On her wedding day, a young woman runs away with Leonardo, the married lover she could not marry. Her flight disrupts the match arranged for her and sets private desire against the commitments binding the families around the wedding.

Desire, ritual and community

The play draws on a newspaper account of a family vendetta and a bride’s escape with the son of an enemy family. Lorca uses this premise to explore desire and repression, alongside the rituals and social obligations of a rural community.

A rural tragedy shaped by symbols

The characters are largely identified by their family roles rather than personal names, while the moon and death take on a personified presence. Blood Wedding is the first play in Lorca’s trilogy of rural tragedies, followed by Yerma and The House of Bernarda Alba.