Characters Discussed

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The Bride

The Bride, a rich man’s daughter who was engaged to Leonardo some years ago, when she was fifteen years old. She does not truly love the Bridegroom, but the families consider theirs a good match. She will marry him and try to make the best of it because she can never be with Leonardo. She would like to forget Leonardo and live honorably with her husband, but she is helpless when she hears Leonardo’s voice. At the wedding reception, she tells the Bridegroom that she would like to rest a little before they dance. Instead, she rides away with Leonardo on his horse. Fleeing with him, she realizes her mistake and begs Leonardo to run away from her so that she will die alone. Instead, the two men kill each other, and she returns to the church hoping that the Bridegroom’s Mother will kill her. The two women reflect on the men they have lost to knives.

The Bridegroom

The Bridegroom, a rich young man who has bought a valuable vineyard and is now ready to marry a woman he has known for three years. As the wedding approaches, he is happy and eager; he loves the Bride and looks forward to his future as husband, father, and landowner. He dismisses all talk about the Bride’s former engagement because it was so long ago and cannot possibly matter now. At the wedding, he is both tender and demanding; the last thing he says to his wife is that she had better be ready to satisfy him sexually that night. When he learns that his wife has run away, he immediately gets on a horse and chases her. In the ensuing fight, he and Leonardo kill each other.

Leonardo Félix

Leonardo Félix, who has been married to a cousin of the Bride for two years. He has never stopped loving the Bride, to whom he was once engaged. They were not permitted to marry because Leonardo is not wealthy; he and his wife barely have enough money to get by. As the Bride’s wedding approaches, he rides by her home more frequently, even in the middle of the night, and one morning he goes to tell her how her marriage will hurt him. As a member of the Bride’s extended family, he attends the wedding. He convinces the Bride to run away with him. When the Bridegroom overtakes them, he and Leonardo kill each other with their knives.

Leonardo’s Wife

Leonardo’s Wife, the mother of his baby child. Although she has been married to Leonardo for two years, she is jealous of the feelings she suspects he still has for the Bride. She tells Leonardo that the neighbors have seen him riding far across the plains when he was supposedly out working; the wife suspects, correctly, that he was trying to see the Bride. She is the first to notice Leonardo’s disappearance from the wedding. When she next sees him, he has run away with the Bride and been killed.

The Bridegroom’s Mother

The Bridegroom’s Mother, a widow whose husband and older son were both murdered by members of the Félix family. She has reservations about the upcoming wedding, for reasons she does not fully understand; part of her worry is that when the Bridegroom leaves home, she will be alone. She also fears knives and other weapons. She carries out her role as mother of the groom, advising the Bridegroom on presents to buy for his bride and working out the wedding arrangements. She carries a sense of foreboding throughout. In the end, her remaining son is indeed...

(This entire section contains 632 words.)

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killed, with a knife, by a member of the Félix family, just as she has always feared.

Characters

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Beggar Woman
See Death, Old Woman

Bride
The Bride is the final major character introduced in the first act of the play. The sequence of introductions—first the Bridegroom and Mother, then Leonardo, and finally the Bride—may reflect their levels of social power and influence. Unlike Leonardo, who has the freedom to initiate events and tragedy, the Bride is a character confined to her home, waiting for events to unfold around her. The first significant event in her life is the proposal of marriage. Her demeanor during the engagement meeting and her conversations with the Servant reveal her frustration with her situation and her lack of enthusiasm for the Bridegroom. She agrees to marry him only to erase the memory of Leonardo. However, she holds onto the hope that she will eventually grow to love her husband, albeit with a less intense love than she feels for Leonardo. By eloping with Leonardo, the Bride acknowledges that both she and her lover are doomed. This act of rebellion and expression of her suppressed desires illustrates her passionate nature.

Bridegroom
Among the key characters in the play, the Bridegroom is perhaps the least intriguing. Unlike Leonardo, the Bride, and the Mother, he lacks inner conflict and profound emotions. He is a simple, satisfied young man who works diligently, respects his parents, and eagerly anticipates his marriage to the Bride, believing he has made an excellent match.

Death
Death, also referred to as the Beggar Woman or Old Woman, exists as an outsider to the play's community, remaining detached from their suffering. In fact, she seems to derive pleasure from the unfolding events. As Death, she craves every life she encounters. Her bloodthirsty and emotionally cold nature reflects how humans perceive death: as an inevitable force that contradicts their desires and hopes.

Father
The Father aligns with the Bridegroom and stands in contrast to the skeptical and suspicious Mother. Like the Bridegroom, he is entirely unaware of any disruptions to the smooth functioning of his world. He is confident in his daughter's willingness to marry and appears to have completely forgotten or never known about her past passion for Leonardo. Unlike the Servant, he does not notice Leonardo's visits to his daughter. Instead, he focuses on how the marriage will strengthen the already solid status of both families.

First Woodcutter
Similar to the young girls in the play, the Woodcutters act as a chorus, providing commentary on the main events while remaining on the fringes. They are fitting characters to introduce the final act. As men who fell living trees, they symbolize the impending deaths of the two young men. The First Woodcutter, like the Second Woodcutter, seems to empathize with the lovers' passion and defiance. "You have to follow the path of your blood," he remarks about the lovers' rebellion.

