One of the symbols I noticed emerging in the first scene was the symbol of flowers. In this scene, it is used mostly in conjunction with the idea of life. The Mother describes her husband or son as having "life like a flower in his mouth" (6), which is pretty straightforward. She also describes her husband and son later as being "two men who were like geraniums" (7) before their death. Obviously, flowers symbolize life in this scene as well as in later ones. The flowers that the Bride wears on her wedding day are symbolic of the new life she is starting with a new man, that she does not wish to start. That's why she doesn't want to marry the Bridegroom. Similarly, the vineyard the Bridegroom recently bought is described as blooming or budding in the first scene and beyond, which connects to this same idea of starting a new life. I don't believe any flowers were brought to the funeral at the end, which further proves that flowers really symbolize life. Depending on their uses throughout the rest of the play, we will see how these flowers relate to death and themes on life.
Another major symbol in this scene is girls, or the female gender. The mother talks about how she wants a girl so she can "embroider, and make lace, and be at peace"(11), and she says that she wishes her son had been a girl (7). She and her neighbor discuss how the Bride is a "good girl", and the Bridegroom makes assumptions that, because the Bride is a girl, she must have thought carefully about who she was going to marry (9). I'm not sure yet exactly what the female gender symbolizes in Lorca's play, but it does seem to have a relationship to the overarching motif of fate/destiny throughout the play. One cannot choose their gender (on another note, one also cannot change their blood), even if their mother wishes they were different. The Mother likely wishes her son had been born a girl because she feels a daughter would have a better chance of living, unlike her husband and her first son. This is proved later in the play, when the Bride tells Leonardo she won't be killed for running away but he will. By the end of the piece, almost all the male characters are dead, except the Bride's father who was not a lead character anyway. This shows some gender imbalance, that may parallel the gender imbalance that Lorca found in his time.
Another major symbol in this scene is girls, or the female gender. The mother talks about how she wants a girl so she can "embroider, and make lace, and be at peace"(11), and she says that she wishes her son had been a girl (7). She and her neighbor discuss how the Bride is a "good girl", and the Bridegroom makes assumptions that, because the Bride is a girl, she must have thought carefully about who she was going to marry (9). I'm not sure yet exactly what the female gender symbolizes in Lorca's play, but it does seem to have a relationship to the overarching motif of fate/destiny throughout the play. One cannot choose their gender (on another note, one also cannot change their blood), even if their mother wishes they were different. The Mother likely wishes her son had been born a girl because she feels a daughter would have a better chance of living, unlike her husband and her first son. This is proved later in the play, when the Bride tells Leonardo she won't be killed for running away but he will. By the end of the piece, almost all the male characters are dead, except the Bride's father who was not a lead character anyway. This shows some gender imbalance, that may parallel the gender imbalance that Lorca found in his time.
Good observation about the gender imbalance and the connection to destiny for the woman symbol. I might add that the women is portrayed as a kind of possession to men. Also, men own the property while women are isolated, never leaving the house.
ReplyDeleteI like your interpretation of the flowers. I also included this symbol and thought that it represented life. But I did not think of it necessarily as "starting a new life". I just contrasted it between the men and the women and life and death. I like that you expanded on what it meant for the Bride- I hadn't thought of that.
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