Six Characters in Search of an Author By: Luigi Pirandello GENRE: Italian Drama - theatre of the grotesque SETTING: Daytime, the present, the stage of a theatre THEMES: How does one define reality/truth? "At least admit that the actress who will play her will be less true than what you see before your very eyes" (Father, II) DRAMATIS PERSONAE: THE CHARACTERSTHE COMPANY FatherDirector MotherLeading Man StepdaughterLeading Lady SonSecond Female Lead Boy (mute role)Ingenue …showed first 75 words of 1008 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1008 total…to life the story that was created by the Author. Perhaps Pirandello is drawing a subtle connection between the Characters' quest, and our own search for "truth." In the end of the play, the Characters vanish after completing their demonstration. Through their quest for self-definition, the Characters actually achieve self-definition. Perhaps Pirandello is trying to say that, in a circular fashion, it is our human quest to define ourselves that, in the end, defines us.