Synopses & Reviews
Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936) is best known in the English-speaking world for his radical challenge to traditional Western theatre with plays such as Six Characters in Search of an Author. This book argues for the centrality of the character in all of Pirandello's writings - novels, short stories, and essays as well as plays. It explores the different ways in which his fictional and dramatic characters struggle to sustain an identity of their own, tell their life-stories, and assert themselves before their most prominent antagonist, the author himself.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [261]-268) and index.
Table of Contents
Note on Translations and Sources
1. Real and Implied Authors
2. The Rise of the Character: Six Characters and the Drama of Creativity
3. Self and Other in Society: Gossip, Shame, and Scandal
4. Configurations of Identity: The Family's Undoing
5. Narrative Space and the Multiplying Self: The Case of Uno, nessuno e centomila
6. Pirandello's Philosophers
7. The Author as Director: Characters and Actors
8. Performing Women
Bibliography
Index