (pinned up) kicks when it is thirsty. The landlocked town has only man-made wells, whose water is less pure than those of the rivers and seas. Heat - in this case, often mentioned and referred to at the height of Bernarda's oppression and fury. Therefore, a symbol for Bernarda's dominating nature. Heat is also another reference to sexual desire represented by the fans and lemonade. Black and white - The common Western connotations. Black represents everything bad (death, mourn, oppression, being closed in...) while white represents all things good (the truth, life, freedom). Black is mainly associated with Bernarda and all the daughters who wear black throughout the play, except Adela. White is mainly shown through María Josefa who appears dressed in a wedding gown. As is already said above, in her craziness she says what all the girls won't dare to say. Another possible interpretation is that white represents sterility or purity, as in the "pure" and "immaculate" appearance of Bernarda's home, and black represents oppression. Green - The symbol of future death and, in Hispanic culture, hope: it is worn by Adela when she confesses her love for Pepe el Romano. Can also represent jealousy, i.e. as between the sisters as they find Adela is the lover of Pepe, and over Angustias' engagement with Pepe. The passionate personality of Adela as well. In addition, for Lorca, green represents erotic passion. The fan - Adela gives Bernarda a round fan decorated with red and green flowers - a symbol of Adela's uniqueness. The cane - Symbolizes the power and sovereignty of Bernarda over her daughters. Adela finally breaks it near the end of the play.

Tragedy - Adela rebels against the tyranny of her mother and pays with her life. There is also tragic irony in the fact that her suicide is out of grief for Pepe's death, who is then revealed to be alive. Oppression of women - Bernarda represents the view that 'a woman's place is home'. Tradition - Bernarda is desperate to uphold tradition, both in her observance of the funeral rites, and the differences between men and women. Class prejudice - Bernarda uses money as a means of making herself superior, and views the villagers as unworthy of her daughters. Reputation - Bernarda is preoccupied with the reputation of her family and is horrified by the idea of scandal and gossip, shown at the end of the play, when she demands it be known that Adela died a virgin. Authoritarianism - Bernarda exercises a tyrant's will over the household. Beauty — Beauty becomes corrupted, Lorca suggests, in an environment where people are not permitted to pursue their desires and passions. Pepe el Romano is passionate for Adela, but is bound by economic necessity to court Angustias instead. "If he were coming because of Angustias' looks, for Angustias as a woman, I'd be glad too," Magdalena comments, "but he's coming for her money. Even though Angustias is our sister, we're her family here, and we know she's old and sickly."

Act I The play begins with an acting company preparing to rehearse a play, incidentally one of Pirandello's own (The Rules of the Game). As the rehearsal is about to begin the play is unexpectedly interrupted by the arrival of six strange people. The Director of the play, furious at the interruption, demands an explanation. The Father reveals themselves as unfinished characters in search of an author to finish their story. The Director initially believes them to be mad, but as they begin to argue amongst themselves and reveal details of their story he begins to listen. While he isn't an author, the Director agrees to stage their story despite the disbelief amongst the jeering actors.. [edit] Act II After a 20 minute break the Characters and the Company return to the stage to act out some of the story so far. They begin to act out the scene between the Stepdaughter and the Father in Madame Pace's shop, which the Director decides to call Scene I. The Characters are very particular about the setting, wanting everything to be as realistic as possible. The Director asks the Actors to observe the scene for he intends for them to act it out later. This sparks the first argument between the Director and the Characters over the acting of the play, with the Characters assuming that they would be acting it out seeing as they are the Characters already. The Director moves the play on anyway, but the Stepdaughter has more problems with the accuracy of the setting, saying she doesn't recognize the scene. Just as the Director is about to begin the scene once more he realizes that Madame Pace is not with them. The Actors watch in disbelief as The Father lures her to the stage by hanging their coats and hats on racks, "attracted by the very articles of her trade". The scene begins between Madame Pace and the Stepdaughter, with Madame Pace exhorting The Step-Daughter, telling her she must work harder herself to save the Mother's job. The Mother protests at having to watch the scene, but she is restrained. After the Father and Stepdaughter act half of the scene the Director stops them so that the Actors may act out what they have just done. The Characters break into laughter as the Actors try to imitate them. They continue but The Step-Daughter cannot contain her laughter as the Actors use the wrong tones of voice and gestures. The Father begins another argument with the Director over the realism of the Actors compared to the Characters themselves. The Director allows the Characters to act out the rest of the scene and have the rehearsals later. This time the Stepdaughter explains the rest of the scene during an argument with the Director over the truth on stage. The scene culminates in an embrace between the Father and the Stepdaughter which is realistically broken up by the distressed Mother. The line between reality and acting is blurred as the scene closes with the Director pleased with the first act. [edit] Act III The final act of the play begins in the garden. It was revealed that there was much arguing amongst the family members as The Father sent for The Mother, The Stepdaughter, The Child, The Boy, and The Son to come back and stay with him. The Son reveals that he hates the family for sending him away and does not consider The Stepdaughter or the others a part of his family. The scene ends with The Child drowning in a fountain and The Boy committing suicide with a revolver. The final lines end with The Director confused over whether it was real or not, concluding that whether it was real or not he lost a whole day over it.

