Modern Language Studies

Self and Representation in Pirandello's "Henry IV"

Author(s): Gustavo Costa
Source: Modern Language Studies, Vol. 11, No. 3 (Autumn, 1981), pp. 16-24
Published by: Modern Language Studies
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3194375
Accessed: 14-12-2015 07:16 UTC

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 in Pirandello's
Selfand Representation
HenryIV
GustavoCosta

Pirandello'sworksreveala considerableinterest inphilosophicand

psychologictopics,and shouldtherefore be read againstthebackground
of theproblemsdiscussedby the Italianand Westernphilosophersand
psychologistsof the earlytwentieth-century. Self was consideredas an
ephemeralcreationoftheSpiritby themainrepresentatives oftheItalian
neo-idealisticschoolof philosophy:Croce and Gentile,bothfollowersof
Hegel's thought.Accordingto Croce,"theSpirithas createdas itspassing,
ephemeralform,thatgroupof vitalhabitsand aptitudeswhichwe call
individuality-theindividualitybeing coextensivewith that group of
attitudes."'The dramaofhumanexistenceis notignoredby Croce, butit
is dilutedin the religiouscontemplationof the infiniteunfoldingof the
Spirit.Life and death,youthand old age, happinessand the pangs of
alienationare viewed by Croce not fromthe inferiorperspectiveof
transientindividuality, but fromthe superiorone of the eternalSpirit.
SuddenlytheSpirit"disindividualises theindividuality, carryingtheindi-
vidual outsidehimself... constraining himto regardall thathe has been
and is as a past which he must leave behind him to go forwardto
somethingelse."2The resultcan be "pain and anguish,"and, in themore
radical cases, death,butthisgloomyperspectivedoes notshakeCroce's
intrinsicallyoptimisticWeltanschauung, based on his faithin a superior
principleofrationality: "Suchis thelaw oftheSpirit:to createlifeand then
to go beyondthelifeithas created."3Selfdid notfarebetterin Gentile's
thought,accordingto whichthe"partof us and ofthosedear to us which
dies is a materialitywhichhas neverlived."4Gentileconsideredman as a
transient manifestation ofan universaland perennialspiritualact,viewed
as a secularGod placed beyondtheboundariesof time:"Nothingwhich
happenscan be representedempiricallyexceptas flowing,as compresent
withthefutureintheactualityofthepresent.... The presentistheeternal,
a negationof all time."5
Pirandello'spointof view differsfromCroce's and Gentile'sinas-
muchas he does notaccepttheHegelianconceptoftheSpirit(Geist),and,
followingSchopenhauerand Bergson,he considersirrationallifeas the
uniqueprincipleofreality.Accordingto Pirandello,manand hiscreations
areonlyabstractions superimposedupontheincessantbecomingoflifein
a desperateattemptto stop itsever-changing stream,thusavoidingthe
anguishoftimeand death.As theplaywright statesinhisessayOn Humor
(1908), life"is a continualfluxwhichwe tryto stop,to fixin stable and
determinedforms,both inside and outside ourselves,because we are
already fixed forms."6But the fluxcannot be fixed,and thereforeit
"continues,indistinct underthebarriersand beyondthelimitswe impose
as a means to fashiona consciousnessand a personalityforourselves."7
The fictitiousformscreatedbyus aretherefore destinedto collapseunder

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thethrustoflife.In otherwords,Pirandello'sview oflifewas a pessimistic
one,because, contraryto Croce's and Gentile'soptimisticsystems,he did
not admit the existenceof a Spiritgivinga logic and moralsense to the
suffering of man. Pirandellowas well aware of hisposition,and polem-
ized withthe Hegelianview in variouswritings, includingCap and Bells
(1917). In thisplay,Ciampa, thepicturesqueand frustrated Sicilianintel-
lectual,tellsa joke about the Spiritwho "entersintous and becomes a
puppet,"8referring to a typicalaspect of Sicilianfolklore(the so-called
Teatro dei Pupi), which seemed particularlyrelevantin the lightof
contemporaryGrotesquetheater.Pirandello'santi-idealistic attitudewas
corroboratednotonlyby hisadmirationforSchopenhauerand Bergson,
butalso by hisinterestinempiricalpsychology,whichconfirmedthatthe
traditionalconcept of the self was but a delusion,and, in this way,
facilitatedthetransition fromrealismto modernism.In fact,in his essay
On Humorhe refersto Les alterationsde la personnalite(1892) by Alfred
Binet,a masterof theFrenchschool of empiricalpsychology.9
Pirandello'spessimisticWeltanschauung providedtheideological
frameforhispoetics,foundedon Romanticirony,thatprecedesBreton's
surrealisticconceptof humournoir,althoughthePirandellianinterpreta-
tionappears more archaic,because it does not take account of Freud's
visionof humor.Pirandelloattributesa centralrole to reflectionwhich,
beyondtheridiculouscontradictions inherent in ourattemptsto organize
lifeaccordingto ouraspirations, detectsthepatheticside ofthecondition
of man and his basic desireto overcomehis biologicallimitations:

