Pirandellism and Samuel Beckett's Plays (eBook)

Contents 8
Preface 10
Introduction 12
Chapter One: PIRANDELLO AND PIRANDELLISM 17
Pirandellism as Critical Term 21
Drama, Reality, and Stage Innovation 22
Pirandello and Beckett Parallel 25
Chapter Two: PIRANDELLO AND BECKETT: ESTHETIC RELEVANCE 31
On Humor and Proust 31
The Mirror Image 39
Feeling of the Opposite 46
Chapter Three: DRAMATURGICAL FRAMEWORK 53
Characterization 53
Play-within-a Play 59
Form-Content and Artistic Enterprise 62
Dramaturgical differentiation 68
Chapter Four: THE UNREALITY OF THE REAL 75
Philosophical Formulations 76
Absence of Logic 80
Epistemological Incertitude 83
Fragmenting Wholeness/Elusive Meaning 87
Multiple and Disintegrating Personality 94
Real or Unreal? 103
Chapter Five: COMEDY OF SURFACE APPEARANCE 105
Incongruity 107
Tedium of Existence 116
Vita-Forma Conflict 120
Conclusion 132
Index 139
A 139
B 139
C 140
D 140
E 140
F 140
G 141
H 141
I 141
J 141
K 141
L 141
M 142
N 142
O 142
P 142
R 143
S 143
T 143
V 143
W 144
Y 144
Z 144

Introduction (p. 3)

The overwhelming amount and degree of sophistication of Beckett criticism in recent years make it necessary to justify another book on Beckett. My main reason for this study is to examine a dimensión that has not been fully explored, namely, the Pirandellian categories in Beckett`s plays. Some authors have of course specifically mentioned Beckett as one of the heirs to the Pirandellian heritage.

Robert Brustein, for example, says that Pirandello`s insights into the human personality and suffering anticípate Beckett. Thomas Bishop identifies a bond between the absurdity in Pirandello`s works and Beckett`s visión of life, and sees both authors sharing a deep pity and compassion for suffering humanity. In his doctoral dissertation ("Pirandello, Umurismo, and Beckett"), Charles Gattnig tries to establish a relationship between the two playwrights. Although his account is well researched, Gattnig`s primary focus is Pirandello`s concept of humor.

Valerie Topsfield has also mentioned Beckett as a beneficiary of Pirandello`s sense of the opposites. The purpose of this study is to pursue and explore in some detall and with new insight a relationship known to exist between Pirandello`s esthetics and Beckett`s dramatic works.

Pertinent questions to ask, in this respect, in- elude the following: Who is Pirandello? What kind of impact has his writing made on modern drama? To what extent have his personal experience, his cultural formation, and the literary climate of his time shaped and sustained his esthetic thinking or Pirandellism? What is Pirandellism? What are the Pirandello and Beckett parallels?

Are there some biographical coincidences or similarities? Are there influences or just an "accord of ideas"? Is any of them heir to any given philosopical tradition? What relationship exists between their work and the idea of irreality? How do specific Pirandellian categories (Pirandellism) relate to the specific Beckett plays? What is the nature of the relationship that exists? In what ways and for what reasons are there disimilarities?

In attempting to answer these questions, I shall attempt to explore and establish a Pirandello-Beckett dramaturgical framework. I shall then relate Pirandello`s major and representative works (the principal source of Pirandellism as a critical term) to the specific major and representative works of Beckett in order to establish their validity and relevance.

The purpose of so relating Priandellism to Beckett`s works is not to stake a claim for the "influence" of Pirandello on Beckett but to seek a relationship where one exists. The analysis will focus primarily on the following works: Sei personaggi in cerca d`autore and Enrice IV, by Pirandello, and En Attendant Godot and Fin de partie, by Beckett. Other works by both authors will be used as secondary materials to expand and clarify the discussion.

The decisión to confine myself to well known and most representative works of the two dramatists is rather arbitrary. However, this confine would be a safe and manageable territory given the volume of work each of the playwrights has produced.

It is possible that Beckett`s later works (some of which are discussed here) have more elements of Pirandellism in them than the earlier works, and it is also possible that some of the less known Pirandellian plays can fit easily into the Beckettian orbit or vice versa. These matters could be the subject of further research.