In my essay, I am going to explore the topic ‘Character’ and I will be writing about the play ‘Six Characters in Search of an Author’ by Luigi Pirandello. I will explore the character of the Father and briefly his dynamics with the Mother and the Stepdaughter.
The Father is a unique and complex character and I believe he has multiple roles to play both within the play itself and the play as a message. He is portrayed as a narrator and he depicts the story through his eyes while simultaneously commenting on the human condition (through his philosophy). Stephen Unwin states in his book ‘The Well Read Play’ that “the modern theatre has reacted against stock characters because they simplify psychology and reduce human beings to types” (Unwin, 2011). To an extent, I agree with his point but I believe that it is authors like ‘Luigi Pirandello’, that are able to add such intricacy to stock characters that they become fascinating and unique. The character of the father is an example of this because he evokes a curiosity from the reader, due to his mysterious past but more so his characteristics.
Firstly, The Father is introduced as “about 50” which would suggest that he is a character who is filled with experience and wisdom. He is also described as a character with a “fresh mouth, which often opens in an empty uncertain smile.” This would perhaps imply to an audience that he has been through some hardship or struggle in his life. The adjectives ‘empty’ and ‘uncertain’ reveal a hint of insecurity in the character of The Father. Also, The use of syntax to place “smile” at the end of the sentence after “empty” and “uncertain” suggests that the smile could perhaps be forced. He also has “blue, oval-shaped eyes, very clear and piercing.” The adjective “piercing” connotes pain and power and juxtaposes with the light colourful connotations of the adjectives “clear” and “blue”. This allows for the character to be perceived as complex because his physical appearance is very different to his characteristics which also juxtapose and conflict within themselves. “He is alternatively mellifluous and violent in his manner.” The contrast between “mellifluous” and “violent” is very extreme and as one quality would suggest a kind and caring being, the other suggests a distasteful and undesirable one. The way the Pirandello portrays ‘The Father’ in the introduction of the characters foreshadows the later conflicts and issues that ‘The Father’ will face throughout the play. Further into the play, the audience can see the character of ‘The Father’ unveil as he acts in an increasingly peculiar manner as the build-up of tension, his mellifluous ego and accusations from The Stepdaughter, Mother and Son begin affect him.
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• Unwin says in his book “search the text for clues” “what the playwright says about the character.
• What the other characters say about him,
• What the character says about himself”
• “playwrights sometime offer insights into their characters beyond the confines of the script.” (Unwin, 2011)
• In Addition, It is possible to gain more information about the character of ‘The Father’ through what the other characters reveal about him. In the first act, the audience may perceive that the Manager as the Alpha, whereas The Father seems more controlled and collected in the situation. The Father insults the members of the cast and the manager him, alluding that their “profession” is one “worthy of madmen”. When confronted The Father swiftly replies “Well, to make seem true that which isn’t true… without any need … for a joke as it were” This reveals that the Father is strong willed and assertive in his manner but witty and rude in the way he addresses others. It could be argued that the relationship between the Manager and the Father is a conflicting one because there is a clash of personalities and authority. In the third act the power plays change as The Father is has inevitably put into a vulnerable position as his personal affairs have now been shared with the public (the cast members and manager). The Manager addresses the Father and states “you argue and philiosophize a bit too much, my dear sir.” The Father is later addressed again “you must really argue and philosophize less, you know, much less”. The repetition of the verbs “argue” and “philosophize” reinforces that ‘the Father’s character is disliked by most of the characters, This is possible due to his own ego and his selfish objective of dramatizing his family’s tragedies. The Father is then confronted for a third time by the Manager , “Look Here! Look here! You’re off again philosophizing worse than ever” at which he replies “Because I suffer sir! I’m not philisophizing: I’m crying aloud the reason of my sufferings.” The use of syntax across the three accusations reveals that the Manager is growing impatient with the lack of clarity and conciseness of the Father. It also evokes sympathy from the audience because of the passionate yet vunerable tone of the Father. The verbs “suffering” and “crying” have connotations of internal sadness and pain and it makes the audience wonder, is this the real ‘Father’; a direct, yet conflicted and sad character.
