In both stories, the honour code also links to the society’s expectations of women which leave few or no rights for women. Marriage is not a choice, it is a step in the process of life and a wife is a role the woman is obligated to play. Furthermore, as honour was seen in the superior classes, the only chance for lower class families to gain honour was to marry into one from the higher class. Neither of the novels allows the bride to make decisions regarding the marriage. In “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”, women are expected to marry regardless whether they love the man or not, they are “raised to suffer” (Marquez, 34). Angela is even told that she has “no right to disdain that prize of destiny” (Marquez, 38) when thinking of refusing the proposal and that “Love can be learned” (Marquez, 38). Clearly, she has no choice at all with regards to whom she will marry. Even though presented in a different manner, the same idea is seen in “Blood Wedding” when the Bridegroom and her mother arrive at the Bride’s house to confirm the wedding. The father is asked, “Well?” (Lorca, 30) concerning the Bride’s future. Nor is she asked about any of the decisions concerning the marriage, rather, it is the Father, Bridegroom as well as the Mother that make the decisions. It is evident that in both texts, the family’s honour is gained by employing and using their daughter without concern of her emotions. The forceful expectation of women and honour which the Bride is told to follow is what eventually leads to her running away with Leonardo during the marriage at the church. The link between the loss of honour at the church brings the reader to the attention of religion.
Religion often happens to be the main factor that deals with forming the order of society. With regards to the two novels, it is the Catholic Church which influences the societies and also sees to relate with the idea of honour. Marquez shows the significance of religion to the novel numerous times for instance when the townsfolk wake early to “wait for the arrival of the bishop,” (Marquez, 1) even if they highly doubt that he will step off his boat. Furthermore, honour seems to be important in the eyes of the church as well. Pedro and Pablo rush into the church minutes after they killed Santiago and the “priest recalled their surrender as an act of great dignity” (Marquez, 55). Furthermore, when they announce their innocence Father Amador replies, “Perhaps before God.” (Marquez, 56) They reassure the rest of the people that they were innocent “Before God and before men” (Marquez, 56). Clearly, the fact that “it was a matter of honour” (Marquez, 56) was enough for the Church to forgive them. In contrast, Lorca’s incorporation of the Church in “Blood Wedding” does not play as significant a role as in “Chronicle of a Death Foretold” with regards to the main plot of the play. The societal expectations with regards to religion and its link with honour are seen less frequent than those related with tradition. This difference is one of many instances that lead the reader to understanding the greater value of tradition in the society of “Blood Wedding” compared to the highly valued aspect of religion in “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”. Nonetheless, touches to religion are made for example towards the final scenes, an allusion to Jesus Christ and the crucifix, “The Cross! The Cross!-Sweet nails, Sweet Cross, Sweet Name – Jesus” (Lorca, 104). Still, the links with honour from societal expectations of religion are seen to link back to the ideas of societal expectations of honour and virginity more so than affecting the plot of the play. Similar in Chronicle of a Death Foretold, the Bride links the traditional custom of hanging out the bed sheets after the first night of marriage with the religious idea of purity when scolding Leonardo, “My wedding sheets unfurled, as if they were my banners?” (Lorca, 92) The value Lorca sets to tradition in society of the play clearly shows more significant than the value of religion in the society of Marquez’s novel. Nevertheless, in each of the texts both values are used to justify or criticize certain actions of the plot as well as basing the lives of certain characters and their way of living on religious standards.
The aspect of marriage being an economic advantage to the families appeared in both texts to affect the decisions made for the bride. In Lorca’s “Blood Wedding”, little is known of the Bride which would under normal circumstances question the proceedings of this marriage. Nonetheless, when the Girl who came to “tell [them] what they’re buying” (Lorca, 24), the Mother-In-Law’s hesitations are obliterated as the only concern is that “two wealthy families are going to be joined” (Lorca, 24). In contrast, social concerns with wealth affect not only Angela, but other characters too. The narrator’s sister is one who follows this biased mindset when thinking of Santiago Nasar with “a fortune of his own at the age of twenty-one” (Marquez, 20) her decision is clearly affected as “she suddenly realized that there couldn’t have been a better catch than him” (Marquez, 20). Once again, the society appears not to know much of the outsider, Bayardo San Roman, yet their only interest lies in the fact that “he’s swimming in gold”( Marquez, 29). Lorca specifies his ideas of wealth evoked in the novel towards the family, rather than society’s mindset. This difference is significant as Marquez’s depiction of society’s expectations link back towards the ideas of honour and society’s expectations rather than family traditions. The fact that honour is gained through joining a wealthier family through marriage imposes further stress upon Angela as she is to meet society’s expectations and maintain her family’s honour, making the refusal nearly impossible. Nevertheless, with regard to family traditions or expectations of society as whole, both texts emphasize on the influential power of society’s importance of wealth and its role within the plot.
In essence, Lorca and Marquez emphasize on the values upon which the expectations of society are built in both works. The effect of the significance that each society places upon the values of their expectations clearly go as far to determine the lives of many within both texts. Specifically, the two authors show how individuals are compelled to agree with and undertake actions they might not have done otherwise. The comparison identifies clear instances where Marquez and Lorca choose to highlight different aspects of society’s expectations. While both authors generally revolve around the values of the expectations around the idea of maintaining honour, links with the idea of honour that differ between the texts determine the specifics of each culture. Nonetheless, the social expectations and traditions can be seen as a whole to significantly shape parts of the plots which therefore prove that they play central roles within the plots of each literary work. (1614 words)
Works Cited
Lorca, Federico Garcia. Blood Wedding. Trans. Michael Dewell and Carmen Zapata.
New Your: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1993.
Marquez, Gabriel Garcia. Chronicle of a Death Foretold. Trans. Gregory Rabassa. New York: Ballantine Books, 1984.
