After the death of her second husband, domineering matriarch Bernarda Alba imposes the traditional eight year mourning period on her household. Bernarda has 5 daughters, aged from 20 to 39, whom she has controlled inexorably and prohibited from any form of relationship. The imposition of the mourning period isolates them further and tension mounts within the household.

The eldest daughter, the sickly Angustias, is the only child of Bernarda`s first husband, and has inherited a small fortune from him but Bernarda`s second husband has left only small sums to his four daughters.  Angustias` wealth has attracted a young handsome suitor from the village, Pepe el Romano. Her sisters are jealous that she has the freedom to marry and escape the suffocating home environment.

The youngest daughter, Adela, has a secret affair with Pepe, and becomes increasingly volatile, defying her mother and quarrelling with her sisters, particularly with Martirio, who reveals that her own feelings for Pepe.

Tension explodes as family members confront one another. Bernarda pursues Pepe with a gun, a shot is heard: she returns to the house with Matirio and implies that Pepe has been killed. Adela flees to her room and hangs herself.

Bernarda, characteristically preoccupied with the family`s reputation, insists that Adela has died a virgin and that this is to be made known to the whole village and no one is to cry.