Blood Wedding

Study Guide
Julie Nevin, dramaturg

Blood Wedding  13
 Dramaturg’s Note
From the first time I read Blood Wedding,
I was fascinated with the writing of
Lorca. His deeply eloquent poetry is so
powerful and beautiful; I was entranced
immediately. And then I found this quote
from him,“The theatre is that poetry
which rises from the book and becomes
human.”

We use theatre as a means of exploring

humanity in all its glory. It opens doors
for us to discover human meaning,
relationships and even our own selves.
I believe that it is through theatre we
can most learn who we truly are. When
we allow our hearts to be stirred by the
poetry within plays that is when theatre
comes to life. Blood Wedding presents
many difficult issues including love,
deceit, death, loyalty, and family. Such
subject matters may be difficult to watch
but necessary to understand as audience
members and as people. In every
performance we can find moments that
correlate with our own lives. It is what we
do with the information received that truly
matters. How can we use this experience
to improve and enrich our lives and
eventually all human kind?

14  BYU Department of Theatre and Media Arts

 Federico Garcia Lorca
Federico García Lorca is one of Spain’s most
acclaimed poets, playwrights, and artists. He
wrote sixteen original full-length plays, published
five collections of poetry and also wrote a
screenplay for a silent movie about his ventures
in New York City.

Federico García Lorca was born in the

province of Granada, Spain, on June 5,
1898. His life was filled with music, art, and
passion. He gained personal relationships
with many influential artists such as
Salvador Dali and Emilio Aladrén.

,
The Spanish Civil War broke out in July 1936
nish
between the Spanish Army and the Spa
Second Republic. Lorca supported the new
d by
ideologies of personal freedom expresse
Rep ubli c. This was cont rary
the Spanish Second
nish and Cath olic cultu re.
to the traditional Spa
Although Lorca made no outw ard poli tical
many
claims his lifestyle and associations with
th in 1936 .
left-winged scholars led to his dea
t Lorc a was
On August 18 at the age of thirty eigh
in pit
taken by the Spanish army. He was shot
els of
with three others and covered with barr
limes, to conceal the bod ies.

Art was a part of Lorca’s life from childhood. He

began playing the piano at age eleven. His interest
in theatre developed when he was a young boy with
puppet theaters and his own reenactments of Catholic
ceremonies. Catholicism played a large part in his art as
well; he used his poetry and art as a way to express his
conflict between sexual desire and the Catholic Church.
Blood Wedding  15
 Spanish Gypsies
the Gypsies of
Lorca seems to find great pride with
s titled The
Spain. His collection of poems and song
Gypsies. He
Gypsy Ballads is dedicated to the Spanish
c, in an effort
said the Gypsies in the poems are symboli
the Morisco
to touch “the Gypsy, the Black, the Jew,
in his hea rt.” Lorca uses
that every one of us carries
ectio n betw een the
these poems to create a larger conn
our own lives.
sufferings of suppressed races and

The Spanish Gypsies originally

came from Egypt, earning the
name Gitano, which is synonymous
for gypsy in Egyptian.
The Gypsies arrived in Spain
around the fifteenth century
and have been a large influence
in Spanish art, especially with
Flamenco music and dance.

Throughout history Spanish Gypsies have faced great persecution.

Spanish Kings often decreed discriminatory and occasionally intentionally
contradictory laws pertaining to the Gypsies. For example, Gypsies were
banished from churches, yet forced to be faithful Christians. Although
they have, for the most part, transient spirits, laws forced them to be
agriculturalists and forbade them from blacksmithing. The punishment for
disobedience of such laws was as serious as death.

d,
The Gitano culture is so bold and the traditional Spanish culture so deeply grounde
that as they are blended together, we can better underst and the relation ship between
these
the lingering and the rising generations within Blood Wedding. The layering of
The Gypsy culture
two cultures illustrates the unsettled nature of the characters’ spirits.
dence
correlates strongly with the new generation; they both have a sense of indepen
ze
and freedom. Whereas the traditional Spanish culture and older generation symboli
dependence upon family, connection to the earth, and the natural order of life.

