Context
Italy and World War I
o Over 1,500,000 Italian soldiers were affected by the end of the war in 1918, with over 600,000 deaths
o The war was crippling for Italy – the rate of inflation and unemployment rose rapidly toward the end of the war in 1918
o The First World War had a severe impact on Italy economically and socially, affecting various ways of thinking and impacting literature, the arts and politics
Luigi Pirandello and Fascist Italy
o Luigi Pirandello, author of ‘Six Characters in Search of an Author’ was born in Sicily in 1867.
o He was a renowned writer of the modernist period, exploring the associated themes and ideas of the movement through his plays, novels and short stories, winning a Nobel Prize for literature in 1934.
o At the beginning of the 20th century Italy was under the rule of Mussolini, leader of the National Fascist party.
o Mussolini dictated Italy with tight control over the people of Italy and the punishment of opposing parties. Pirandello was openly supportive of the fascist party and of Mussolini.
o His close relationship with Bento Mussolini allowed his work to be widely spread across Europe, making Pirandello an international name and artistic figure.
The Performance of Six Characters in Search of an Author
o Six Characters in Search of an Author is known to critics as a work of absurdist theatre,
- “theatre in which standard or naturalistic conventions of plot, characterization, and thematic structure are ignored or distorted in order to convey the irrational or fictive nature of reality and the essential isolation of humanity in a meaningless world.”
o The play was controversial upon its release in 1921, receiving a furious audience at the Rome premier compared to a celebrated performance in Milan in 1922
Ways of thinking – Disillusionment of Reality
o The turn of the 20th century and the event s of World War I introduced new ways of thinking, reflected through the art and literature of that time, making way for the modernist movement.
o A popular evolving idea was that of illusion in contrast to reality and the distinction between the two, Pirandello explored it extensively within Six Characters in Search of an Author between the characters and the actors as well as an aspect of the theatre.
o The determination of illusion in contrast to reality was a popular idea amongst the modernists; these ideas stemmed from the First World War, with the belief that the war would be quick, victorious and result in a minimum number of casualties. Instead the war lasted 4 years, and whilst the Triple Entente (United Kingdom, Russia and France) were victorious the war resulted in 37 million causalities, with 17 million of those fatalities. The disillusionment caused within society as a result of the war was inspiration to many modernist writers, including Pirandello. Within the play this is explored through the lack of distinction between the characters and the actors. Pirandello, In Six Characters in Search of an Author describes theatre as an “Illusion of reality” and goes further with this explanation in the final scene of the play, which results in the death of two characters, the actors are unable however to distinguish between the illusion and reality of the theatre, with The Father clarifying “Pretence? Reality, sir, reality!”
o Over 1,500,000 Italian soldiers were affected by the end of the war in 1918, with over 600,000 deaths
o The war was crippling for Italy – the rate of inflation and unemployment rose rapidly toward the end of the war in 1918
o The First World War had a severe impact on Italy economically and socially, affecting various ways of thinking and impacting literature, the arts and politics
Luigi Pirandello and Fascist Italy
o Luigi Pirandello, author of ‘Six Characters in Search of an Author’ was born in Sicily in 1867.
o He was a renowned writer of the modernist period, exploring the associated themes and ideas of the movement through his plays, novels and short stories, winning a Nobel Prize for literature in 1934.
o At the beginning of the 20th century Italy was under the rule of Mussolini, leader of the National Fascist party.
o Mussolini dictated Italy with tight control over the people of Italy and the punishment of opposing parties. Pirandello was openly supportive of the fascist party and of Mussolini.
o His close relationship with Bento Mussolini allowed his work to be widely spread across Europe, making Pirandello an international name and artistic figure.
The Performance of Six Characters in Search of an Author
o Six Characters in Search of an Author is known to critics as a work of absurdist theatre,
- “theatre in which standard or naturalistic conventions of plot, characterization, and thematic structure are ignored or distorted in order to convey the irrational or fictive nature of reality and the essential isolation of humanity in a meaningless world.”
o The play was controversial upon its release in 1921, receiving a furious audience at the Rome premier compared to a celebrated performance in Milan in 1922
Ways of thinking – Disillusionment of Reality
o The turn of the 20th century and the event s of World War I introduced new ways of thinking, reflected through the art and literature of that time, making way for the modernist movement.
o A popular evolving idea was that of illusion in contrast to reality and the distinction between the two, Pirandello explored it extensively within Six Characters in Search of an Author between the characters and the actors as well as an aspect of the theatre.
o The determination of illusion in contrast to reality was a popular idea amongst the modernists; these ideas stemmed from the First World War, with the belief that the war would be quick, victorious and result in a minimum number of casualties. Instead the war lasted 4 years, and whilst the Triple Entente (United Kingdom, Russia and France) were victorious the war resulted in 37 million causalities, with 17 million of those fatalities. The disillusionment caused within society as a result of the war was inspiration to many modernist writers, including Pirandello. Within the play this is explored through the lack of distinction between the characters and the actors. Pirandello, In Six Characters in Search of an Author describes theatre as an “Illusion of reality” and goes further with this explanation in the final scene of the play, which results in the death of two characters, the actors are unable however to distinguish between the illusion and reality of the theatre, with The Father clarifying “Pretence? Reality, sir, reality!”