IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS) Volume 7, Issue 4 (Jan. - Feb. 2013), PP 35-37 e-ISSN: 2279-0837, p-ISSN: 2279-0845. www.Iosrjournals.Org www.iosrjournals.org 35 | Page Protagonist: Bernarda Alba or Pepe el Romano? In Lorca’s “The House of Bernarda Alba” Humaira Tariq 1 , Ch. M. Shoaib Alam 2 1,2 (Center for Undergraduate Studies, University of the Punjab, Pakistan) Abstract: This paper attempts to identify and point out the true protagonist in Lorca’s “The House of Bernarda Alaba.”The researcher believes that although Bernarda enjoys this position in popular literary practice yet the character of Pepe is a more profound and influential one. The paper also shows that Pepe does not appear physically onstage, even once throughout the play, still the influence exercised by him has far reaching consequences in the making as well as the unfolding of the play. Pepe is responsible for all the action in the play and is such an influential figure that he is able to challenge Bernarda’s control and cause mutiny in the house thus establishes his supremacy over Bernarda as the protagonist. Keywords : Action, Challenge, Consequences, Control, Influence, Mutiny, Protagonist. No literature student is unfamiliar with the term, “Protagonist.” It is an entity that comes under the microscope for intense examination while studying a literary text in any academic situation. However, for the purpose of absolute clarity the definition of protagonist is given here as, “The principal character in a literary work (as a drama or story).” [1] In Lorca’s play, “The House of Bernarda Alba” although Bernarda is usually understood to be the principal character yet Pepe el Romano, due to the strong influence he exerts, can be acknowledged to steal the limelight of protagonism from Bernarda Alba, as will be further elaborated in the course of this paper. In the play, The House of Bernarda Alba, Pepe el Romano exercises powerful influence on the house. Even though he does not appear physically on the stage yet his discernible presence is felt through his influence on the characters. Discussing the absence of men from the play, Robert Lima writes in his article, “Missing in Action: Invisible males in la casa Bernarda Alba”, “It might be conjectured that a household without men was what appealed to the playwright in his theatrical documentation of a real Andalusian (read Spanish) family.” [2] In the case of Pepe his apparent absence from the stage makes him all the more prominent. In the first act Girl tells Angustias at the funeral service of Antonio Maria Benavides, “Pepe el Romano was with the men in church.” [3] This information given to Angustias shows that Angustias has some kind of relationship with Pepe. Such references to the absent character in the beginning of the play indicate his importance in the unfolding of the story and his consequent influence on other characters. The frequency with which Pepe is mentioned and discussed, increases in the later scenes of the play. His extremely prominent position in the play can be judged from the fact that he is the most talked of character in all the characters of the play. Magdalena says about him, “Pepe el Romano is twenty-five and he’s the best catch for miles around.” [3] Hence, The excessive talk about Pepe, by other characters is an indication of his influence on Bernarda’s House. Bernarda rules her house with an iron hand and her house is particularly feminine. No man is allowed to enter the house and Bernarda’s attitude towards men is marked with stringency. We learn in the play that Enrique Humanes was interested in Martirio but Bernarda turned him away. For her Humanes was a man of lower origin but in the case of Pepe Bernarda’s attitude is different . He is the only man she approves of. The comparable rejection of Humanes and approval of Pepe by Bernarda also reflects the influence and power that Pepe exercises over the house and even on Bernarda, making him a more powerful contender for the place of protagonist as compared to Bernarda. Bernarda approves of Pepe for Angustias even though it is known that he is only after Angustias’ money. In the article titled, “The House of Bernarda Alba and Play without a Title” Gilmoure expounds this situation as, “From the outset, Pepe enjoys an unusually favourable position. His interest in marrying an unattractive, nearly forty-year-old spinster unsuitable for childbearing leaves little room to doubt Magdalena’s contention that he comes to the house “for the money.’” [4] The phrase “unusually favourable position” also highlights the importance of Pepe in the play. The match between Angustias and Pepe is completely inappropriate as Poncia says, “For Pepe to be with Angustias doesn’t seem right to me, nor to other people, nor even to the air around us” [3] but Pepe’s charisma is so strong that Bernarda does not pay heed to her word. Angustias realizes that she is not happy to be with Pepe, “I ought to be happy but I’m not” [3] even then she is willing to marry him. One can say here that there is some unmistakable force in Pepe that compels her to forsake her apprehensions and agree to marry him.