Pirandello
Pirandello is not merely a character in the sense that any writer who has composed essays for a collection of literary fiction can be considered a character in that volume. Pirandello is famous for inserting himself into his fiction in order to break down the barrier between what is real and what is constructed. So, the essays are autobiographical in nature, but written more like narratives and, of course, Pirandello is also a character in some of the plays which are the focus of this collection.
Fantasy
Fantasy is the name the author gives to his muse, if you will. He terms her a puckish and malicious maidservant to his art in a story about how a family she “brought” to him transformed from the subject of his next novel into the titular Six Characters in Search of an Author.
Mother
One of those characters in search of an author is known only as Mother. Not only is she a character in that play which is included in the collection, she plays a prominent role in the essay which introduces Fantasy. The story of the transformation from novel to stage play includes an extensive analysis of the character of Mother; a character which gave the playwright a new sense of satisfaction with his art. Ultimately, he defines her essence: “she is Nature fixed in the figure of a mother.”
Liola
The title character of Pirandello’s play epitomizes the ideal of spirit unencumbered by responsibility. Liola is a single-father several times over and is always on the lookout for adding more to his brood. He is presented as the ideal parent because his attention is never compromised in the service of a wife. Although displaying love and affection for his sons, however, he could not in any way be characterized as a perfect father by typical standards of measurement.
Henry IV
Not the famous Henry IV immortalized by Shakespeare, but Henry IV who was Holy Roman Emperor during the Middle Ages. Except that the play isn’t really about that Henry IV either since the title character is actually only an aristocrat under the delusion that he is Henry in yet another of Pirandello’s meditations upon the blurring of the lines between reality and illusion.