Leonardo
Leonardo is the only character in Lorca's play who is given a proper name, while the others are identified by their societal roles. This unique naming highlights his role as the protagonist who disrupts the social harmony of his community. He imposes his own desires over communal norms, causing tragedy for all the families connected to him. Driven by intense passion, his frantic rides to and from the Bride's house illustrate his fervor. Leonardo's decisive choice to forsake his marriage for his enduring love for the Bride occurs only when she is set to marry another, indicating his possessiveness. As long as the Bride is unattached, Leonardo can endure their separation. Despite his selfish and possessive motives, and the suffering he inflicts on many, the play evokes considerable sympathy for both him and the Bride. The complexity of Leonardo's character—its appeal and flaws—demonstrates the delicate balance between assertively pursuing personal desires and engaging in harmful antisocial behavior.

Moon
The Moon, also referred to as the Young Woodcutter, is personified and given a character role similar to Death. It appears as a young woodcutter with a pale face. Like Death, the Moon eagerly anticipates the tragic climax of the lovers' pursuit. Entering the final act with a yearning for tragedy, the Moon suggests that tragedy is an inevitable aspect of life, as certain as the moon in the sky. It offers to illuminate the land with its light, ensuring the lovers have no place to hide.

Mother
The Mother stands as the most powerful figure in Lorca's play. She intuitively senses and vocalizes the impending tragedy, often contrasting how things should be with how they actually unfold. As a wife, mother, and widow who has adhered to societal norms and duties, she has amassed significant social power available to women of her time. This power, while substantial, is less direct than that wielded by men. For instance, her influence over her son is nearly absolute, showcasing women's indirect control over events outside the home. Her stoic suffering, particularly from the loss of loved ones, is a prominent theme in the play. On one hand, her acceptance of life's cruel injustices and her quiet endurance highlight her remarkable strength of character. However, her limited involvement in public life leaves her unaware of the Bride's and Leonardo's histories. Had she not been so confined to the private sphere, she might have prevented the unfolding tragedy. The play hints that married women in this society are unfairly excluded from public affairs. When considering these factors, the Mother's stoicism takes on a different meaning. She supports the traditional roles assigned to men and women, which limits her potential influence. In this way, her stoicism resembles quietism, a passive acceptance of circumstances that could or should be changed.

Mother-in-Law
Leonardo's Mother-in-Law is depicted as a woman scorned by her husband, a fate soon to befall her daughter. This generational pattern suggests an inevitability to their plight, implying that some women will always face scorn. The Mother-in-Law and Wife prepare for the Wife's impending humiliation with a mix of sorrow and resignation, showing little bitterness. The Mother-in-Law serves as a companion and source of support for her daughter.

Neighbor
The Neighbor Woman provides critical information to the audience that neither the Mother nor the Bridegroom could know at the play's outset. An outsider is necessary to relay this information. In the first act, the Neighbor's conversation with the Mother reveals the Bride's past relationship with Leonardo and discloses that Leonardo belongs to the dreaded Félix family, responsible for the deaths of the Mother's husband and son. This revelation sets the stage for the play's sense of foreboding and impending tragedy.

Old Woman
Refer to Death, Beggar Woman

Second Woodcutter
The Second Woodcutter joins the First Woodcutter in expressing sympathy for the fleeing lovers, suggesting that the community "ought to let them go." He wavers on the likelihood of their successful escape, at one moment declaring that transgressions are always punished (‘‘But blood that sees the light of day is drunk up by the earth’’), and at another implying that they might evade retribution (‘‘There are many clouds and it would be easy for the moon not to come out’’).

Servant
Unlike the Father, the Bride's Servant is fully aware of the happenings in the Bride's household. Her interactions with the Bride reveal the Bride's genuine emotions and frustrations. Throughout the play, the Servant tries to temper the Bride's feelings by promoting calmness and caution. Despite her enthusiastic involvement in the wedding events, it is evident that she senses something is amiss. She strives to protect the Bride from herself and from Leonardo, at one point pleading with Leonardo to leave the young woman alone: ‘‘Don't you come near her again.’’

Third Woodcutter
Of the three woodcutters, the Third Woodcutter is the least sympathetic towards the lovers and remains unconvinced of their escape. His initial words are: ‘‘They'll find them.’’ His subsequent remarks are equally blunt, stating that ‘‘they'll kill them,’’ and that once the ‘‘moon comes out they'll see them.’’ Like Death as the beggar woman, he appears to anticipate a gruesome conclusion to the events.

Wife
Leonardo's Wife is clearly wronged by her husband's and the Bride's actions. However, there is little sympathy for her character. This lack of sympathy is partly because she seems to accept, if not expect, her fate. Her passivity is essential to the play's overall message. Through her character, the play highlights how women's happiness largely depends on men's actions. Her passivity underscores the play's critique of the limited social freedoms granted to women at the time. It illustrates how women, more so than men, learn early to curb their desires and aspirations.

Young Girls
Throughout Blood Wedding, young girls appear solo, in pairs, or in groups at various moments. Their primary role is to lyrically accompany or comment on the unfolding events, similar to the Woodcutters, acting as a chorus. For instance, on the wedding day, girls come and go, singing or chanting wedding songs and verses. This musical addition helps establish the appropriate solemn yet festive wedding ambiance. In the final scene, two girls enter, winding a skein of red wool, symbolizing blood. They sing about death but do not possess detailed information about the wedding or the hunt's outcome. While their actions and knowledge within the play's events are realistic, they can also step outside these events to serve as omniscient commentators.

Young Men
The young men act as counterparts to the young girls during the wedding scenes. They represent the future of all young men, just as the young girls symbolize the future of all young women. By interacting on a wedding day, the play hints at how both the girls and these boys will eventually marry. Together, the young men and girls emphasize the continuous cycles of life, where marriage happens as routinely as birth and death.

Young Woodcutter
See The Moon

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