16  BYU Department of Theatre and Media Arts

Traditional Spanish
Wedding Customs
In the 1930s, most Spaniards were Catholic,
although a wide percentage of them were
not entirely devout. However, almost every
Catholic Spaniard practiced the rituals of
baptism, confirmation, and marriage.

Spanish weddings were a

community event rather than
a private exchange of vows.
After the wedding, the
wedding party and guests
would participate in dancing
the seguidillas manchegas.

Traditionally the Spanish bride wore a black silk wedding

dress, a tall mantilla, and beautiful lace veil for the
ceremony. The bridegrooms wore an embroidered shirt
hand- made and given to him by the bride.

Before the wedding ceremony, the groom presented the bride with
thirteen gold coins to prove his commitment to support her financially.
She would carry these gold coins with her to the ceremony.

On the wedding day, an orange blossom

wreath was
given to the bride by her groom. She wore
the orange
blossoms during the wedding ceremon
y as a symbol
of her love. Giving and receiving orange
blossoms is
a deep Spanish tradition and orange
blossoms are
the flower of choice for a young bride’s
wedding day.
The orange tree is unique because it bea
rs both fruit
and blossoms at the same time. The oran
ge blossoms
have become a symbol of fertility as well
as maturity
and love’s abounding happiness.

Blood Wedding  17
 Greek Tragedy & Fate
of an
Aristotle said, “Tragedy...is an imitation
trag edy is to be
action.” Perhaps he means that
as a narrative.
shown as a drama, rather than told
Aris totle’s
Within Blood Wedding, Lorca supports
the
idea of tragedy by using images to explore
his gift of
experiences of the characters. Through
leap to
language the words became images that
In this way , this is not just
life as they are spoken.
pictures that pres ent
a story, but also a series of
the souls of the characters.

The deities of the Three Fates represented the Greek understanding of fate. The
Three Fates were sisters who determined the fate of each human. One spun the
thread of life, one determined its length and the last cut the thread at the proper
time of death. They are often personified as the three stages of life. The spinner
of life was a young maiden, while a careful matron determined the span and an
old woman to administer the final cut.

Similar to the classic Greek tragedies, the characters of Blood

Wedding are guided by the will of fate. Fate is ever present,
for our players seem to be faced with choices. The questions
include, Is choice a façade with the outcomes predetermined?
Or do the characters have the power to change their destiny
by selecting a different path? Or does fate allows them only
those choices whose circumstances result in no real change to
the predetermined course?

A Greek Chorus is an integral part of a tragic drama. The unity of the Chorus
creates one character on stage. The Chorus has the ability to work as a liaison
between the audience and the actors. At times the Chorus has the power to
separate the audience from the play, and at other times bring them together in
unanimous emotions. They can represent the average audience member, or the
social structures and ideologies surrounding the drama. They can also be a voice
of truth, reason, and morality toward the tragic figures. The Chorus proves to be
an essential part of Greek tragedy, no matter which role they play.
18  BYU Department of Theatre and Media Arts
The Women of
Blood Wedding
Throughout the play there is constant
tension between Spain’s traditions
and the changing culture. The Bride
symbolizes a new generation and
a rising new culture, whereas the
Mother is the lasting tradition. The
complexity of their relationship grows
from this juxtaposition. Within the
Bride we see the struggle to express
her own identity inside the traditional
culture. There is uneasiness inside the
Mother as the new generation begins
to rise.

Within the Spanish

culture, the most binding
relationship lies between
a mother and a daughter.
After a young couple
marries, if they have no
land of their own, they live
with the bride’s family so as
not to separate the sacred
bond between the mother
and daughter.

