Symbolism In Federico García Lorca's Blood Wedding

Set in Andalusia of Southern Spain, Federico García Lorca’s Blood Wedding illustrates the Bride’s ambivalence between a promised marriage and a true love. In the play, Lorca uses symbolism to foreshadow the unavoidable deaths of Leonardo and the Bridegroom. The knife, the bull, the Moon, and the Beggar Woman all allude to the characters’ death and fate, driving the plot of Blood Wedding towards a very emotional and tragic end.
The knife, although subtle, is significant in symbolizing and foreshadowing the upcoming tragedy. It is present from the first page of the play, when the Bridegroom requests his Mother, “I’ll eat some grapes. Give me the knife” (Lorca, 5). It is ironic that anyone would use knives to cut grapes, hence, this suggests that Lorca intentionally brought up the topic to trigger the conversation between the two characters. Subsequently, the Mother howls, “The knife! The knife! Damn all of them! And the monster who invented them!” (6). She reminds the Bridegroom that his father and oldest brother both died at the hands of men who used weapons. They are things “that can cut into a man’s body!” (6), symbolizing death and destruction. Her unanticipated anger sets a bone-chilling atmosphere and the audience is left to ponder the reasons for her reactions. In the second scene, the Mother learns that the Bride’s past boyfriend is Leonardo Felix, the one who belongs to the family who killed her husband and son. The mood is suddenly intensified as she declares, “That