Pirandello’s play, Six Characters in Search of an Author, is often cited as one of the forerunners of what would later be called “the theatre of the absurd”. These plays question the rationality of man’s existence.

Below is a quote by Pirandello about the creative process of his play:

“Why not,” I said to myself, “present this highly strange fact of an author who refuses to let some of his characters live though they have been born in his fantasy , and the fact that these characters, having by now life in their veins, do not resign themselves to remaining excluded from the world of art? They are detached from me; live on their own; have acquired voice and movement; have by themselves — in this struggle for existence that they have had to wage with me — become dramatic characters, characters that can move and talk on their own initiative; already see themselves as such; have learned to defend themselves against me; will even know how to defend themselves against others. And so let them go where dramatic characters do go to have life: on a stage. And let us see what will happen.”

(Pirandello,Luigi. “Preface.” Naked Masks, edited and translated by Eric Bentley. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1952.)

Prompt: What do you think of characters “living on their own” and “defending themselves” against the author? Is there something truthful about the idea of characters living an independent life? What is Pirandello saying about the creative process?

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