Characters

Question 1

Who are the characters in the play?

Answer 1

Bernarda
Angustias
Magdalena
Amelia
Martirio
Adela
Maria Josefa
La Poncia
La Criada
Pepe el Romano
Prudencia

Question 2

What is the name of Bernarda’s second husband who died?

Answer 2

Antonio Maria Benavides

Question 3

How old is Angustias?

Answer 3

39

Question 4

How old is Magdalena?

Answer 4

30

Question 5

How old is Amelia?

Answer 5

27

Question 6

How old is Martirio?

Answer 6

24

Question 7

How old is Adela?

Answer 7

20

Question 8

What does Bernarda Alba’s name symbolise?

Answer 8

Bernarda is derived from a German word meaning “strong like a bear”

Alba means “dawn” in Spanish, refers to whiteness which can be associated with purity or chastity

Question 9

What does Adela’s name symbolise?

Answer 9

Derived from a German word meaning nobility

Question 10

What does Angustias’ name symbolise?

Answer 10

Means “anguish” in Spanish

Question 11

What does Martirio’s name symbolise?

Answer 11

Means “a person who suffers”

Question 12

What is Bernarda obsessed with?

Answer 12

Cleanliness, reputation, social status, “el qué dirán”

Question 13

How does Bernarda’s spotless, clean household relate to her social status?

Answer 13

She has a servant who cleans her house; reflects her wealth and status to be able to afford servants

Question 14

What does Bernarda’s first line in the play establish?

Answer 14

Establishes her dominance over the other characters

Question 15

How does Bernarda’s use of language represent her character/personality?

Answer 15

She uses the language of an absolute ruler; she gives orders and censures her behaviour

Question 16

How does Bernarda increase her power?

Answer 16

By knowing more gossip about her neighbours/people around her

Question 17

What is Bernarda’s greatest weakness?

Answer 17

She doesn’t want to know what goes on inside her daughters’ hearts

Question 18

What is La Poncia’s relationship to Bernarda?

Answer 18

Her servant and informer; she acts as a bridge between Bernarda and her daughters by reporting any behaviours that might endanger Bernarda’s reputation

Question 19

How would La Poncia’s personality be described?

Answer 19

As two-faced; in front of Bernarda she is respectful (respetuosa) and faithful but she declares her hatred for her behind her back

Question 20

How would Adela’s personality be described?

Answer 20

As a free spirit; she doesn’t share the negative attitude of the future that her sisters have, she wants to be happy and leave the house as a free person

Question 21

How does Adela oppose the mourning period and fight for freedom?

Answer 21

By handing Bernarda a colourful fan instead of a black one

By wearing a green dress instead of a black one

Question 22

How is Angustias’ appearance described?

Answer 22

As sickly, thin and unattractive; she is so sickly that La Poncia suggests she will die when bearing her first child

Question 23

Which character was the only one to cry at their father’s funeral and show affection for Adela?

Answer 23

Magdalena

Question 24

How would Magdalena’s personality be described?

Answer 24

She is a sad person; she has lost hope for a better life and accepts her fate as a single woman

Question 25

How would Amelia’s personality be described?

Answer 25

She is the least talkative out of the five sisters; she is timid and scared of Bernarda

She believes that there is no worse fate to be born a woman

Question 26

How would Martirio’s personality be described?

Answer 26

She is a tormented and wicked woman with a physical deformity (a hump) and therefore she believes that she is never going to get married

She is secretly in love with Pepe and therefore she wants to destroy the relationship between him and Adela

Question 27

About Martirio’s suitor; who was he? Why didn’t they get married?

Answer 27

She had a suitor called Enrique Humanes but he was considered unsuitable by Bernarda because his father was a farm labourer (gañán)

Question 28

What fate does Maria Josefa predict for the daughters?

Answer 28

That none of them will marry

Question 29

What phrase does Maria Josefa use to describe Bernarda?

Answer 29

cara de leoparda

face of a leopard

Question 30

What phrase does Maria Josefa use to describe Magdalena?

Answer 30

cara de hiena

face of a hyena

Question 31

What phrase does Maria Josefa use to describe Martirio?

Answer 31

cara de martirio

face of torment

Question 32

How did La Criada feel about the death of Bernarda’s husband and why?

Answer 32

She was saddened by it because he was her secret lover

Question 33

What does the dialogue between Bernarda and her neighbour Prudencia symbolise?

Answer 33

Symbolises Bernarda’s strict attitudes towards social behaviour and how Prudencia struggles due to these attitudes (her husband will not forgive their daughter)

Question 34

How does Maria Josefa describe Pepe el Romano?

Answer 34

As a giant who is going to devour the woman in the house