I see an old ladywhosehairis dyedandcompletely smearedwithsome

kindof horrible ointment; sheis all made-upin a clumsyand awkward
fashion...I begintolaugh... Butif,atthispoint,
reflection inme
interferes
tosuggest thatperhapsthisoldladyfinds nopleasureindressing uplikean
exoticparrot...anddoesitonlybecauseshepitifully deceivesherself
into
believing that... shemaybe able toholdtheloveofhermuchyounger
husband. . . thenI can no longerlaughatheras I did atfirst.10

We have inthiscase a new feelingwhichis neithercomic nortragic,buta

mixtureof both: Pirandellocalls it the "feelingof the opposite,"and
considersittheonlypossiblefoundationofmodernart,whichmustdraw
a pictureof man as he appears to himselfin moderntimes(i.e., a mere
delusion),and notas he appeared to himselfbeforetheadventofmodern
philosophyand empiricalpsychology(i.e., a concreteand autonomous
reality).
The poetics of humor permeates all Pirandellianworks, and
conditionswith its implicitphilosophyPirandello'sconcept of history
which made a mockeryof Croce's absolute historicism.While Croce
considershistoryas a manifestation of theinexhaustiblecreativityof the
Spiritand views historicalknowledgeas theonlytrueone (following,in
his own originalway, the Vichianphilosophy),Pirandellois convinced
thathistoryis but one of thoseartificialformsthatman triesto superim-
pose upon life in the vain attemptof fixingits continuousflow. As he
writesin The Tragedyofa Character,a shortstoryfirstpublishedin 1911,

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whichcontainsthegeneticideas of Six Charactersin Searchofan Author
(1921) and HenryIV (1922),"history is an ideal compositionof elements
gatheredtogetheraccordingto theparticulartemperament, antipathies,
sympathies,aspirations,and opinionsof thehistorian.""In otherwords,
historyis not objective,but highlysubjective;and, as such,it revealsits
affinitywithart.It is obvious thaton suchpremisesPirandellocould not
writean historicaldramainthetraditional manner,because he considered
historya meredelusion.In fact,HenryIV isnotan historicaldrama,buta
parodyofthatgenreverypopularinItalyand abroad,as attestedby Sem
Benelli's The Jest (1909), a highly successful Renaissance costume
tragedy,interpreted actorssuchas JohnBarrymore
by first-rate and Sarah
Bernhardt,filmedby AlessandroBlasettiin 1941,and staged anew by
Carmelo Bene at theFlorentinePergola Theaterin 1974.12