• The dynamic between the Mother and The Father is interesting as their titles suggests that they are one; mother and father, but the content of the play reveals to the audience, the underlying tensions and pure feelings of negativity between the Mother and the Father. This dynamic is also similar between the Father and The Stepdaughter and The Father and The Son but their levels of hatred towards him varies and this is what I will explore in the following paragraphs.
• In the first act, the audience are introduced to the relationship and dynamic between the mother and the father. In act two and act three, we are really able to see the drama unfold and the repressed feelings that they hold toward each other. During the first act, when the mother is feeling faint, she “tries to prevent the Father from lifting the veil which covers her face”, He ignores her wishes and raises her veil and says “Let them see you!”. This could be perceived as aggressive and degrading as he is belittling his wife for the purpose of proving his own point and his monomaniac purpose of putting his family’s drama on the stage. This proves that the relationship contains little love and chemistry and rather than being husband and wife as one, they are two separate individuals who understand that they’re love has disintegrated. Alternatively, The Father could be perceived as passionate and caring because of the fact that he heartedly showed some concern.
• This is then withdrawn when he frequently begins to insult her during the discussion of the affair. He addresses her as a “poor woman drifiting forlornly about the house like an animal without a master, like an animal one has taken in out of pity” The words used as well as the metaphor and simile attempts to conceal the harsher adjectives, verbs and nouns, such as “poor woman”, “drifting forlornly”, “animal without a master” and “taken in out of pity”. I believe an audience would be shocked at these insults as they suggest that the mother is dependent, defenceless and incapable. The mother is a portrayed as a weak and fragile but this is later justified when she blames him for her hardships exclaiming “it was his doing” and “[vigourously] he forced me to do it, and I call God to witness it.”. This could be perceived as the mother attempting to scapegoat the father or as a genuine accusation towards the father that he is solely to blame. I believe it is the latter and that the most sympathy in the play is felt (by the audience) toward the Mother because she is the crux of the family and all the other characters problems directly affect her (whether she is directly or indirectly involved). In Act Two she states “its taking place now, it happens all the time. My torment isn’t a pretended one. I live and feel every minute of my torture” This expression is very powerful as the nouns “torment” and “torture” depict a very tragic lifestyle of a silenced women.
There is more evidence to support that ‘The Father’ is not who he seems. The relationship between his lover suggests that he is dominant and aggressive in his manner. His relationship his Step-Daughter also enlighten us with some disturbing characteristics about the father. In the second act, when the Father and the Daughter are performing one of their first encounters, it could be perceived that The Father is pedophillic and predatory. The stage directions state “partly of surprise, partly of fear lest he compromise himself in a risky adventure”. The stage directions imply that The Father is immoral and unintegral as the nouns “compromise” and “risky adventure” is not something that would connote sex. It had a much tragic and depressing tone. The Step-daughter also reveals to the audience what The father had replied after she told him, she was in mourning. ”Ah well,” “then let’s take off this little frock.” “well, lets’s take off this dress at once.”. This further proves my point that The father is predatory because he is unempathetic and selfishly single-minded. He disregards her feelings totally and instead chooses to increase the intensity and urgency. This could be perceived as disgusting by the reader because they would not have expected this from the character of the father because he was introduced so differently. David Edgar stated “But in great drama, the most memorable and indeed the most meaningful moment is when the character departs from and even challenges his or her role” (Edgar, 2009). This is clearly evident in the character of ‘The Father’, he is introduced to the reader as an authoritative and demanding figure and these characteristics are quite admirable. But when he uses these characteristics to take advantage and control of the whole family and their lives, it totally changes the perspective of the reader and also evokes feelings of hatred and disgust. This is further reinforced when the Step-daughter declares