Six Characters in Search of an Author

by Luigi Pirandello

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Read a biography of Pirandello to understand the dynamics of his relationship with his mentally unstable wife. Then, investigate the relationship between American author F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, who experienced numerous emotional breakdowns after 1930 and was institutionalized several times, ultimately perishing in a fire at a mental hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, in 1948. Compare these two turbulent marriages and their impacts on the literary careers of both authors.

Read Pirandello's "Preface" to Six Characters in Search of an Author for his account of how the play originated. Then, look at interviews in books such as In Their Own Words (1988) and The Playwright's Art (1995) to understand how contemporary playwrights respond to questions about how they initially discover their characters and stories. "What conclusions can you draw about the process of artistic creation?"

Research psychological perspectives on the human concept of self and compare these generalizations with the observations Pirandello presents in Six Characters in Search of an Author. Where does the idea of personal identity originate, and why is it so crucial to the human psyche?

Investigate the stage history of Six Characters in Search of an Author to see how different audiences and critics from various countries and eras have reacted to the play. How do expectations of the conventional and/or unconventional influence an audience member's response to an artistic experience?

Study the concepts of Relativity and the Uncertainty Principle in Physics, focusing on the work of Albert Einstein and Werner Karl Heisenberg. Compare the scientific approaches to these issues with Pirandello's artistic treatment.

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