minimalist, stark, and highly symbolic. The play begins in the Bridegroom's house, in a room painted yellow. Throughout the play, the Bridegroom is associated with the color yellow. This hue represents his wealth, akin to gold, and his vitality, symbolized by yellow wheat, the source of bread, a life-sustaining food. Additionally, yellow foreshadows his demise, as it is the color of his lips when he dies at the play's conclusion. In contrast, Leonardo's and the Bride's homes are marked by the color pink, a shade of red, representing passion and vibrant life (or blood). These characters are indeed the most passionate in the drama. The final scene unfolds in a stark white dwelling, suggesting a space devoid of life and hope. The stage directions specify that the room's white features should mimic church architecture. A church, where birth and death rituals are regularly observed, is fitting for the Mother to learn of her last son's death and to accept a future devoid of joy. Unlike these dwellings, the forest, where the lovers flee, is a literary setting where societal rules transform, break down, or cease to exist. It is an untamed place, beyond human-made communal order. These lovers clearly cannot be together within their community, so they attempt to escape its confines. In a sense, the forest becomes their true home.

Modernism
Modernism, an international and metropolitan movement in the arts, encompasses Impressionism and Dadaism, stream-of-consciousness techniques in literature, and atonality in music. Picasso's Cubist paintings, for instance, vividly illustrate Modernism; instead of depicting people realistically, he painted them with multiple eyes and heads, or a single head from various perspectives. Other modernist movements include Symbolism and Surrealism, which Lorca was closely associated with. Lorca's play is a modernist work. Similar to Picasso's paintings, it diverges from realism, moving away from the highly naturalistic and realistic sets, plots, and actions that dominated European and Spanish theater in the preceding decades. Lorca's modernism aims to revive the essence of "drama" by transforming the theatrical experience into a sensory and emotional feast. The stark settings, chanting, songs, and music all contribute to an event designed to deeply move the audience through all the visual, auditory, and dramatic techniques available to the playwright.

Chorus
In a play, the chorus consists of a group of commentators, chanters, or singers who are not directly involved in the plot. The chorus's purpose is to either provide commentary on the action, express the community's perspective on the events, or simply offer a lyrical accompaniment to the scenes. Such choruses were prevalent in Classical Greek plays. Lorca's play draws from this tradition. For instance, a single girl, a pair, or groups of young girls may enter at various moments, singing or chanting songs and commentary. In the play's final scene, two young girls sing about the brevity of mortal life and speculate on what might have occurred at the wedding. Their role mainly serves as a lyrical accompaniment to the action, as the Mother anxiously waits to learn the fate of her son.

• 1930s: The socialist government supports art initiatives designed to engage rural peasants and provincial audiences. Lorca establishes a traveling theater group, La Barraca, which brings classic Spanish plays to rural communities. This group is primarily run by university students during their summer vacations and breaks.

Today: Although the Spanish dictator's regime was marked by strict control and censorship of the arts, post-Franco Spanish governments have shown substantial governmental support and funding for the arts.

1930s: Despite some industrialization and modernization, Spain remains entrenched in classism and gender divisions. The country is also clinging to the remnants of its imperial and colonial possessions. The poorest people, particularly, are still landless rural peasants.

Today: The middle class is dominant, and Spain has the unusual distinction of having the lowest birth rate in Europe. Spanish economists forecast a need for a significant number of foreign workers in the upcoming decades to maintain the economy.

1940s: Francisco Franco's allies, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, are defeated in World War II, leaving Spain isolated internationally.

Today: Spain, along with most European nations, is part of the European Economic Community (EEC). In 2001, a common European currency fully replaced national currencies.

• The 1981 film adaptation of Blood Wedding, directed by Carlos Saura, presents the story through an artistic interpretation using flamenco dance, featuring a flamenco troupe. While the film is in Spanish, subtitled versions can be found in the United States.

Sources
Barnstone, Willis. Six Masters of the Spanish Sonnet. Southern Illinois University, 1993.

Duran, Manuel. Introduction to Lorca: A Collection of Critical Essays. Prentice Hall, Inc., 1962.

Edwards, Gwynne. Dramatists in Perspective: Spanish Theater in the Twentieth Century. St. Martin's Press, 1985.

———. Lorca: The Theater Beneath the Sand. Marion Books, 1980.

García Lorca, Federico. Bodas de sangre. ‘‘Introducción’’ de Fernando Lázaro Carreter. Edición Colección Austral, 1971.

———. Blood Wedding, translated by Langston Hughes and W. S. Merwin. Theatre Communications Group, 1994.

García Lorca, Francisco. In the Green Morning: Memories of Federico, translated by Christopher Maurer. New Directions, 1986.

Morris, Cyril Brian, ed. Cuando yo me muera: Essays in Memory of Federico García Lorca. University Press of America, 1988.

Newton, Candelas. Understanding Federico García Lorca. University of South Carolina Press, 1995.

Ramsden, Herbert. Bodas de Sangre. Manchester University Press, 1980.

Senz de la Calzada, Luis. La Barraca. Revista de Occidente, 1976.

Smith, Paul Julian. The Theatre of García Lorca: Text, Performance, Psychoanalysis. Revista de Occidente, 1976.

Further Reading
Eisenberg, Daniel. ‘‘A Chronology of Lorca's Visit to New York and Cuba.’’ In The Kentucky Romance Quarterly, 24 (1975): 233-50. This is an excellent resource for students studying Lorca's Poet in New York poetry collection.

Gerould, Daniel. Doubles, Dreamers, and Demons: An International Collection of Symbolist Drama. Performing Arts Journal Publications, 1985. This collection of symbolist plays is ideal for students interested in exploring various forms and types of symbolist drama. It includes an introduction by Gerould.

Gibson, Ian. The Assassination of Federico García Lorca. Penguin Books, 1983. This book delves into the events leading up to and surrounding Lorca's political assassination, written by an author who has extensively published on Lorca (including a well-known biography).

Jackson, Gabriel. The Spanish Republic and the Civil War 1931-1939. Princeton University Press, 1966. This is a detailed history of Spain's tumultuous 1930s.

Stainton, Leslie. Lorca: A Dream of Life. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1999. This is the most recent English-language biography of Lorca.