Six Characters in Search of an Author (Further Reading)

Further Reading

• Bentley, Eric. “Six Characters in Search of an Author,” in The Pirandello Commentaries, Northwestern University Press, 1986, pp. 57-77.

  An essay that interprets the Father as a schizophrenic.

• Cambon, Glauco, ed. Pirandello: A Collection of Critical Essays, Prentice Hall, 1967.

  A collection of fourteen essays, including excerpts from Adriano Tilgher’s famous “Life Versus Form” and Robert Brustein’s essay on Pirandello from his The Theatre of Revolt.

• Charney, Maurice. “Shakespearean and Pirandellian: Hamlet and Six Characters in Search of an Author,” Modern Drama, September, 1981, pp. 323-29.

  Compares Pirandello’s play with Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, finding remarkable similarities and crucial differences.

• Clark, Hoover W. “Existentialism and Pirandello’s Sei Personaggi,” Italica, September, 1966, pp. 276-84.

  Examines Pirandello’s play for elements that correspond to the main tenets of existentialist thought.

• DiGaetani, John Louis. A Companion to Pirandello Studies, Greenwood Press, 1991.

  A collection of critical essays that deal with philosophical issues, biographical and historical approaches, thematic interpretations, influence studies, feminist approaches, and non-theatrical works — with stage production histories and a thorough bibliography.

• Guidice, Gaspare. Pirandello: A Biography, translated by Alastair Hamilton, Oxford, 1975.

  The standard biography of Pirandello.

• Pirandello, Luigi. “On Humor,” translated by Teresa Novel, in The Tulane Drama Review, Spring, 1966, pp. 46-59.

  Provides an understanding of what Pirandello was attempting to accomplish in Six Characters in Search of an Author.

• Pirandello, Luigi. “Pirandello Confesses . . .,” in The Virginia Quarterly Review, April, 1925, pp. 36-52.

  A translation of Pirandello’s “Preface” to Six Characters in Search of an Author. Appended to Pirandello’s revision of the play, the “Preface” offers a basis for understanding the genesis of the play and its themes.