The Father - Originally married to The Mother and insisted on The Son being sent off to live in the country. Afterwards, he hired another man who worked as a clerk for him to take The Mother away. Later, he may or may not have an affair with The Stepdaughter, until The Mother interferes. When he learns that The Mother's lover died, he brings her, The Son, The Stepdaughter, The Child, and The Boy back to live with him. The Mother - Originally married to The Father, she is taken away by a man her husband employs. She has three children, The Boy, The Child, and The Stepdaughter with the second man and has The Son with The Father. It is mentioned that her real name is Amalia. The Son - The son of The Father and The Mother. To make him stronger, the father has him sent off to the country to live with a wet nurse when he is a baby. Therefore, he grew up not knowing his parents and dislikes them. He also dislikes his stepfamily, not considering them a part of the family. The Stepdaughter - The spirited daughter of The Mother and her second husband. She is employed by Madame Pace (implied to be as a prostitute) and after she is "two months an orphan", she has an incestuous relationship with The Father. It is stated that she runs away from home later in the story. According to her, she went to the author of the story constantly, trying to get him to finish the tale. The Boy - The middle child and only son of The Mother and her second husband. He is disliked by The Stepdaughter, who thinks he is an idiot. He never speaks during the play. At the end of the play, he commits suicide by shooting himself with a revolver. The Child - The youngest daughter of The Mother and her second husband. She is the favorite of The Stepdaughter. It is mentioned once that her name is Rosetta. She never speaks during the play. At the end of the play, she drowns in a fountain she was playing in, although The Son tries to pull her out. Madame Pace - Employer of The Mother and (later) The Step-Daughter. She runs a brothel out of her store. She only appears for a short period of time in the play, when The Stepdaughter and The Father perform their scene in the shop together. She speaks in a comical jargon "half Italian, half Spanish". The Company: The Manager, Leading Lady, Leading Man, Second Lady, The Ingenue, Juvenile Lead, Other Actors and Actresses, Property Man, Prompter, Machinist, Manager's Secretary, Door-keeper, Scene-Shifters.

The play opens with Wang, a water seller, explaining to the audience that he is on the city outskirts awaiting the foretold appearance of several important gods. Soon the gods arrive and ask Wong to find them shelter for the night. They are tired, having traveled far and wide in search of good people who still live according to the principles that they, the gods, have handed down. Instead they have found only greed, evil, dishonesty, and selfishness. The same turns out to be true in Szechwan: no one will take them in, no one has the time or means to care for others - no one except the poor young prostitute Shen Teh, whose pure inherent charity cannot allow her to turn away anyone in need. Shen Teh was going to see a customer, but decided to help out instead, however confusion follows leaving Wang fleeing from the illustrious Ones, leaving his water carrying-pole behind. Shen Teh is rewarded for her hospitality, as the gods take it as a sure sign of goodness. They give her money and she buys a humble tobacco shop which they intend as both gift and test: will Shen Teh be able to maintain her goodness with these newfound means, however slight they may be? If she succeeds, the gods' confidence in humanity would be restored. Though at first Shen Teh seems to live up to the gods' expectations, her generosity quickly turns her small shop into a messy, overcrowded poorhouse which attracts crime and police supervision. In a sense, Shen Teh quickly fails the test, as she is forced to introduce the invented cousin Shui Ta as overseer and protector of her interests. Shen Teh dons a costume of male clothing, a mask, and a forceful voice to take on the role of Shui Ta. Shui Ta arrives at the shop, coldly explains that his cousin has gone out of town on a short trip, curtly turns out the hangers-on, and quickly restores order to the shop. At first, Shui Ta only appears when Shen Teh is in a particularly desperate situation, but as the action of the play develops, Shen Teh becomes unable to keep up with the demands made on her and is overwhelmed by the promises she makes to others. Therefore she is compelled to call on her cousin's services for longer periods until at last her true persona seems to be consumed by her cousin's severity. Where Shen Teh is soft, compassionate, and vulnerable, Shui Ta is unemotional and pragmatic, even vicious; it seems that only Shui Ta is made to survive in the world in which they live. In what seems no time at all, he has built her humble shop into a full-scale tobacco factory with many employees. Shen Teh also meets an unemployed mail pilot, Yang Sun, whom she quickly falls in love with after preventing him from hanging himself. However, Yang Sun doesn't return Shen Teh's feelings but simply uses her for money and Shen Teh quickly falls pregnant with his child. Eventually one of the employees hears Shen Teh crying, but when he enters only Shui Ta is present. The employee demands to know what he has done with Shen Teh, and when he cannot prove where she is, he is taken to court on the charge of having hidden or possibly murdered his cousin. The townspeople also discover a bundle of Shen Teh's clothing under Shui Ta's desk, which makes them even more suspicious. During the process of her trial, the gods appear in the robes of the judges, and Shui Ta says that he will make a confession if the room is cleared except for the judges. When the townspeople have gone, Shui Ta reveals herself to the gods, who are confronted by the dilemma that their seemingly arbitrary divine behavior has caused: they have created impossible circumstances for those who wish to live "good" lives, yet they refuse to intervene directly to protect their followers from the vulnerability that this "goodness" engenders. At the end, following a hasty and ironic[clarification needed] (though quite literal) deus ex machina, the narrator throws the responsibility of finding a solution to the play's problem onto the shoulders of the audience. It is for the spectator to figure out how a good person can possibly come to a good end in a world that, in essence, is not good. The play relies on the dialectical possibilities of this problem, and on the assumption that the spectator will be moved to see that the current structure of society must be changed in order to resolve the problem