Actual Piece
Blood Wedding by Fredrico Garcia Lorca is a tragic play about a triangular of loves, created by two people who are in love, but an arranged marriage that is solely based on only money and inheritance. The idea of censorship is an idea that is heavily disputed by authors and English teachers all over the United States because of the fact that censorship takes away from the true meaning of the book, and prevents the outside knowledge and influence of ideas not really agreed upon in society.
In this book, the Bride is separated from her love Leonardo because she is due for marriage to the Bridegroom. The mother of the Bridegroom is persistent of this because of the simple fact that the marriage will preserve the family name and the money. The Bride is still in love with Leonardo, but she can’t marry him. This is not a good feeling, and the bride seems to avoid the idea that she is really in love Leonardo rather than her actual groom. She fights throughout the book to find her way to her real love, ending up betraying her “arranged” love in the process.
The Mother of the Bridegroom is a key component in the push of marriage for money. In creating the Mother, Lorca created a strong and willful person, bent on preserving the family name at any mean necessary. On several occasions, the Mother of the Bridegroom makes sure her son will get the best of what is being offered as endowery in the will.
What this shows is the fact that it “love” and marriage is not the same thing, rather, love within class is an idea that was created to marry for the love of money and endowery. Therefore, Lorca explores the ideas that one does not have to be in love in order to feel it; rather, love should be experienced and not forced onto two people that clearly don’t love each other.
In doing this, Lorca has multiple characters “awaken” the Bride, forcing her out of the dark and into the light, exposing her to the feelings being harbored inside. On the day of the wedding, the Maid cries “The bride is awakening/On the morning of the wedding!(49)” Here, the maid is one to notice how the bride is reacting to her very wedding day. “Awakening” has denotation of rousing and quickening. The connotation provided by Lorcas’ writing style, however, shows that the bride is just acknowledging her feelings toward Leonardo. Leonardo, on the other hand, has not repressed his feelings and on that very day, it became increasingly harder to repress such feelings.
On the mornings of weddings, many brides are overjoyed and overwhelmed with happiness, while the bride shows venerability. This is an example in which marriages based on money is hardly enough to ensure and begin love. On the day of her wedding, the Bride heavily avoids the truth, fearing that one second left alone with her true love will cause a monstrous disaster. Ironically, it does, causing Leonardo and the Bridegroom to fight over the Bride, and the brutal slaying of both.
Censorship plays an important part in this actual piece because it has many different elements that explore what is love. One can ask whether it is beneficial to marry for love or money. In the light of society today, for many, money is the farthest thing from the mind of two people in love, purely based on that. In which money may preside over love in the earlier centuries, it became easy to marry for wealth, ensuring generations to be enveloped with money. The inclusion of several different characters persuading the bride that it is better to be in love with someone that loves you rather than getting married for the money shows the importance of money.
In cultural systems and school systems all over the world, marriage was based on the idea of money. The soon-to-be-bride’s family would give the groom money based on how rich they were. Most importantly, it became a statement to show that love can be found throughout marriage. Many ancestors of the families that arranged marriages commonly state that it is easy to “learn to love,” rather than be in love before the wedding.
Marriage and money is an important theme Blood Wedding by Lorca because of values and beliefs in the United States. Love, now is comparable like the Bride and Leonardo, inescapable after many years and full of happiness, but secrecy. Love built on purely money is bound to fail. The American culture is a simple example that love now has no space for money, because love has proved to be more than enough. Lorca shows that Leonardo is defiant and persistent in perusing his love. In that, the bride begins to realize where her real love resides, rather than money. “But wherever you go, I am going…The moon nails us together. My loins are fused to you thighs.(92)”
Clearly, censorship of a book as extraordinary as Blood Wedding by Fredrico Garcia Lorca is not a very wise decision amongst schools in the United States. Lorcas’ piece becomes a fundamental literature piece, in teaching old-world views on marriage and ideas behind such absurd ideas of love versus money. It teaches the fact that love can come in many different forms, and it is inescapable. Money is not enough. Therefore, Lorca demonstrates family interference can’t sway ideas behind love and love can’t be “learnt” if one is in such a powerful love already.
Works Cited
Garcia-Lorca, Fredrico. Three Plays: Blood Wedding. 1st. New York, New York. Translation, 1993.
