Beauty
Beauty, particularly Adela's beauty as Bernarda's youngest daughter, serves as a catalyst for conflict in the play. Lorca suggests that beauty becomes tainted in an environment where people are forbidden from following their desires and passions. Pepe el Romano is deeply attracted to Adela but, due to financial constraints, courts Angustias instead. Magdalena remarks, "If he were coming because of Angustias' looks, for Angustias as a woman, I'd be glad too," but she knows he is interested in her wealth. "Even though Angustias is our sister, we're her family here, and we know she's old and sickly, and always has been the least attractive one of us!" The sisters are so confined by their repressed isolation that they harbor resentment toward Angustias for having a suitor and toward the beautiful Adela for being Pepe's lover.

Fate and Chance
The characters' efforts to shape their own destinies lead them to confront the inevitable, resulting in the tragedies that conclude not only The House of Bernarda Alba but also each play in Lorca's trilogy. Destiny intertwines with the cyclical nature of life; past events are often destined to recur. For instance, all the women in Adelaida's family suffered before her, and she is doomed to suffer as well. Martirio notes elsewhere in the play, "History repeats itself. I can see that everything is a terrible repetition." In the scene with Prudencia, several symbols of bad luck, such as spilled salt and a pearl engagement ring instead of diamonds, foreshadow the misfortune to come. Martirio states, "Luck comes to the one who least expects it." However, good fortune does not seem to grace anyone in Bernarda's house, regardless of their expectations. Adela fights against her fate but ultimately fails. Unlike her, the other sisters accept their fate, lacking Adela's belief that she can control her destiny.

Death
Each play in Lorca's trilogy concludes with a significant death. As the characters' frustration intensifies, death becomes an impending certainty. Death befalls those trapped in hopeless situations, helpless against their destiny. Adela ultimately chooses death as an escape from an unbearable life when her only perceived alternative, Pepe, is no longer available. Although Adela appears fated not to survive, it is Bernarda's actions that inadvertently lead to tragedy. In this sense, Bernarda resembles a heroine from Greek tragedy, surviving perhaps only to repeat her mistakes.

Freedom
The play is driven by Lorca's sense of social justice, serving as a caution to society about the tragic consequences of repressing any of its members. Adela's predicament is at the heart of Lorca's message. She stands to lose the most when her two aspirations, men and freedom, are shattered. Her optimism is irrational due to the isolation Bernarda imposes on her and her sisters, and because she should recognize from the surrounding society that men and freedom are mutually exclusive for a Spanish woman. However, even subservience to a husband might offer Bernarda's daughters more liberty than they have under her oppressive rule. The land, which generates wealth, also symbolizes procreative power and other freedoms. The fields represent a source of rejuvenation and escape for Bernarda's daughters. They perceive the men who work the land as free and independent, possessing everything that the women, confined within the house, lack.

Honor
Honor in the play is intricately linked with themes like status, wealth, and gossip. Bernarda feels compelled to maintain her social standing in the town; she refuses to let her daughters marry below this perceived status and clings to her social pretenses. Bernarda's tyranny is fueled by her own sense of honor and tradition. Her desire to act...