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Situational Irony
Style
Explanation and Analysis:
Pirandello wrote Six Characters in Search of an Author in the absurdist tradition. Absurdist works usually contain irrational events and conversations, unstructured plots, satire, and dark humor. They also challenge conventional norms and values. Pirandello's play contains all of these elements and more; he combines dialogue with stage directions to create a theatrical madhouse in which the Manager, Characters, and people disagree with one another.
The play feels strange from the first act, which begins without a curtain, and continues devolving into chaos as the characters contradict each other and even themselves. A good example of this appears in Act 1 when the Father says "life is full of infinite absurdities, which, strangely enough, do not even need to appear plausible, since they are true." In the quick-paced context of performance, this line sounds like utter nonsense, and during the slower-paced practice of reading, it sounds strange no matter how many times one re-reads it.
The constant conflict amongst the characters, as well as Pirandello's non-traditional presentation of the stage, are meant to incite disagreements among the audience members that reflect those that occur in the play and make people realize in retrospect the absurdity or meaninglessness of their conflict (if not the absurdity of life itself). Despite its lack of traditional elements, the play accomplishes a lot in terms of philosophical inquiries about the true meaning (or lack thereof) of human life.
Related Themes:
