Criticism > Drama Criticism > Pirandello, Luigi - Critical Reception

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CRITICAL RECEPTION

Pirandello described his dramatic works as a "theater of mirrors" in which the audience sees events on stage as a reflection of their own lives: when his characters" doubt their own perceptions of themselves, the audience experiences a simultaneous crisis of self-perception. In questioning the distinction between sanity and madness, he attacked abstract models of objective reality and theories of a static human personality. For these reasons, many critics have labelled him a pessimist and a relativist; others, noting the strong sense of compassion for his characters that Pirandello conveys, contend that Pirandello is not preaching a definable ideology, but is simply expressing his acute consciousness of the absurdities and paradoxes of human life.

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1. Introduction
2. Biographical Information
3. Major Works
4. Critical Reception
5. Principal Works
6. Author Commentary
7. Overviews And General Studies
8. Six Characters In Search Of An Author
9. Critical Commentary
10. Henry Iv
11. Further Reading
12. Copyright

1. Drama