Shouldwe visualizethestructure ofHenryIV, we could tracetwo

coordinates:an horizontalline correspondingto the synchronicand a
perpendicularcorresponding to thediachronicplot.Attheintersection is
thehero(I shouldsaytheanti-hero)oftheplay.Pirandellofusestogethera
contemporarydrama and an historicalone, thus attainingan original
work.The diachronicplot,suggestedby theverytitle,deals withHenry
IV (1050-1106),son of HenryIII, Emperor of Germany,and withhis
struggleagainst Pope GregoryVII. It is a colorfuland tragic story,
attainingits climax in the episode of Henry'sexcommunication.The
Germanmonarch,threatenedwithrevolt,was obligedto go to theCastle
of Canossa, belongingto CountessMatildaof Tuscany,wherehe waited
barefootin thesnow forthreedays. Satisfiedwithsuchpenitence,Greg-
ory VII liftedthe excommunication(1077), but three years later he
excommunicatedHenryagain. This timetheGermanmonarchwas sup-
portedby a largeparty,and therefore was able to invadeItaly,drivethe
Pope out of Rome, and be crowned Emperor(1084). In 1105 HenryIV
was forcedto abdicate by his own son HenryV.
Thishistoricalordiachronicplotisintersected bythecontemporary
or synchronicplot,constituting thereal core of Pirandello'sdrama. As a
gentlemanof moderntimes,Henrybelongs to the upper class of early
twentieth-century Italy.His tragedybegan eighteenyearsbeforethefacts
happening stage.Ifwe keep inmindthatHenryIV was firstperformed
on
in 1922,we can safelyassumethatPirandellosituatedtheantecedentsof
the synchronicplot approximatelyin the year 1904. Henrywas in love
withan aristocraticgirl,Matilda,who did nottake himseriously.When
Matildadecided totakepartina pageantas CountessMatildaofTuscany,
thehostofPope GregoryVII at theCastleofCanossa,Henryjoinedheras
HenryIV. Duringthecavalcade Henry'shorsewentwild,because itwas
treacherously prickedby hisrival,BaronTitoBelcredi.Henryfell,hitthe
back of his head, and fainted.Two hours later,he awoke, and soon
proved to be insane,forhe reallybelieved himselfto be HenryIV. His
relativesdecided to keep him in an artificialmedieval setting,among
servantsinstructed toplaytheroleofeleventh-century dressed
characters,
in "costumesof the period, copied to perfectionfromold models."13
Henry'smadnesslasted fortwelve years,afterwhichhe spontaneously

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recovered,but decided to go on withhis masquerade. When the play
starts,Henryhas alreadybeen lucid forsixyears,buthe has continuedto
act as an insaneperson,because he realizedthathe had lostthebestpartof
his life,and had alreadybecome an old man. As Henrysays in his own
highlymetaphoricallanguage,"I was goingto arrivehungryas a wolf,at a
banquet whichhad alreadybeen clearedaway."'4In otherwords,Henry
feels the griefof alienationand seeks refugein the artificialrealm of
history:he escapes lifeby assumingthevoid formof an historicalfigure.
By intertwining the medieval with the modern plot Pirandello
createda new kindof avant-gardetheater,based on thephilosophicand
psychologicpremisespointedoutinhispreface(1925)to SixCharactersin
Search of an Author:

thedeceitof mutualunderstanding irremediablyfoundedon theempty

ofthewords,themultiple
abstraction ofeveryone
personality correspond-
ofbeingtobe foundineachofus,andfinally
ingto thepossibilities the
inherent betweenlife(whichis alwaysmovingandchang-
tragicconflict
ing)andform(whichfixesit,immutable).15

Pirandellowas hauntedby theproblemof thesolitudeof man,whichis

caused bythelack ofa reliableway ofcommunicating ideas and feelings.
"Words,wordswhichanyonecan interpret inhisown way,"saysHenryin
Act II,16 alludingto the impossibilityof understanding our fellow-men.
The historicalepisode of Canossa becomes an allegoryof thesolitudeof
man inanothersentencespokenby Henryinthesame ActII: "ifyouwere
beside anotherand looking into his eyes-as I one day looked into
somebody'seyes-you mightas well be a beggarbeforea door neverto
be opened to you."'7The impossibility of findinga consistentpatternin
ourindividuality whichis destinedto changewiththestreamoflife,hasits
dramaticexpressioninActI, whenHenrytellsMatildawhomhe is seeing
againforthefirsttimeaftereighteenyears:"Has itneverhappenedto you,
my Lady, to finda different selfin yourself?Have you always been the
same?"'8The perennialchangingoftheselfis butan aspectoftheconflict
betweenlifeand form,sincewhatwe call ourpersonality is a formwe try
to impose upon life.As Henrysaysto Doctor DionysiusGenoni,dressed
as MonsignorHugh of Cluny,"whileyou keep yourselfin order,holding
on withbothyourhands to yourholyhabit,thereslipsdown fromyour
sleeves,therepeels offfromyou like... likea serpent... somethingyou
don'tnotice:life,Monsignor!"'9
The poeticsof humor,inextricably linkedwithPirandello'spessi-
mistic philosophy,is best representedby the strikingfigureof the
protagonist.In thestage directionsHenryis portrayedin termsintended
to arouse in the audience the "feelingof the opposite"whichis thevery
essence of humor:

The hairon theback ofhishead is alreadygray;overthetemplesand

foreheaditappearsblond,owingtoitshavingbeentintedinanevident and
puerilefashion.On hischeekboneshe has twosmall,doll-like dabs of
color,thatstandoutprominentlyagainsttherestofhistragicpallor.20

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Henryis the counterpartof the old lady dressed up like an exoticbird,
whom Pirandellodescribesin hisessayOn Humorin orderto explainhis
typicalapproach to reality.Reflectionmakes us understandthatHenry
toohashisown good reasonsformakingsucha grotesqueuse ofmake-up:
he has grownold in hisfictitious world,buthe feelsobliged to adhereto
hisportrait as a youngman.As HenrysaysinActI, alludingto hisown and
Matilda'sdyed hair,thereis an "obscureand fatalpowerwhichsetslimits
to our will,"21but we tryto ignoreit.
It should be noted thatPirandello,who was alreadyin his fifties
whenhe wroteHenryIV, projectedinthisplayhispersonalexperienceof
aging: Henryis the mouthpieceof the dramatist'snostalgiaforhis lost
youth,viewed as a kindof irretrievable Golden Age. Consideredunder
thisaspect,HenryIV revealsa surprising withLeopardi'sidentifi-
affinity
cation of the Golden Age mythwith childhood (a leading theme in
twentieth-century Italianliterature):"I know thatwhen I was a child,I
thought the moon in thepond was real.How manythingsI thoughtreal!I
believed everything I was told-and I was happy!"22Pirandello'sattitude
towardtheGoldenAge mythappearsevencloserto Leopardi'sattitude, if
we considerthathe attributes tothelegendapurelyretrospective charac-
ter,rejectingitseschatologicalimplications. Alludingtotheradicalrenew-
al of Westernartheralded by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti'sManifesto
ofFuturism(1909)on thebasisoftechnologicalprogress,supposedlyable
to rescuemankindfromtheboundsof timeand space, Pirandelloasserts
hispessimistic beliefintheimmutability ofhumancondition:"Ah,yes!To
Hell withtradition, theold conventions!Well,go on! You willdo nothing
but repeattheold, old words,whileyou imagineyou are living!'"23

The masqueradeconscientiously pursuedby Henryis theexpres-

sionof Pirandello'sdistrust in thetraditional
genreof historicaldrama.In
fact, Pirandellomakes fun of the middle-classinfatuationforcostume
theater,in two passages whichrevealtheparodiccharacterof HenryIV.
In Act I Landolph, whose real name is Lolo, explainsto thenewcomer
Fino thatlivingwiththeinsanemasterofthehouseisnotan easytask,and
complainsabout thefactthatwhatis goingon is notan historicaldrama:
"It's a pity;because theway we're got up, we could do a finehistorical
reconstruction."24 In Act II the same characterreiteratesthesame com-
plaint:"I was saying:whata pitythatdressedlikethisand withso many
beautifulcostumesinthewardrobe... and witha roomlikethat.... "25At
thispoint he is interruptedby Henry,but it is clear that Landolph is
longingto act in a costumeplay such as Sem Benelli'sThe lest. But it
would be wrongto considerPirandello'spolemicattitudetowardhistori-
cal dramaas an attackagainstthetheatricalprofessionas a whole. On the
contrary, HenryIV is an exaltationof dramaticart.In ActI Belcredisays
that Henry,before his mentalillness,was "a jolly good actor,"26and
Charles Di Nolli observes thatinsanityhas improved Henry'snatural
disposition:"Madness has made a superb actor of him."27Many critics
have noticedthatHenryIV is closelyrelatedto theso-calledtrilogyofthe
theaterin thetheater(Six Charactersin Searchof an Author,Each in His
Own Way,and TonightWe Improvise).In factHenryIV proclaimsthat

