Humor and Grotesque Realism in Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author and Henry IV

• Main Authors: Tung-peng Sun, 孫東朋
• Other Authors: Tsu-chung Su
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2003
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/95677569890411284416

碩士 === 國立暨南國際大學 === 外國語文學系 === 91 === This study examines two of Luigi Pirandello’s plays, Six Characters in Search of an Author and Henry IV, with Pirandello’s aesthetical views on humor as a point of entry. Coupled with Mikhail M. Bakhtin’s interpretation of medieval humor, a doubling of meaning in Pirandello’s drama is revealed in light of the special activity of reflection Pirandello defined. In Six Characters in Search of An Author we find in humor and grotesque images a dispelling of the fear over the unchanging reality. In Henry IV we find in humor and grotesque images a dispelling of the monstrosity of the absence of a face behind the mask. We find Pirandellian humor and grotesque realism compensating each other in these discourses and therefore important in the understanding of these two plays.