"Examine the function of knives, flowers, water and blood in the play" - The novel "Blood Wedding" by Federico Garcia Lorca.

Authors Avatar

Sam Bateman 11 W 1

“Examine the function of knives, flowers, water and blood in the play”

The novel “Blood Wedding” by Federico Garcia Lorca makes use of imagery to a large extent, but none more so than the images of knives, flowers, water and blood. Whilst at the start of the play the Mother is completely obsessed with knives, the wedding is almost centered around flowers, water symbolizes life and cleanliness and blood for the family ties and the life force of the people.

Knives. The age old symbol of death. Lorca uses this imagery to great extent and the knife in this play symbolizes death, hatred and murder. At first, we are introduced to the knife through the mother, and her bitter ramblings “The knife, the knife! Damn the knife, damn all knives, damn the devil who created knives.” This is because her husband and second son where murdered by the Felix family wielding knives. The mother is dumbfounded at how such a seemingly small and unobtrusive thing can kill a man as regal and powerful as her husband “How is it that something as small as a pistol or a knife can do away with a man who is like a bull?”  It becomes clear later in the play that the world of Lorca is less concerned with people and their will to use knives and more with the knife itself, almost as if the knife wields the person, and this is displayed by the beggar woman “Shine on the waistcoat, undo the buttons. Show the knives where to go.” It is almost as if she bids the moon to direct the knives, as if they were independent. Or perhaps she suggests that they are returning home, undo the buttons so the knives can sheath themselves in their natural surroundings, like a fish out of water, so is a knife out of flesh. The image of the knife is recurrent through the play so it is not surprising therefore, that whenever a knife is talked about, death soon follows. Perhaps the most haunting imagery is at the end, “Here is a knife, A small knife, That barely fits the hand” and “It barely fits the hand, But slides in cold, Through startled flesh, Till it stops, there, In the quivering, Dark, Roots, Of the scream”

Join now!

 The image of the flower is one of hope, nature and unity. It is basically only mentioned in conjunction with the wedding, so it also represent love, the love between a man and a woman is natural, so it ties in with the strong natural vs. supernatural theme as well. The bridegroom gives the orange blossom to the bride as a symbol of his unconditional love, and it is also made out of wax, which could symbolize two things: the everlasting and enduring love they have for each other or that the marriage is fake and false. We subconsciously ...

This is a preview of the whole essay