Bodas de Sangre

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Bodas de Sangre

Introduction

What would you do if you were a man and your wife ran away hours after your marriage with another man? Would you leave her alone with the man or would you go after her so that you can reclaim her? In the play ‘Bodas de Sangre’ by Federico Garcia Lorca, is a heroic and tragic story of a man who has been robbed of his wife by another man. In this story, the husband, Groom, of the runaway wife, bride, is extremely furious and decides to go and seek revenge and get his wife back. Therefore, in this essay, the character of the tragic hero is analyzed from each act as it unfolds.

Discussion

In act one; the play introduces the characteristics of the hero. The play begins with the mother who is talking to his son, the groom. She is so bitter about the death of his husband and tries to let go of all the bitterness to her son. She starts this when her son refuses to eat something and decides to go to the fields and eat berries instead. In the process, he asks his mother for a knife, and she gets angry. In this act, we are introduced to the family rivals the Felix’s who are believed to have murdered her husband[1]. Additionally, the act has also introduced the character of the hero.

The hero in the play is the groom who is almost ready to marry his wife. In the first act, his characteristics are introduced and they revealed slowly in this act. He is a humble man. This is because he does not quarrel with his mother for letting out all her emotions on him. Additionally, he is not quick to go and revenge for his father’s death after being told the story of his father’s death by his mother[2]. In addition to this, the way he humbles his mother shows that he is extremely humble. In reality and in the theatres one characteristic of the different heroes is being humble. Therefore, in act one the hero is being revealed as a humble man.

The other characteristic of the hero revealed by this act is patience. The groom does not do things hurriedly and is not quick to judge. In act one, he is seen to wait for the right time to exit after his mother has let go of her anger on him. In reality, people often try to escape any discussion from their mothers involving anger. Additionally, when a person is told that his or her father was murdered by a certain person, he or she wants to revenge. However, heroes wait, investigate and look for the real perpetrator before they commit themselves to anything. This is because they might be wrong. In this case, the characteristic of patience is revealed because heroes are meant to be patient despite the circumstance they are involved in.

Another characteristic of the hero, groom, is that he is caring. In reality, heroes are loving. They put the community or the society first before their own needs. This means that they love their own society. In this act, it can be clearly seen that the groom cares for his mother because he has waited and allowed his mother to release all her anger on him. Lastly, as he is about to depart he hugs her despite his mother telling him that he is too old for these things. This shows that he loves his mother, and he cares for his mothers needs before his own. Therefore, the characteristic of the hero is revealed as a caring and loving man.

It is worth noting that heroes are also human beings; therefore, they tend to portray normal characteristics. Additionally, heroes do not have to win in a battle so that they can be called heroes. They must first start somewhere so that they can finally emerge to be heroes. There are other activities they can perform to deserve the name. Occasionally, heroes often have similar characteristics that separate them from the rest of the world. Additionally, they do not boast of what they have achieved but always in silence. Therefore, in act one of the play, the story has slowly revealed the characteristics of the hero as a normal person. It should be noted that at this point the tragic hero is not referred to as tragic yet because he has not met the tragedy.

After Leonardo, one of the Felix family members was told that the groom was going to marry the bride he decides to see the bride at night. In act two, it begins with Leonardo visiting the groom at night so that he can inform her of the burning desire he has for her. It is in this act, the groom marries the bride. The normal process of a marriage takes place where the groom’s family goes to the bride’s family. After receiving the bride, they go to the church where everybody has been invited for the wedding service. After the service, the groom’s family goes with the bride to their home where they are expected to have a traditional party in the evening. When they are about to begin the traditional dances, the presence of the groom and the bride is required. However, the bride is nowhere to be found. Leonardo’s wife burst from one of the room saying that the bride has eloped to the forest with Leonardo[3]. Act two ends with the beginning of the search party heading towards the forest.

The hero is also friendly, that is, he does not choose who to talk to and who not talk with. Heroes do not choose who to save and who not to save. They save everybody regardless of what is gong to happen. In this act, the groom did not chase Leonardo away from the wedding despite what happened in the past with their father[4]. Additionally, he tells Leonardo’s wife that her husband will be back instead of misleading the wife of the sworn enemy of the family. This shows that despite all the wrong things the family has done to them, the groom is still friendly to them and does not consider them as enemies.

 

In this act, the characteristics of the hero have grown from the normal life to the beginning of the real heroic characters. The characteristic portrayed by the groom is that of being protective. Universally, heroes are known to be protectors, that is, their work is to protect the lives of others at no cost. In this situation, the bride knows that the groom has the ability to protect the bride from anything. Therefore, she feels safe when they are with the groom. When the wedding is about to start, the bride begs the groom to protect her from anything. This alone shows that the tragic hero is protective. For this reason, the tragic hero is being revealed as the protector thus showing the real duties of heroes.

