Six Characters in Search of an Author - Final Paper for Modern Drama

This is my final paper for dual enrollment ENGL 342/ENGL 846 Modern Drama. This course is for Juniors/Seniors at the undergrad 342 level and for grad students at the 846 level. I took the course at the 846 level and wrote a twenty page paper on Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello. I used a feminist critical lens. --- Please read my abstract below for more information on my paper: Six Characters in Search of an Author, a play by Luigi Pirandello, needs more feminist readings because despite being published for over a century, the Stepdaughter’s role in play is often overlooked in favor of the play’s overarching themes of reality versus illusion. Looking at the text with a feminist approach, the trauma of the Stepdaughter is often downplayed, interrupted, or ignored in favor of the Father’s narrative. Usually by the Director or her own stepfather, the Stepdaughter’s pain is often overlooked because the pain is framed within the context of a story. At least for the Director, he does not see the Stepdaughter’s trauma as real because he sees her as an actor portraying fiction, when in reality, her pain is real within the confines of the play. The Father tries to make himself out to be a changed man atoning for his crimes, but he continues to belittle the women in his life, including the Stepdaughter. In response to her ill treatment, the Stepdaughter leaves and laughs at her family at the end of the play, enabling her freedom away from the cycle of abuse to which her patriarchal family subjects her.