Journal #5

Lorca seems to use the archetype of a woman through the wife and mother-in-law. In scene two, while the wife is talking to Leonardo, the wife asks him, "Would you like some lemonade?" (21). The placing of this question is a little bit weird. They are conversing and kind of randomly, she asks Leonardo if he would like some lemonade. The concept shown here is the wife serving the husband. It is the duty of the wife to serve their husbands and be loyal. By establishing this idea, later when Leonardo runs away with the bride, the scandal is even more controversial now that she is a wife. This is seen again when Leonardo suddenly becomes angry after the girl comes to deliver the message about the bridegroom and his mother. As the wife persistently begs for Leonardo to tell her what's wrong, Leonardo refuses to tell her anything, simply telling her to "Get away!" and "Leave me alone" (25). The mother-in-law's response to this is "(Resolutely, to her daughter) Sssh!" (26). In this situation, the mother-in-law is teaching the wife, her daughter, to be an obedient wife. She must listen to what her husband tells her to do and not enrage him or annoy him. I think this is significant because it is the mother teaching this idea to her daughter. Passing down the "proper" principles for women to stay inferior and submissive is shown in this situation. Ultimately, I think Lorca rejects this archetype. With the bride running off with Leonardo during the wedding ceremony (and not many days or years after), the role of the woman or wife is completely absent and destroyed. Also, knowing that Lorca had some conflicts because of his sexuality, it would be possible that he does not like the idea of archetypes.