Abstract
Federico García Lorca was a Spanish poet most famous for the play “La Casa de Bernarda Alba” centered around a matriarch by the name of Bernarda Alba. This play is set during this period of mourning and delves into themes of Bernarda Alba’s oppression as an extremely conservative and strict matriarch. The puzzle that this paper is seeking to answer is how this play culturally critiques Spain. This play is unique in that it was written during the buildup and start of the Spanish Civil War, meaning that this is the only Lorca literary work that combines themes of repression from conventional Spanish culture as well as the Spanish Civil War. “To what extent did Federico Garcia Lorca utilize literary techniques in the play “La Casa de Bernarda Alba” to emphasize the theme of repression to contextualize and critique both Spanish culture and the Spanish civil war.”