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Introduction

The structure of 'Blood Wedding' has a great influence on its continuous effect and final impact. Lorca carefully plans the events of the play in order to create a final dramatic climax. The play is split into three acts and the action is divided into each act. The opening act is a basic introduction to each of the characters, complexly explaining to the audience their given circumstances. In the first scene the audience have a lot of literal information to absorb, therefore the use of symbols is kept to a minimum until the characters can be easily identified. In Greek tragedy this would be refereed to as the prologue. Following the light introduction, Act 2 mainly revolves around the Bride and the wedding and introduces the complications that arise. In the fist scene it is the wedding day and Leonardo tries to persuade the Bride not to marry, as to him it appears obvious that she does not really want to. However, the Bride forces herself to do so "And I'll shut myself away with my husband, and I'll love him above everything." (pg26). Soon after their marriage, in Act 2 Scene 2, the Bride leaves the wedding ceremony and her new husband claiming that she has a headache and needs to lie down. However it is discovered by the Brides father that she has eloped with Leonardo. ...read more.

Middle

Within 'Blood Wedding' the chorus feature throughout almost narrating on the proceeding events, the chorus appear in many different forms like the Woodcutters, Servant, Neighbours and Little Girls. All of these characters serve the same purpose of the chorus, 1st Youth "Let the Bride awaken to welcome her wedding guests." (pg28) This shows a narrative tone explaining to the audience what is happening. Rising action comes just before the climax of the play that is the inciting action. It is the increasing conflict is a single action initiating a major conflict in the play that builds up to the inciting action. Inciting action is undoubtedly, in 'Blood Wedding' the action of Leonardo and the Bride running away after the wedding "They've run away! They've run away! Her and Leonardo. On horseback! Arms around one another! Like a flash of lightening!"(pg42) At the same point as the inciting action peripeteia takes place, it is the point when a reversal of the protagonist fortunes takes place. Leonardo is risking everything to be with the Bride, he has left his wife and baby and run away with another mans wife, ultimately he has rapidly lost everything. Pathos refers to the depths of despair emotion evoked by tragedy, the closing of the play is most likely the pathos in 'Blood Wedding' it shows three women who have just lost an important person in their lives and are now grieving. ...read more.

Conclusion

Archetypes can help to aid character identification, connecting their lives with social, emotional or physical qualities which could be collectively linked to a particular culture. Rather than being an exaggerated or stereotypical portrayal of a role, archetypes are more an essence of how a particular character would typically operate. In 'Blood Wedding' a recognised archetype would be Leonardo, as the lover, who is prepared to be killed for his love or the Mother, who worries a lot and doesn't want to let her son out of sight. In Lorca's judgment, duende "is a power and not a behaviour, it is a struggle and not a concept." It is a power that no one can explain, but everyone recognises. In Spanish, duende translates literally as "ghost" or "goblin" and means 'the power to attract through personal magnetism and charm.' This definition of duende could be greatly significant to the occurrences within 'Blood Wedding' Leonardo and the Bride have an uncontrollable passion for each other. The duende present in the play, it could be suggested, is inside the Bride and Leonardo as it is a spirit of risk and death which possesses them. Lorca felt death to be a very significant part of life, something that is to be expected and necessary. It seems that as a result of their love for the Bride, it is inevitable and necessary that Leonardo and the Bridegroom must die. ...read more.

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