Color and the Contest for Life

The House of Bernarda Alba

The play’s colors distinguish the daughters’ vitality and desire from the black mourning that Bernarda imposes upon them.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

Black at the Funeral Black at the Funeral from "The House of Bernarda Alba". Black at the Funeral A Visual Uniform The women enter in mourning clothes and carry black fans.

Black at the Funeral from "The House of Bernarda Alba". Black at the Funeral A Visual Uniform The women enter in mourning clothes and carry black fans.

Black at the Funeral A Visual Uniform The women enter in mourning clothes and carry black fans. The dark palette makes bereavement visible as a collective social expectation. A Future Imposed Black becomes more than clothing for a funeral; it anticipates the daughters’ years of enforced mourning. Their appearance is regulated along with their movement.

The Green Dress Rejected The Green Dress Rejected from "The House of Bernarda Alba". The Green Dress Rejected Color Against Mourning Adela offers Bernarda a fan decorated with red and green flowers.

The Green Dress Rejected from "The House of Bernarda Alba". The Green Dress Rejected Color Against Mourning Adela offers Bernarda a fan decorated with red and green flowers.

The Green Dress Rejected Color Against Mourning Adela offers Bernarda a fan decorated with red and green flowers. Bernarda throws it away and orders a black one appropriate to mourning. A Small Conflict Made Visible The colors connect Adela to energy and passion that the house excludes. Bernarda’s rejection makes her attempt to control even the symbols of feeling.

Adela’s Green Appearance Adela’s Green Appearance from "The House of Bernarda Alba". Adela’s Green Appearance Vitality in the Yard Adela wears her green dress in the stable-yard and calls to the hens.

Adela’s Green Appearance from "The House of Bernarda Alba". Adela’s Green Appearance Vitality in the Yard Adela wears her green dress in the stable-yard and calls to the hens.

Adela’s Green Appearance Vitality in the Yard Adela wears her green dress in the stable-yard and calls to the hens. The color and action set her apart from the sisters’ black mourning clothes. A Life Not Yet Submitted Magdalena recalls the episode with amusement and tenderness. Adela’s playful self-display gives visible form to her refusal to disappear into the household.

White in the Night White in the Night from "The House of Bernarda Alba". White in the Night A Bright Figure Adela appears in a white petticoat and bodice against the nearly dark stage.

White in the Night from "The House of Bernarda Alba". White in the Night A Bright Figure Adela appears in a white petticoat and bodice against the nearly dark stage.

White in the Night A Bright Figure Adela appears in a white petticoat and bodice against the nearly dark stage. Her clothing makes her presence conspicuous as she moves toward the yard. Vitality and Risk White contrasts with the family’s black mourning but cannot guarantee purity or protection. The image brings her bodily desire into the open just before discovery.

Black Restored Black Restored from "The House of Bernarda Alba". Black Restored Mourning Reasserted Bernarda orders a new period of mourning after Adela’s death.

Black Restored from "The House of Bernarda Alba". Black Restored Mourning Reasserted Bernarda orders a new period of mourning after Adela’s death.

Black Restored Mourning Reasserted Bernarda orders a new period of mourning after Adela’s death. The household is returned to the dark public appearance that Adela had resisted. Color as Closure The ending offers no visible future of release. Mourning absorbs the daughter’s revolt and imposes the family’s old visual order once more.

Act One, during the mourners’ entrance

Act One, after Bernarda requests a fan

Act One, after the sisters discuss the hens

Act Three, after the servants leave

Act Three, after the body is found