Beggar Woman

See Death, Old Woman

Bride

The Bride is the last of the major protagonists to be introduced in the play's first act. The order in which the major characters are introduced first the Bridegroom and Mother, then Leonardo, and then the Bride could indicate their degree of social power and instrumentality. Unlike Leonardo, for example, who has the freedom and mobility to instigate the action and tragedy, the Bride is a character who must wait at home for things to happen to her. The first thing that happens to her is that her hand in marriage is asked for. Her behavior during the betrothal meeting and her conversations with the Servant show her frustration over her lot and her relative disinterest in the Bridegroom. She will marry only to drive out the memory of Leonardo. However, she believes that she will one day come to love her...