Bernarda is the 60-year-old mistress of the Benavides house. She rules her domain with a strict, domineering, and often tyrannical sovereignty. Angustias, Magdalena, Amelia, Martirio, and Adela are her five daughters. Bernarda always walks with a cane, which she often beats against the floor to punctuate her orders, and she even uses it to beat her daughters in the midst of her more fearsome rages. In Act III, at the climax of the play when Adela’s affair with Pepe comes to light, Bernarda flies into a vengeful rage and Adela seizes Bernarda’s cane and breaks it in two.

La Poncia is Bernarda’s housekeeper and closest confidant. She is the same age as Bernarda and has spent 30 years in her service. Her sons work in Bernarda’s fields. She is garrulous, gossip-loving, and full of scandalous stories that she loves to tell anyone who will listen. Despite this lack of tact, she is clever to the ways of the world and easily sees through to the heart of Bernarda’s intentions. She tries desperately to counsel her where her daughter’s prospects are concerned, issuing warning after warning about Pepe, as she immediately predicts the chaos that he will ignite among the women.