Societal Pressures in Blood Wedding & Chronicle of a Death Foretold

Societal conventions and how they shape people's lives are base themes in Marquez's novella 'Chronicle of a Death Foretold' and Lorca's play 'Blood Wedding'. They both show how society's prejudices compel individuals to undergo acts they may not have done otherwise. The honour code is an extremely important factor in both of these works, in general it defines how men and women should live, it means that if a women's honour, in this case her virginity, is taken, then that women's family has the right and duty to seek revenge.

The treatment and expectations of women in the respective societies is also dealt with in these work. Religion often plays a large part in determining people's opinions and so would be another factor affecting the society's feelings towards the acts undertaken in the two stories. We can subsequently see how economic differences too affect people actions. These works both tell the story of how women's honour is taken and the societal need for it to be regained through the shedding of the perpetrator's blood.

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In 'Blood Wedding' the bridegroom's mother is aware of the risks that face her son if he follows Leonardo, however she feels the honour code must be carried out. She thinks the situation is hopeless. '"... those people are so quick to kill. But what else can you do? You have to go... "' showing how ultimately society chooses for her, we see this idea in 'Chronicle of a Death Foretold' too as Angela is given no choice in her marriage partner.

In 'Chronicle of a Death Foretold' even the law recognises the importance of the honour code, with the lawyer giving a verdict of 'homicide in legitimate defence of honour.

In 'Chronicle of a Death Foretold' the Vicario brothers seem reluctant to actually undertake the murder, however they know that they must in order to belong to their society, this criticizes the irony of society showing the irony of the fact that the people making it up do not necessarily agree with its regulations. They overact their parts in the hope that someone will stop them1; however the rest of the town sees the affairs of honour as sacred monopolies2 and so do not interfere. The honour code also relates to the way in which women are viewed in the Latin culture, it shows their lack of rights.

Marriage is seen as an obligation for women in these societies, especially if they are not from the higher classes. Marriage is based on contracting families and getting favourable financial outcomes and not on individual love. Angela is told 'she has no right to disdain that prize of destiny' denying her her own choice as mentioned earlier. In 'Blood Wedding' it is the father whom is asked if the daughter can marry the Bridegroom first and not the Bride; ultimately here too it is not her choice.

Likewise it appears that Angela's virginity is the possession of her family and not her own, as is her choice of marriage partner; it is therefore her brothers' responsibility to get the family's honour back. Although the women are being held back by the social values it is ironic that they also help to keep them intact. In 'Blood Wedding' we see how the Mother-in-Law helps maintain the position of authority Leonardo has over his wife by telling her to 'Do as he says. ' Naomi Kerr-Shaw World Literature Assigmnent

There is also a large amount of hypocrisy in that fact that the woman with the most freedom in 'Chronicle of a Death Foretold' is the prostitute Maria Alejandrina Cervantes, it is she who goes against the sect of virginity and she is able to manipulate the men instead of the other way around. It is interesting to note how Maria is portrayed, she is described as 'the most elegant and the most tender woman', a description not usually associated with prostitutes, her name, Maria, also implies the Virgin Mary3, showing her purity in comparison to the other women even though she is a prostitute.

We can however see that although Marquez represents faithfully the cultural background for 'Chronicle of a Death Foretold' in that most of the action is carried out by males he does subtly subvert this by naming the female characters who tried to prevent the murder after authors who have influenced his work, Cervantes and Miguel, people he has a lot of respect for. It is no coincidence that in 'Chronicle of a Death Foretold' it is only the women in the story who try to really prevent the murder such as Lucia Santiago and Clotilde Armenta warning her husband but not being taken seriously.

The fact that women were lacking so much social power meant that she had to try to help through her husband and not by herself, it is now that she responds with 'My God, women are so lonely in the world' the realisation of how totally male subjugated the society is. Religion is often the main force shaping the order of society. It is very visible in both texts that religion, in this case the Catholic Church, heavily influences the relevant societies.

The seeming importance of the Church in 'Chronicle of a Death Foretold' is exaggerated and criticised by the importance of the visit of the Bishop, which takes place during the morning of the murder. The coxcomb soup that is bishop's favourite is also symbolic of the snobbery and male domination of the church, the coxcomb being a symbol of masculinity and the fact that so many birds would need to be used to produce the soup if it is made of only the coxcombs.

It is of course based on the doctrinal Christian opinion that sex out of marriage is wrong and that women have to be virgins on their wedding day and the fact that Angela was not that really started the story of 'Chronicle of a Death Foretold'. In Lorca's 'Blood Wedding' there are many points which allude to the importance of the Church in the society and how if affects the goings on within the play.

Lorca himself was raised within a Catholic society and his homosexuality meant he himself felt the suppression like the women did, this led him to question some of the teachings of the Church and its 'dogma-sanctioned violence', including the suppression of sexuality that the Catholic Church in 'Blood Wedding' was encouraging, this can be seen through the 'white room' with 'the ponderous feeling of a church', the white suppresses the colours like the church suppresses emotions. He seems to lay much blame at the door of the Church as may have been his feelings when he heard the true story the play is based on.

Leonardo talks of the area where the bride lives as 'that Godforsaken spot' showing that their relationship is outside the Church's boundaries and therefore also seems immoral in the eyes of society. The Bride's Mother also talks of her daughter as 'As clean and pure as a sheet in the sun' linking religious ideas of chastity with the traditional custom of hanging the sheets out after the first night of marriage to prove the brides virginity. This image can been seen in both texts, in 'Chronicle of a Death Foretold' Naomi Kerr-Shaw World Literature Assigmnent

Angela is told of techniques she can use to 'stain the sheet' but she chooses not to carry them out. After the Bride and Bridegroom are married the Bridegroom says 'We've got the Church's blessing you know' showing that his yearning for the Bride is now acceptable in the eyes of society making it alright. Societal ideas about wealth are central to the plots of both works. Both the marriages that took place were to the economic advantage of the bride and her family, making refusal of the offer of marriage even more impossible.

In 'Chronicle of a Death Foretold' it may have been because of Santiago's wealth that she chooses him as her named adulterer. She could have been jealous of his wealth or thought that he may have been safer because of this from the inevitable anger of her brothers. Some people thought that his wealth would protect him including Don Rogelio de la Flor saying '"Don't be silly... Those two aren't about to kill anyone, much less someone rich'" stopping him from warning Santiago.

From all of these different societal aspects that have been seen to shape parts of the plots we can conclude that societal pressures are extremely central to the plots of both works. In 'Blood Wedding' we can see a great struggle between social convention and human fervour and in 'Chronicle of a Death Foretold' it is clear that the whole society is guilty of the crime committed, hence 'the shouts of the whole town, frightened by its own crime. ' Society had a warping effect on the individuals and their ideas and I think both of these authors are trying to warn us of the obvious dangers that society brings.