The tragic hero is also an optimistic person. All heroes often believe that they are going to win their battles and the lives of the innocent. This is because there is no way a person can go into a battle without the expectation of losing. Everybody believes that he or she is going to emerge the victor. In this case, the groom was optimistic in whatever he was being told by Leonardo’s wife. The wife expected that the groom was going to read between the lines; instead, he brushed her off and told her that Leonardo has just gone for a ride and will be back shortly[5]. Additionally, when the groom was entering the forest with the search party, he was optimistic that he would bring his wife back home with him. This alone reveals that the hero is going to reclaim back his wife thus showing optimism

In the end of act two, the hero has also been portrayed as a person who is determined to get what he wants. He wants to go and bring back his love from another man, Leonardo, who took her has taken her away from him. This determination can also be compared to the other tragic heroes of the day-to-day life who often are determined in their endeavors no matter how difficult the situation. Therefore, it can be clearly seen that the hero is extremely determined to do what it takes to bring back his wife no matter the consequences.

In the second act, the characteristics of the hero have been developed in such way that one can understand that the hero is seeking to save the fate from not happening. This is the reason as to why he is referred to as a hero by the society. For these facts, the second act has revealed the characteristics of a real hero. Additionally, the hero is filled with anger because it is a repeat of what the Felix family did to them but in a different way. This shows that the hero has waited until he has to prove that the Felix family killed their father. Lastly, it can be seen that the groom has taken charge of the search party thus gaining the status of the hero. It should be noted that the fact of tragedy has not yet been revealed in this act. Therefore, the analysis shows that the tragic is still a hero.

In act three, the story has reached its climax. Every youth in the society has joined the groom in the quest of searching for his bride and killing Leonardo. This act begins when the woodcutters emerge to discuss the events. They reveal that Leonardo will be eventually apprehended and killed by the Groom once the moon emerges from the clouds[6]. The forest is filled with activities from all corners. On one corner, the bride and Leonardo discusses the future where she urges him to go away before it is too late. However, Leonardo refuses. On the other side of the forest, the moon is speaking of how lonely it is and desire to let blood be shed. Finally, death enters as a beggar and informs the groom that she knows where the two are hiding. The Groom follows them into the forest. Finally, they catch up with them. Two screams are heard, Leonardo and groom are dead.

In this act, it is the climax of the story where the tragic heroism of the groom is finally revealed. The first characteristic of the tragic hero that can be viewed in this act is courage. The groom is filled with a lot of courage and determination of finding his bride and Leonardo. There is one situation where the youths are afraid of going any further due to darkness in the forest. The groom is not discouraged and says that he will continue until he finds Leonardo so that he can kill him and reclaim back his wife. This alone shows that the groups is courageous enough like a hero, and there is nothing that can stop.

Another characteristic of the hero is that he is fearless. Heroes are expected to be fearless. They can walk into a trap without the fear of the outcome rather they think of what they are needed to do in order to save the day. In this situation, the groom is willing to do anything despite the fact that he might be killed or die trying to find the bride and groom. This proves that the groom is fearless and is ready to do what it takes. Therefore, this act has revealed that the hero is courageous enough to do anything for his wife.

Finally, the hero is filled with anger. All heroes are driven by something so that they can be able to save the innocent. Most of them are driven by anger. This is because they are angry that the innocent people are getting hurt for no reason. In this incident, the groom is extremely angry because his lover has been taken by an enemy of the family. On the other hand, he is also angry because fate is not following the course that it is supposed. Lastly, the groom is filled with anger because his wife told him to protect her, but he has failed the task. In this case, he has becoming so angry thus leading to his vigorous search of the two.

In this act, the point of the tragic hero has been clearly explained. As described in the story, a tragic hero is a person who dies in the process of his or her heroic duties. In this story, the groom is the tragic hero because he was trying to save his wife and kill Leonardo. Even though he achieved saving his wife and killing Leonardo he also died[7]. In this last act, the characteristic of the tragic hero have been shown, to prove why he is a hero. However, the side of being courageous, fearless and anger are the few characters a hero portrays as compared to the other people who are not heroes.

According to the analysis above, the characteristic traits of the tragic hero revealed systematically from the first act to the last. At first, the tragic hero is a common person like any other who lives with her mother and works in the fields. This shows that heroes are not prominent people but just normal people in the society. In the second act, the story picks the momentum and the characteristics of a hero start to emerge. In the third act, the hero is in the process of performing his heroic duty when he tragically dies thus, acquiring the name tragic hero.

 

References

Cut to the Chase Productions, (2011). Blood Wedding. New York, NY: Cut to the Chase Productions.

Gussow, Mel, (1992). Review/Theater; A Garcia Lorca Tragedy of Blood Lust and Death. New York Times. Retrieved from: http://theater.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?res=9E0CE1DE163EF936A25756C0A964958260

Lorca, Federico, Garcia, (2011). Blood Wedding. Retrieved from: www3.nccu.edu.tw/~cyyang/data/…/Bodas%20de%20sangre.pdf

Morris, C. Brian. 1980. García Lorca: Bodas de sangre. London: Grant & Cutler.

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