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Luigi Pirandello, a significant figure in twentieth-century literature, revolutionized Italian theater and literature with innovative works like "Six Characters in Search of an Author." Raised in a wealthy Sicilian family, Pirandello faced economic challenges after a mining disaster, fueling his passion for writing. Personal struggles, including his wife's mental illness and fascist regime involvement, influenced his work. Despite winning the Nobel Prize in 1934, Pirandello maintained a pessimistic outlook on life. He passed away in 1936 during the filming of an adaptation of his novel "The Late Mattia Pascal."
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In this segment of the video, the focus is on Luigi Pirandello, a prominent figure in twentieth-century literature known for his innovation in the theatrical and narrative fields. Pirandello’s works, such as “Six Characters in Search of an Author,” revolutionized Italian theater and tackled themes like relativity, subjectivity, and the solitude of contemporary man. The segment also delves into Pirandello’s personal life, including his upbringing in a wealthy bourgeois family in Sicily, his move to Rome for literary studies, marriage to Maria Antonietta Portulano, and struggles with economic hardships following a mining disaster in 1903. Despite these challenges, Pirandello continued to pursue his passion for literature, eventually becoming a university professor and a prolific writer.
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In this segment of the video, it is discussed how Luigi Pirandello’s family problems, particularly the impact on his fragile wife, influenced his vision of the world and his writings. The economic collapse led to his wife experiencing mental illness, obsessive crises, and suicide attempts. His writing became a form of therapy for him. Pirandello’s novel “Fu Mattia Pascal” in 1904 was a great success, and he established himself in Italian literature through his intense theatrical productions after 1916. Despite his public adherence to fascism and his involvement in the artistic field during the fascist regime in Italy, his literary works did not reflect fascist themes. The relationship between Pirandello and fascism was based on mutual convenience, with fascism allowing him to work autonomously and finance his projects. Personal events, such as his wife’s confinement to a psychiatric hospital and subsequent unresolved guilt, also shaped Pirandello’s life. He continued writing prolifically and traveling worldwide for theatrical performances.
00:06:00
In this segment, it is noted that Pirandello, a renowned figure in 1934, not even his Nobel Prize win could elevate him from his fundamentally pessimistic outlook on life. The transcript also highlights his more secluded lifestyle in his later years and his passing in 1936 during the filming of an adaptation of one of his acclaimed novels, “The Late Mattia Pascal,” due to pneumonia.