The story of Blood Wedding is truly about the women in

the play. It is a story of the Bride, Mother, Wife, Servant,
Mother-in-Law, fates of the Gypsy Chorus, and even the
Beggar Woman. These women are the heart of the story.
In much of Lorca’s work we see women as predominate
figures. I believe that through Lorca’s art he was trying
to understand these complex relationships that are
essential to Spanish women and women in general.
Blood Wedding  19
Bibliography
All the art included in the study guide was drawn by Federico García Lorca. He would often
drawn pictures aligned with his written works.

Drawing p. 13: Rodrigo, Antonina. Garcia Lorca El Amigo de Cataluna. Barcelona: Edhasa, 1984.
Drawing p. 14: Garcia Lorca, Federico. Ferias. Barcelona: GEGE Creaciones Graficas, S.A., 1997.
Drawing p. 16: Cano, Jose Luis. Garcia Lorca Biografia ilustrada. Vitoria: Ediciones Destino, 1962.
Drawing p. 17:Lopez, Octavio Castro. Uncaracol aventurenro poemas de Federico Garcia Lorca.
Drawing 18: Hoyo, Arturo Del. Obras Completas Recopilacion, Cronlogia, Bibliografia y Notas. Madrid:
herederos de Federico Garcia lorca: 1954.
Drawing 19: Hoyo, Arturo Del. Obras Completas Recopilacion, Cronlogia, Bibliografia y Notas. Madrid:
erederos de Federico Garcia lorca: 1954.

Other Sources:
Anderson, Reed. Federico Garcia Lorca. London: The Macmillan Press LTD, 1984.
Arango, E. Ramao. The Spanish Political System Franco’s Legacy. Boulder Colo.: Westview Press, 1978.
Bercovici, Konrad. The Story of the Gypsies. New York: Cosmopolitan Book Corp., 1928.
Borrow, George Henry. The Zincali an Account of the Gypsies of Spain. London ;Toronto: J. M. Dent ;.
Callahan, William J. The Catholic Church In Spain, 1875-1998. Washington DC: The Catholic University of
America Press, 2000.
Ferraro, Joanne M. “Courtship, Marriage, and Divorce in European Society.” The Encyclopedia of Social
History. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2001.
Garcia Lorca, Federico. Blood Wedding = Bodas De Sangre. Oxford: Aris & Phillips/Oxford Books, 2009.
Garcia Lorca, Federico. Blood Wedding. Trans. Gwynne Edwards. London: Mthuena Drama, 1997.
Gilmore, David D. The People of the Plain Class and Community in Lower Andalusia. New York:
Columbia University Press, 1980.
Johnston, David. Federico Garcia Lorca. England: Absolute Press, 1998
Josephs, Allen. White Wall of Spain the Mysteries of Andalusian Culture. 1st ed. ed. Ames: Iowa State
University Press, 1983.
Klein, Dennis A. Blood Wedding, Yerma, and the House of Bernarda Alba: Garcia Lorca’s Tragic Trilogy.
Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1991.
Lima, Robert. The Theatre of Garcaia Lorca. 1st ed. ed. New York: Las Americas Publishing Co., 1963.
Morris, C. Brian. Son of Andalusia: The Lyrical Landscaped of Federico Garcia Lorca. Nashville:
Vanderbilt University Press, 1997.
Newton, Candelas. Understanding Federico Garcia Lorca. South Carolina: University of South Carolina
Press, 1995.
Pinnie, Lawrence J. The Passing of Spanish Traditionalism Deprivation, Transformation, Credence. 1st ed.
ed. New York: Vantage Press, 1996.
Quintana, Bertha B. !Quae Gitano! Gypsies of Southern Spain. New York: Holt Rinehart and Winston,
1972].
Rodgers, Eamonn, ed. Encyclopedia of Contemporary Spanish Culture. London, UK: Routledge, 1999.
Smith, Paul Julian. The Theater of Garcia Lorca: Text, Performance, Psychoanalysis. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Utrera, Rafael. Garcaia Lorca y El Cinema “Lienzo De Plata Para Un Viaje a La Luna”---. 1a ed. ed. Sevilla:
Edisur, 1982.

