- mourningnounChapter 1 →
A period of grief and formal sorrow observed after someone's death, often marked by wearing black clothing and withdrawing from normal social life.
“With a stick and eight years of mourning—none of you will breathe!”
- whitewashedadjectiveChapter 1 →
Painted over with a cheap white lime-based coating, giving walls a stark, bright appearance; here it signals rigid purity and suffocating conformity.
- shutteredadjectiveChapter 1 →
Having the window covers closed and fastened, blocking out light and air and cutting off those inside from the outside world.
- matriarchnounChapter 1 →
A woman who rules her family with absolute authority, making all decisions and demanding total obedience from everyone beneath her.
- enforcedadjectiveChapter 1 →
Imposed by someone in power and not chosen freely; here it describes silence and mourning that are compelled rather than voluntary.
- bearverbChapter 2 →
To endure or put up with hardship, pain, or injustice without complaint or resistance.
“In this house there is no shouting. One must bear everything.”
- repressionnounChapter 2 →
The act of forcibly suppressing people's feelings, desires, or freedoms, preventing any natural expression or outlet.
- courtingverbChapter 1 →
Pursuing a romantic relationship with someone, especially with the formal intention of marriage.
- inheritancenounChapter 1 →
Money, property, or other assets passed down to someone after a relative's death.
- infatuatedadjectiveChapter 2 →
Overwhelmed by an intense, irrational passion or obsession for another person, beyond what reason or circumstance can justify.
- defiantadjectiveChapter 1 →
Boldly refusing to obey rules or authority, openly resisting control rather than submitting.
- brewingverbChapter 2 →
Gradually developing or building up beneath the surface, used here to describe hidden tension or danger that is about to erupt.
- arrogantlyadverbChapter 2 →
In a way that shows an exaggerated sense of one's own importance or superiority, dismissing others' concerns as beneath consideration.
- mentally unstablephraseChapter 1 →
Having a mind that does not function in a predictable or controlled way, prone to erratic or confused behavior that others cannot manage.
- truth-tellernounChapter 1 →
A character who speaks uncomfortable or suppressed truths that others in the play refuse to acknowledge or try to hide.
- stiflingadjectiveChapter 3 →
So oppressively hot, close, or restrictive that it feels impossible to breathe or move freely.
- virginnounChapter 3 →
A person, especially a woman, who has never had sexual relations; here used as a social and moral label tied to family honor and reputation.
“She died a virgin. Take her to her room and dress her as though she were a virgin.”
- honornounChapter 3 →
The public reputation for moral uprightness and sexual purity that a family, especially its women, is expected to maintain in this society.
- closing inphraseChapter 2 →
Moving nearer from all sides in a way that feels threatening and inescapable, creating a sense of being trapped with no way out.
“I wake up and it seems to me the walls are closing in.”
- shorenounChapter 1 →
The land along the edge of the sea; here it represents freedom, escape, and a life beyond the locked house.
“I want to get away from here! Bernarda! To get married by the shore of the sea, by the shore of the sea!”
- confinesnounChapter 2 →
The enclosed boundaries or limits of a space, emphasizing how restricted and trapped those inside feel.
- housekeepernounChapter 1 →
A servant employed to manage the domestic work of a household, occupying a position between the family and the other servants.
- gossipnounChapter 2 →
Casual talk or rumors about other people's private lives, used here as a weapon of social control and cruelty within the household.
- affairnounChapter 2 →
A secret sexual or romantic relationship between two people, at least one of whom is committed to someone else.
The House of Bernarda AlbaPlay by Federico García Lorca