Was the Conflict Presented in The Drama ‘Yerma’ Influenced by Contemporary Spanish Society?

Abstract

Garcia Lorca was a Spanish dramatist who wrote many dramas based on the 1930’s social background. The drama “Yerma” which was written in 1933 highlights the agricultural background of Spain at the time and discloses the social background of the above period. There are three main characters in this drama. They are Yuwan, Yerma, and Victor. The conflict of the play arises from the Yuwan’s inability to give to his wife a baby. She can have a baby by marrying Victor without concerning her former husband. However, she was trapped by social values and she is so concerned about the dignity and purity of a woman. Yerma pressurized by this conflict. Due to that, Yerma at the end of the drama ending their dream to have a child killed Yuwan. Therefore, at the end, the lives of both Yerma and Yuwan were destroyed. Here, they have to face the conflict between the real value of human beings and social structure. I argue that social values have greatly influenced the characters of this drama. Finally, I conclude that the social values and social background of a particular country are always connected with the lives of people of that particular country.