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theatermustbe our way of life,ifwe wantto escape existentialanguish.
Representation forrepresentation's sake,notforthesake of thepublic,is
Henry'sresponseto theterriblechallengeoftime,as he tellshisservantsin
ActII: "You oughtto have knownhow to createa fantasyforyourselves,
notto act itforme,oranyonecomingto see me; butnaturally, simply,day
by day, before nobody, feelingyourselvesalive in the historyof the
eleventhcentury,hereat thecourtof youremperor,HenryIV!"28
This pseudo-historical dramashowslinkswithpreviousPirandel-
lianworksofsimilarphilosophicorientation. In The Old and theYoung(a
novel firstpublished in 1909) Pirandellodescribes the figureof Don
Ippolito Laurentano,a loyal subject of the formerKing of the Two
Sicilies,who livessecluded in hisdomainof Colimbetraamong"a body-
guard of fiveand twentymen in the Bourbonuniform."29 Don Ippolito
Laurentano'ssolitaryexistence,a Sicilianversionof Des Esseintes'sself-
imposed reclusion,depicted by Huysmansin A Rebours (1884), fore-
shadows Henry'stheatricalway oflife,adopted to overcometheforceof
time. Both situationswere based on what Pirandello called, in The
Tragedy of a Character,Dr. Fileno's "philosophyof remoteness."Dr.
Fileno,who "had turnedhimselfintoan invertedtelescope,"because he
wantedto freehimselffromthetortureof life,"placed himselfideallyin
the futurein orderto look at thepresent,and he saw it as ifit were the
past."30By puttinghimselfabove theeverydayfluxof life,as an historian
contemplatingpast events,Dr. Fileno was able to dominateany contin-
gency,inasmuchas he could attenuateitsconsequences,reducingthemto
thevoid formof history.Henrydoes basicallythe same thing,since he
projectsthepresentintothepast,but,at thesame time,does morethan
Dr. Fileno, because he relivesthe past insteadof just contemplatingit.
Thus Henryadopts a kind of ambiguousremoteness:he is an "inverted
telescope,"but he also lives his medieval drama by impersonatingthe
Germanmonarch.Such basic ambiguityfindsitsexpressionin a highly
symboliclanguage which assumes remote facts in order to convey a
contemporary feelingofalienationbelongingto Henryas a modernman:
"Nothingsatisfiesthem!... I was six yearsold; and theytoreme away
frommymother... always profaning,alwaysstealing,stealing!... One
greedierthanthe other... Hanno worse thanStephen!Stephenworse
thanHanno!"31This has littleto do withthe allegoricalsymbolismthat
Pirandellocondemned in verystrongterms,althoughhe admittedthat
symbolicartcould servethepurposeot humor.It is a kindofspontaneous
allegory,theinevitableconsequenceofthemaskchosenby Henrywho,in
ActII, showshisreal face to hide itagain at theend ofthesame act,when
he startsdictatinghis fictitiousautobiography:"The decree of peace
proclaimedat Mayencehelped thepoor and thegood, whileitdamaged
thepowerfuland thebad ... It broughtwealthto theformer, hungerand
miseryto thelatter."32
The fictitioushistoricalworld carefullyconstructedby Henryis
badly shakenin Act III, as a consequence of theshockingconfrontation
arrangedby Dr. Genoni.WhenHenrysees inFridahisbeloved Matildain
all heryouthful beautycallinghim,he is terrified:he "givesa dreadfulcry
... and makes a movementas ifto runaway."33Then he sees theothers

