Blood Wedding Journal #1

To what extent have you found it possible, in your consideration of literary works, to separate the individual from his or her public role? In you answer you should refer to any two or three works you have studied.

The authors, Sophocles and Lorca, approached this topic very differently in their respective plays. For Sophocles the public figure was a reflection of the character of a person; for Lorca, the person presented on the outside may only kowtow to cultural customs and family expectations. In Oedipus the King, the play takes place mostly in the public, under the presence of the chorus. Publicly, Oedipus is a saint and a public servant as King. He proclaims that he suffers along with the city as it is plagued by curses from Othello. He is extremely zealous as he attempts to discover the identity if the murderer of the old king Laius. He curses the murderer(s) personally, asking for the destruction of his (their) families. He even asks for personal reprimands if they existed near him. We do not see Oedipus is private very much, but a private scene with Jocasta reveals the extent of his integrity. During this scene he reveals his suspicions that he is Laius’ killer, but he never considers not apply the punishments he laid out to himself. This sense of integrity permeates throughout Oedipus, regardless of the situation.

In Blood Wedding, everything is the opposite in the character of the Bride. Lorca creates two sides of her; one in which she is an obedient girl and another where she gives in to her impulses. Examples of this comes from the testimony of the Father, Bridegroom, and various Neighbors to the Mother of how good the Bride is. Among other things, they claim she makes bread early in the morning and is very quiet. In Act 2, however, we see the rebellious side of her. Cracks begin to appear in her pristine image; she expresses doubts in marriage to the bridegroom. Finally, in the last pages of the Act, she runs away with Leonardo, in an apparently impulsive act. Overall, Lorca creates a character that successfully hides who she really is under the exterior of an obedient girl.