He returned to Spain in
1931 much changed by his experiences in America. He had a passionate interest in
American film and jazz, and a fascination with the women in New York, who were so
different from those in Spain.(Duran 9) His stay in America seems to be an important
turning point in his metamorphosis from poet to playwright. Upon his return, he turned
his attention to the stage, founding the theatre troupe La Barraca. He traveled overseas
again to produce classic Spanish plays in Montevideo and Buenos Aires. In 1934 he
returned to Madrid, where he concentrated on playwrighting. These next few years before
his death are considered his mature period, when he wrote his rural dramas, Bodas de
Sangre, Yerma, and La Casa de Bernarda Alba. These are concentrated on a single
theme; the suffering and the frustration of the Spanish woman.
The crisis of this play is the contrast between the two contradictory principle lines
of action. One is towards the wedding of the bride and bridegroom; a socially sanctioned
union between a man and a woman necessary for the accumulation of land and property,
and for carrying on the family blood line. The second line of action is toward the
consummation of an illicit love affair between the bride and Leonardo, which pays no heed
to material restrictions or social conditions. (Anderson 91) The bride's struggle between
duty to her family and her responsibility to marry, and her desire for Leonardo become the
focal point of dramatic interest as the movement of the lines of action come to a climax in
The mother the second focal point of dramatic interest. She has lost both her
husband and her son in a knife fight with the Felix clan. She has a horror of weapons, and
feels that the murderers have not been punished enough for their crimes. The mother
consents to her son's wedding the sake of his happiness, despite a feeling of apprehension
tow...