Characters and Authors in Luigi Pirandello

Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936) is best known in the English-speaking world for his radical challenge to traditional Western theatre with plays such as Six Characters in Search of an Author. This book argues for the centrality of the character in all of Pirandello's writings - novels, short stories, and essays as well as plays. It explores the different ways in which his fictional and dramatic characters struggle to sustain an identity of their own, tell their life-stories, and assert themselves before their most prominent antagonist, the author himself.