Questioning the Existence of Absolute Truths
At the center of the narrative is an epistemological investigation into the nature of truth, how it is obtained and whether the accumulation of knowledge is inseparable from the apprehension of truth. The universe inhabited by the cast of characters is rooted firmly in the rejection of outmoded ideas of universal truths upon which Christian society had been constructed for nearly 2,000 years before Pirandello wrote his play. The playwright suggests that even if a truth can be arrived at, it will always maintain and element of relativity based on subjective consciousness.
Compulsive Suspicion of the Unusual
The entire narrative hangs on the gossip of neighbors responding to what has been collective deemed abnormal behavior. The theme of looking, watching and judging others by what they do relative to how it conflicts with convention and traditional behavior one that recurs throughout the work of Pirandello, but is especially palpable in this story focusing on a tight-knit group of neighbors expecting one thing and seeing quite another.
The Expectation of Privacy
Outside of totalitarian regimes, Pirandello’s play has never before been so timely and applicable to the zeitgeist of the moment. Amidst concerns of loving privacy at a rate never witnessed in a free society before, Right You Are (If You Think You Are) speaks directly to the theme of just what are the boundaries of propriety when it comes to imposing on the privacy of others and what is the limitation of privacy that can be expected from those whose behavior diverges from the norm enough as to stimulate suspicion among more than just those already manifesting a tendency toward paranoia. Where does concern for others or society end and the privacy of others being and, of course vice versa?