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rushingin,hearsthattheyno longerbelievehimto be insane,and realizes
thattheDoctorhad instructed Frida and Di Nollito impersonateMatilda
and Henryas theywere when theunfortunate cavalcade took place, in
orderto open Henry'seyes to theravagesof time.Henry,fascinatedby
thebeautyof Frida who seems to bringback thehappy timeof hisown
past youth,embraces thehorrifiedgirl,proclaiminghis rightto possess
her: "Oh miracleof miracles!Prodigyof prodigies!The dream alive in
you!... Oh, mine!You'remine,mine,mine,in myown right!"34 Whenhe
sees thatBelcredi,thehated rivalwho had alreadywon Matilda'slove,
wantsto separatehim fromFrida-Matilda,he killshim withhis sword,
thusavengingthepastand thepresentwrong.Havingcommitteda crime,
Henrymustresumehis mask of madnessin orderto escape its conse-
quences.Attheend ofthedrama,he is againHenryIV, and announceshis
intentionof playingthatrole forever.The void formof historyis finally
superimposedto themagma of life:thetragedyof HenryIV, themedie-
val monarch,continuesto be foreverthemetaphorof thetragedyof the
twentieth-century gentlemanwho has adopted theateras a means of
salvation.As Henrysays to his servants,"herewe are .. . together.. .
forever!"35His representation is destinea to go on indefinitely
afterthe
curtainfalls,because the"philosophyof remoteness"is theonlypossible
solutionto his predicament.
One is temptedto saythat,by choosingtheartificial timeofhistory
insteadof thereal one, Henryis goingto enjoyfortherestof hislife"the
pleasureofhistory," livinghis"faroffand yetactualdream,"embellished
by the knowledge that itis buta dream,and that,thanksto it,he is above
theturmoilof humanexistence:"at a distanceof eightcenturiesfromthis
remoteage of ours . . ., the men of thetwentiethcenturyare torturing
themselvesin ceaseless anxietyto knowhow theirfatesand fortunes will
workout!"36ButHenry'spositionat theend of theplayis quitedifferent
fromwhatitused to be. He has mortallywounded Belcredi,actingunder
theirrationalstimulusof hisinfatuation forFrida-Matildaand of hishate
fortherivalwho is also responsibleforhisformerinsanity, sinceitwas he
who had prickedhis horse,causinghis ominousfall.Now Henryis no
longer a victim,but a murderer.He will no longerbe considered an
innocuousand colorfulmadman,but a dangerousparanoic.In fact,the
lastimagewe have ofhimbeforethecurtainfallson hisdrama,is a highly
tragicone: Henry'seyesare"almoststarting outofhishead,"because he is
"terrifiedby the life of his own masquerade which has drivenhim to
crime."37We have herea typicallyPirandellianplay,in whicha carefully
constructed systemoffictionsmiserablycollapsesunderthethrust oflife.
Whatappears to be atypical,is thefigureof Henry,a characterhavinga
vitalityunparalleledinPirandello'stheater.In orderto achievethisresult,
Pirandellohad to descend again intothehellof madness,whichhorrifed
him,because his wife'sinsanityhad poisoned his familylife,but,at the
same time,fascinatedhimforitsaffinity withart:"Madmen,luckyfolk!
constructwithoutlogic, or ratherwitha logic thatflieslike a feather.
Voluble! Voluble! Today like thisand tomorrow-who knows?"38The
Erasmian praise of Folly, transposedto the rugged terrainof a non-
Christianphilosophy,has produceda twentieth-century atheisticHamlet

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who shares Flaubert's feeling of revulsion for the stupidity of modern
society, and sticks to his dead, historical time, firstto forget what he has
lost forever, then to hide his murderous face under the mask of insanity.

Universityof California, Berkeley

NOTES

1. B. Croce, "Sinsof Thought,"in The Conduct of Life,tr.A. Livingston(New

York: Harcourt,Brace and Co., 1924), p. 20. On the problemof the selfin
Crocean philosophycf. C. Antoni,Commentoa Croce (Venice: NeriPozza,
1955) pp. 99-110.
2. Croce, "Sinsof Thought,"p. 20.
3. Ibid.
4. G. Gentile, The Theory of Mind as Pure Act, tr. H. W. Carr (London:
Macmillan,1922),p. 153.
5. Ibid.
6. L. Pirandello,On Humor,tr.A. Illianoand D. P. Testa. University of North
Carolina Studiesin ComparativeLiterature,No. 58 (Chapel Hill, University
of NorthCarolinaPress,1974),p. 137.On Pirandello'sconceptofhumorcf.D.
Della Terza, "LuigiPirandelloe la ricercadella distanzaumoristica," in Studi
in memoriadi Luigi Russo (Pisa: Nistri-Lischi, 1974), pp. 405-422;U. Eco,
"PirandelloRidens,"inAltroPolo: A VolumeofItalianStudies,ed. S. Trambai-
olo and N. Newbigin(Sydney:FrederickMay FoundationforItalianStudies,
1978),pp. 79-90.Schopenhauer'sinfluenceon Pirandellowas stressedby M.
Adank in his Luigi Pirandelloe i suoi rapporticol mondo tedesco (Aarau:
Druckereigenossenschaft, 1948),pp. 66-79.See also A. Illiano,Introduzione
alla criticapirandelliana:Saggie rassegne(Verona:Fiorini,1976),pp. 157-158.
7. Pirandello,On Humor,p. 137.
8. L. Pirandello,II berrettoa sonagli,La giara, II piacere dell'onesti,ed. C.
Simioni(Milan: Mondadori,1974),p. 17.
9. Pirandello,On Humor, p. 135n. On Binet'sinfluenceon Pirandellocf. A.
Janner,Luigi Pirandello(Florence: Nuova Italia, 1948), pp. 10-15.On the
contribution ofempiricalpsychologyto modernismcf.J.Ryan,"The Vanish-
ingSubject: EmpiricalPsychologyand theModem Novel,"PMLA, 95, No. 5
(October 1980),857-869.
10. Pirandello,On Humor,p. 113.For Breton'spositioncf.A. Breton,Anthologie
de l'humournoir(Montrouge:J.-J.Pauvert,1966),pp. 9-16.
11. L. Pirandello,ShortStories,tr.F. May (London: OxfordU. P., 1965),p. 97. Cf.
L. Baccolo, "Pirandelloe la storia,"in Teatrodi Pirandello:convegnodi studi
(Asti:CentroNazionale di StudiAlfieriani, 1967),pp. 15-21.
12. The Sem Benelli-Pirandello relationshipwas suggestedby F. AngeliniinherII
teatrodel Novecentoda Pirandelloa Fo (Rome-Bari:1976),p. 67. On Benelli
(1877-1949)cf. Enciclopedia dello Spettacolo,II (1954), cols. 242-244.On
Carmelo Bene's interpretation of The Jestcf. E. Mo, "La cena delle beffe
secondo Carmelo,"Corrieredella Sera, January11, 1974.
13. L. Pirandello,Naked Masks: Five Plays,ed. E. Bentley(New York:Dutton,
1952),p. 165. On Pirandello'sHenryIV cf. R. Alonge,"La tragediaastratta
dell'EnricoIV," in Teatrodi Pirandello,pp. 29-45;Id., Pirandellotrarealismo
e mistificazione(Naples: Guida, 1972),pp. 240-253;F. Doglio, "Appuntiper
una letturadell'EnricoIV di Pirandello,"Quadernidell'Istituto di StudiPiran-
delliani,I (1973), 45-64;A. Paolucci, Pirandello'sTheater:The Recoveryof