20  BYU Department of Theatre and Media Arts

 Continued from page 12
Jennie Pardoe From Southlake, Texas. Senior in acting. Jennie recently
The Mother returned from serving in the Russia Samara Mission. Credits
include Portia in Julius Caesar at the Castle Theatre, Penelope
in See How They Run at the Plaza Theatre, BYU credits include
Guildenstern in Hamlet, Alexandra in Little Foxes, and
Margaret in Angels Unaware. Jennie was also dramaturg for
BYU’s productions of Getting Married and Angels Unaware.

Danielle Peterson From South Jordan, Utah. Sophomore in pre-acting with a pre-
Chorus Member medical minor. This is her first BYU main stage production.
Recent credits includes Liz in What’s the Worst that Could
Happen, Miss Cleanly in Where There’s a Will, and Kate in
Oklahoma!

Briana Shipley From West Jordan, Utah. Sophomore in pre-music dance

Violinist theatre. Recent credits include Nancy in the Mask Club I Love
Lysistrata, Hamlet in the Mask Club Abridged Shakespeare,
a tapper in BYU’s World of Dance, and MC Dog in Go, Dog.
Go! Briana received a nomination for the Irene Ryan Acting
Scholarship for her work in Go, Dog. Go! last year.

Brighton Sloan From Salt Lake City, Utah. Sophomore in theatre arts studies.
Violinist/ Chorus/ Past credits include Prospero in The Tempest at BYU, Ida in
Voice of the Moon See How They Run, Susannah Cibber in Joyful Noise, and Mina
Harker in Dracula. She recently directed Pride and Prejudice
for Spotlight Productions, and will be directing Jane Eyre this
spring.

Miki Smith From Murrieta, California. Sophomore in English with a music

Guitarist/ Chorus minor. This is her first BYU production. Recent credits include
Patricia in a Mask Club of The Last Yankee. Her poetry will be
featured in this year’s Inscape, BYU’s creative writing journal.

Brittany Sweeney Senior in humanities with an emphasis in English and a minor

Flautist in theatre studies. This is her first mainstage play at BYU.
Other credits include a Mask Club improv show where she
played Cinderella and a recent Mask Club I Love Lysastrada,
based on Aristophanes’ Lysatrada, where she was a chorus
member.

Bethany Talley From Copley, Ohio. She is a senior in theatre and modern
Neighbor/ Chorus dance. Her credits include 24-Hour Theatre Project with the
Experimental Theatre Company, Louisann in The Imaginary
Invalid at the Castle Theatre, the title role in the mask club
Dora , Cobweb in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at BYU, and
Jenny in Waiting Room with the New Play Project.

Blood Wedding  21
Mari Toronto From Beijing, China. Freshman pre-acting. Recent credits
Cellist include being co-producer of the Experimental Theatre Club
24 Hour Theatre Project, Lucy in a Mask Club Flight Lines,
and Justine/Claire/cellist in the New Play Festival show The
Monster of Dr. Frankenstein. This is Mari’s first BYU main
stage production.

Justine Trotter From Las Vegas, Nevada. Senior in theatre arts education.
Wife Recent credits include Rachel/Azure_skies_80 in Standing
Still Standing at Provo Theatre Company and Izzy in Rabbit
Hole with the BYU Experimental Theatre Club. Justine has also
served as the properties designer for several productions at
BYU including Children of Eden, The Taffetas, and The Giver.

Britain Kalai Young From Boston, Massachusetts. Senior in vocal performance.

Musical Director/ Vocalist Britain recently competed in BYU Young Artists of Voice
competition. Her credits include Narrator One in The Wolf and
the Lamb in BYU opera scenes, Les contes d’Hoffmann at BYU,
and Hermia and Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream
with the original-practice Grassroots Shakespeare Company.

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