Megan Bacik
12/12/10
WL 1 Essay Proposal
Topic: Bernarda & Lysistrata both use their masculinity for power; however, Bernarda
uses it as a force of total control to make and keep her life and the lives of those in her
house exactly as she wants it, while Lysistrata uses it as doorway to orchestrate change,
but it’s their very desires along with how they use their masculinity that allows Lysistrata
to achieve her goal, and Bernarda to fail.
Outline
I. Introduction
A. Lead: Power is everything when a person wants their life to be a certain way.
Whether that person wants their life to change or stay the way it is does not matter if they
don’t have the power to make what they want plausible.
B. Author/Titles: A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen and House of Bernarda Alba
by Federico Garcia Lorca
C. Brief Summary: In Lysistrata Lysistrata exists in world where men are in
charge and a woman’s job is to marry, stay home and create babies. But she
realizes that if the civil war between Athens and Sparta continues not only will the
life style set for women be impossible, but the life style the cities themselves will
be impossible to keep because the cities will be susceptible to outside forces.
Lysistrata sets out to change this, but because she is a woman no with power will
listen to her, so she makes them listen by using her masculinity to first make the
women listen and do as she says, and with their help she is able to not only make
the men listen but also change what she tells them to change. Bernarda from
House of Bernarda Alba also lives in a world where men hold the power, but
unlike Lysistrata who had to work for the power she held Bernarda inherited her
power with the death of her husband. Once she finally has complete control
Bernarda has no desire to lose it.
D. Thesis: Both Lysistrata and Bernarda use the power their masculinity gives
them to make the world directly around them the way they want it to be. However,
Bernarda uses her masculinity to keep her family’s lives unchangeable unless the change
pleases her, while Lysistrata uses it to orchestrate change in the lives around her.
II. Topic Sentence: Their different time eras is what first makes their desires different.
A. CD 1: In ancient Greece a woman could never inherit instead the inheritance
went to the closest male relative of the deceased, even if he was a 6 cousin twice
removed. But House of Bernarda Alba is set in the 1930’s, where it was rare for a woman
to inherit, especially in a catholic society like Spain, but it was possible under certain
circumstances. What the circumstances were that lead to Bernarda inheriting her
husband’s wealth is unknown,
1. CM: What the circumstances were that lead to Bernarda inheriting her
husband’s wealth is unknown, but that fact is not important since it does not seem have
anything to do with Bernarda’s usage of power.
2. CM
B. CD 2
1. CM
2. CM
P.S. I’m not very good at outlines. Sometimes their helpful, but I’m not kind of person
that follows the we’ll see what happens philosophy for writing.
Megan Bacik
12/12/10
III. Topic Sentence: Their different personalities are what lead to their goals being
different and their usage of their masculinity being different.
A. CD 1
1. CM
2. CM
B. CD 2
1. CM
2. CM
IV. Topic Sentence: Bernarda’s desire for total control was infeasible from the beginning.
Her masculinity was used to strike fear into the people around her. This was a mistake
because when humans fear something eventually they will try to destroy it so that they
will to have to live in fear anymore
A. CD 1
1. CM Adela feared becoming like her sisters, not her mother. Her mother
was the person who of her would have made her live the life she feared. But instead of
killing her mother she killed what was most important to her, the family’s reputation.
2. CM Based on the ending, in which Bernarda could have been going
crazy, Adela did kill the Bernard that existed for most of the play.
B. CD 2
1. CM
2. CM
V. Topic Sentence: Lysistrata succeeded because instead of using her masculinity get the
women and men to do as she said, she used it to get people to listen to her and then
persuaded or convinced them to as she said with her ideas and tactful wisdom. Instead of
using her masuclinty as a form of brute force and uncompromising stubbornness like
Bernarda, Lysistrata used it as an opening. It made the people look at her and even listen
to her, giving her the chance to use her wisdom to get what she wanted.
A. CD 1
1. CM
2. CM
B. CD 2
1. CM
2. CM
VI. Conclusion: Lysistrata succeeded because she used more than just her masculinity to
get her way, Bernarda failed because she only used her masculinity to try to get her way.
P.S. I’m not very good at outlines. Sometimes their helpful, but I’m not kind of person
that follows the we’ll see what happens philosophy for writing.