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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Modern Stage forDramaticArt(Carbondale: SouthernIllinoisU. P., 1974),
pp. 89-101;G. BarberiSquarotti,Le sortidel "tragico:"II Novecentoitaliano:
romanzoe teatro(Ravenna:Longo,1978),pp. 173-199;H. Mehnert,"Pirandel-
los Enrico IV und das Problemder multiplenPersonlichkeit," Germanisch-
Romanische Monatschrift, Neue Folge, 28, No. 3 (1978), 325-335; R. W.
Oliver,Dreams ofPassion:The TheaterofLuigiPirandello(New York:New
York U. P. 1979), pp. 124-152;J. Schlueter,MetafictionalCharactersin
ModernDrama (New York:Columbia U. P., 1979),pp. 19-34.
14. Pirandello,Naked Masks,p. 203.
15. Ibid., p. 367.
16. Ibid., p. 190.
17. Ibid., p. 193.
18. Ibid., p. 169.
19. Ibid.
20. Ibid., p. 166.
21. Ibid., p. 169.
22. Ibid., p. 193. For Leopardi's interpretation of the Golden Age mythcf. G.
Costa, La leggenda dei secoli doro nella letteratura italiana(Bari: Laterza,
1972),pp. 216-228;Id., "I mitodell'etadell'oroe il tramontodell'Illuminismo
(Alfieri,Montie Leopardi)," CriticaLetteraria,IV (1976),413-435.
23. Pirandello,Naked Masks,p. 191.
24. Ibid., p. 144.
25. Ibid., p. 194.
26. Ibid., p. 158.
27. Ibid.
28. Ibid., pp. 194-195.
29. L. Pirandello,The Old and the Young, tr. C. K. Scott-Moncrieff (New
York:E. P. Dutton,1928),I, p. 5. On thisPirandelliannovelcf.V. Spinazzola,
"I vecchie i giovani trail caos e la rivolta,"in Studiinmemoriadi LuigiRusso,
pp. 423-455;D. Radcliff-Umstead,The Mirrorof Our Anguish:A Studyof
Luigi Pirandelo's NarrativeWritings(Rutherford: FairleighDickinsonU. P.,
1978),pp. 198-234.
30. Pirandello,ShortStories,p. 97.
31. Pirandello,Naked Masks,p. 168.
32. Ibid., p. 196.
33. Ibid., p. 198.
34. Ibid., p. 207.
35. Ibid., p. 208.
36. Ibid., p. 195.
37. Ibid., p. 208.
38. Ibid., p. 192.

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