Federico García Lorca, born in Fuente Vaqueros, Granada, Spain, in 1898, is one of the defining figures of modern Spanish culture. A poet, playwright and artist, he drew on Andalusian folklore, flamenco rhythm and rural traditions while experimenting with new forms and symbolism. His work spoke directly to themes of passion, repression, honour and death, turning local voices and landscapes into universal art. Collections such as Romancero gitano (Gypsy Ballads, 1928) and Llanto por Ignacio Sánchez Mejías (Lament for Ignacio Sánchez Mejías, 1935) gave him national fame and showcased his ability to fuse lyrical intensity with haunting imagery.

It was in the theatre that Lorca most forcefully explored the tensions of Spanish society. His so-called “rural trilogy” is usually taken to include Bodas de sangre (Blood Wedding, 1933), Yerma (1934) and La casa de Bernarda Alba (The House of Bernarda Alba, 1936). Scholars debate whether the last was ever intended as part of the same cycle, yet together these works form a sustained critique of the structures that confined women in early twentieth-century Spain.

Bodas de sangre tells the story of a bride forced into a marriage that ignores love and choice, exposing how family honour and property dictated women’s lives. Yerma presents a woman whose worth is measured only through motherhood, her despair at being childless reflecting the silence and frustration imposed by patriarchy. La casa de Bernarda Alba, finished weeks before Lorca’s death, strips away the outside world. Inside Bernarda’s house, mourning and strict obedience dominate. Her daughters’ struggles show the reality of women’s suffocation under tradition, where honour mattered more than freedom or desire.

Through these plays Lorca exposed the weight of patriarchy, the force of tradition and the destructive power of silence. He gave voice to women denied agency, to persecuted Gypsy communities and, more indirectly, to those forced to hide their sexuality. He questioned the very foundations of Spanish society on the eve of the Spanish Civil War, using theatre and poetry to show the human cost of repression.

In August 1936, only weeks after completing La casa de Bernarda Alba, Lorca was arrested near Granada by Nationalist forces. He was executed without trial and buried in an unmarked grave. He was 38 years old. His death shocked Spain and the wider world, and he became a symbol of artistic freedom cut short by dictatorship.

Federico García Lorca’s legacy has never faded. His voice, shaped by Andalusia and sharpened by the social tensions of his time, reshaped poetry and theatre in Spain and beyond. His critique of honour, marriage and obedience made him one of the most important cultural figures of the twentieth century. His plays and poems remain cornerstone works for anyone studying Spanish literature, as well as enduring texts on the world stage.