house of bernarda alba
TRANSCRIPT
1
The following paper has been uploaded for no profit motive. The right of
copy should be consulted the author
Title
A Foucauldian Study of The House of Bernarda Alba
Subtitle
A Conceptualization of Michel Foucault‟s Abstract Ideas Through a
Power-Oriented Play
Abstract
The whole paper deals with an analysis of the following concepts in the
play The House of Bernarda Alba by the Spanish playwright: The
concept of power and its productivity, Anti-authority struggle, The
concept of resistance against power, The outcome of coercion to silence,
The notion of identity and its restraining outcome, The notions of
abnormality and normality.
Keywords
Discipline, Hidden Transcript, Panopticon, Victorian Moral Codes
2
\
The play The House of Bernarda Alba which conveys the story of a
dominant mother whose imposition of power on her five daughters result
in resistance, uprising, and a catastrophic end is an obvious criticism
against the Victorian Moral Codes which were associated with Shallow
3
Morality, Conformity, Silence nd a great deal of endeavor to maintain
appearance.
Michel Foucault, the French Postmodernist Thinker and Philosopher,
whose ideas revolved mainly around concepts such as Power,
Knowledge, and Discourse was one of the rough dissidents of Victorian
Moral Codes which according to him led to suppression and repression
of the individual under the reign of the Supreme Power.
The writer of the article is determined to consider, analyze, and
discuss the following concepts found in the aforementioned play i.e. The
House of Bernarda Alba written by the Spanish playwright Frederica
Garcia Lorca:
The Concept of Power and Its Productivity
Anti-authority Struggle
The Concept of Resistance Against Power
The Outcome of Coercion to Silence
The Notion of Identity and Its Restraining Outcome
4
The Notions of Abnormality and Normality
The Concept of Power and Its Productivity
The concept of Power has been one of the most polemical notions
throughout the history of philosophy and thought. Scrutinized and
discussed by various outstanding features such as Nietzsche, Marx, and
so on and so forth is not a new concept followed and defined by
Foucault. To be precise and to the point, the only and the most
significant difference of Foucauldian definition of power and that of
those preceded him lies in Foucault‟s perception of power in other
words, Foucault sees power not only repressive but productive;
something which brings about forms of behavior and events rather than
simply curtailing freedom and constraining individuals. He also points
out that power is not possession in the hands of the powerful but it is a
performance, a strategy that permeates the whole social body.
5
In The House of Bernarda Alba, being the dominant power in a small
society like family, Bernarda Alba constantly strives for controlling her
five daughters by initiating binary oppositions such as decency vs.
indecency and exercising permanent Surveillance which act as tools in
her hands. This power penetrates into the minds of the individuals to the
extent that each individual acts as a monitor and observer of the others.
In this play Adela in act 2 is heard talking aboit her sister Martirio as
follows:
Adela: She follows me everywhere. Sometimes she peps into my room to
see if I’m asleep.
The whole house resembles a prison, Panopticon, with a domineering
mother functioning as a guard and surveillance and the whole
inhabitants of the house as prisoners that persuade Bernarda to struggle
to take and have the control of the whole house:
Adela[standing up to her]: This place has sounded like a prison long
enough…[Act 3]
6
The imposition of the power on the people living in the house paved
the way for the appearance of certain forms of behavior such as
tendency to nicknaming her as leopard-face by Bernarda‟s mother Maria
Josefa or lizard by the servant if the house Poncia.
Anti-Authority Struggle
In his profound essay „The Subject and Power‟ Foucault argues on Anti-
Authority Struggle in which the powerless or suppressed inaugurates a
struggle against the prescriptions of the authority in that society. In this
local or immediate struggle, people criticize the conditions of their lives
and take action to set them free from the dominance of the authority.
In this play, several hints of this struggle taken by daughters
especially Adela can be detected:
Martirio[softly]: Adela [Pause. She moves right up to the door. [Loudly]
Adela!Adela appears. Her hair is somewhat disheveled.
Adela: Why are you looking for me?
Martirio: Keep away from that man
7
Adela: who are you to tell me what to do?
Martirio: that’s no place for a respectable woman.
Adela: and haven’t you just longed to be there?
Martirio[loudly]: the time has come for me to speak out. This cannot go
on.
Adela: this is only the beginning. I had the strength to take action, the
spirit and courage that you haven’t got.
Power and Resistance
In volume one of the History of Sexuality Foucault asserts that “where
there is power there is resistance”. In other words. Foucault is willing to
convey that in power relations there is no master/slave relation but there
is struggle against master. According to him, to exercise power there
should be someone who resists i.e. where there is no resistance, there is
no power relation. Those resistant individuals should pay physical costs
to themselves.
8
In this play, being the most resistant figure, Adela dies at the end of
the play. Her death can be considered as atonement for her all struggles
and resistance against her mother.
Foucault also states that in the presence of their equals, both
powerless and powerful, develop a “hidden transcript” that is a critique
of power spoken behind the back of the dominant. In order to analyze a
power relation, we must analyze a total relation of power i.e. the hidden
transcripts as well as the public performance. For instance, in the scene
where poncia and the Maid are alone these hidden transcripts can be
detected:
Poncia:…she doesn‟t want to be seen in her own kingdom. To hell With
her.
Maid: she has been good to you
Poncia: Thirty years washing her sheets, thirty years eating her
Leftovers…but damn and blast her all the same, may she roast
In hell.
The other features enormously discussed by Foucault is Discipline as
self-regulation that “is a set of strategies, procedures and ways of
9
behaving which are associated with certain institutional contexts and
which then permeates ways of thinking and behaving in general”
The Outcome of Coercion to Silence:
As discussed by Foucault: “within the ninetieth century, there was an
attempt to silence discussion of sexuality and restrict social practices.
We should not assume that this repression was effective, or effective in
the ways in which it was envisaged it would be. The seeming repression
of sexual discussion and sexuality itself had an unintended effect, that‟s
to increase the desire to speak about sexuality and increase to pleasure
gained from violating these taboos”. As it can be seen in this play, Adela
gains pleasure from violating the taboo of relationship with would-be
husband of her half-sister i.e. Angustias. Bernarda, does her best to put a
ban on sexual discussions and practices but this restriction leads to no
way except failure.
The Notion of Identity and its Restraining Outcome:
10
Foucault is among the philosophers who advocate dissolution if
identity, rather than its creation or maintenance. As discussed by Siegel:
“… [he] sees identity as a form of subjugation and a way of exercising
power over people and preventing them from moving outside fixed
boundaries”
In this play, Bernarda Alba constricts her daughters due to her
tendency to maintain her reputation; in other words, her identity. Being a
model for Victorian Moral Codes, Bernarda cares excessively on what
other people may say about her and they may stain her reputation. This
maintenance of identity leads her to subjugate her daughters which
results in the catastrophic outcome.
The Notion of Abnormality and Normality:
Foucault constantly argues on the definition of two terms of
Abnormality and Normality. He poses the two significant questions who
determine the abnormality and normality in a society? And why is a
person dubbed abnormal?
11
In this play, Bernarda‟s mother is expected to be known as Mad
which is a type of Abnormality. But, in the course of the story, she is
depicted as the mouthpiece of the five girls, that is to say; she strives for
going away, marrying, and procreating.
Maria Josefa:…just because I have white hair you think I
can’t have Babies and babies…[ACT 3]
Maria Josefa:…I must go away from here,…[ACT 3]
She is dubbed as Mad and is locked due to defying the orders of
supreme power i.e. Bernarda Alba who is an executive and a follower of
Victorian Moral Codes.