Six Characters in Search of an Author

by Luigi Pirandello

Start Free Trial

Six Characters in Search of an Author Questions and Answers

What is the conflict in Pirandello's play Six Characters in Search of an Author?

In Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author, how does the time frame work?

In Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author, what is the stepdaughter’s attitude towards the father?

Who is the protagonist in Six Characters in Search of an Author? 

Consider Luigi Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author as a production, not just a literary work.  In the stage directions, Pirandello recommended that the actors playing the six characters wear masks. Why do you think he made that recommendation, and what would the result be in terms of effect on the audience?

Who are the protagonist and antagonist in the story, and why?

How is Six Characters in Search of an Author an example of metatheater, and what are its metatheatrical aspects?

Why did Luigi Pirandello not give the characters or the actors names in his play Six Characters in Search of an Author?

Two main themes in Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author are the need for order and structure (on stage and in life). How do the ideas of “rehearsal” and “performance” of a fixed (i.e. static or unchanging) dramatic text resolve or disrupt this need for order and structure (on stage and in life)? 

How can Barthes's essay "Death of the Author" be applied to Pirandello's play Six Characters in Search of an Author?

Who is more "real" in the play, the actors or the characters? Why?

What is the style used in Six Characters in Search of an Author?

What is a rehearsal? What is a knocking shop, and what is The Rules of the Game?

How is raison d'être related to Six Characters in Search of an Author? What is the idea or concept of "becoming" that Luigi uses?

In Pirandello's play, Six Characthers in Search of an Author, the Stepdaughter leaves the others at the end of the play in Act III. Why?

In Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author, how does the line of development of the play promote the progress of the plot?