Study Questions
1. Do the Moon and the Beggar Woman give an indication that Leonardo and the Bride will escape?

2. How is the lullaby of the horse in Act I, Scene 2 a portent of what occurs in the forest?

3. Who is the Beggar Woman?

4. How is the relationship between Leonardo and the Bride different from the one between the Bridegroom and Bride?

5. What symbols does García Lorca use to indicate the inevitability of fate in the final scene?

Answers
1. No. The Moon and Beggar Woman conspire to insure that death occurs.

2. Leonardo is killed by the river on his horse, and a horse and a river appear in the song.

3. The Beggar Woman is Death personified. Dramatists often personify Death. This was a common technique in morality plays dating back to the Middle Ages.

4. Leonardo and the Bride have a relationship based on passion, which disregards the norms of society. The Bride was interested in the Bridegroom primarily to fulfill the customary roles of society.

5. The skein of wool and the final image of the knife both indicate a sense of predestination of the tragedy that occurs.