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CONCEPT of SELF in LUIGI PIRANDELLO a Psychoanalytic Study of Two Heroes

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CONCEPT of SELF in LUIGI PIRANDELLO a Psychoanalytic Study of Two Heroes CONCEPT OF SELF IN LUIGI PIRANDELLO A Psychoanalytic Study of Two Heroes Submitted By Madiha Zulfiqar Supervised By Assistant Professor Mirza Khurram Naseem Baig A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Philosophy English Literature Session (2012-2014) Table of Contents Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………1 Theoretical Background………………………………………………………………………9 Literature Review…………………………………………………………………………….14 Chapter 1: Psychoanalytic Study of Mattia Pascal…………………………………………27 1.1. Trauma…………………………………………………………………………….28 1.2. Otherness………………………………………………………………………….30 1.3. Complexes………………………………………………………………………...34 1.4. Illusion and Reality………………………………………………………………..36 1.5. Identity Conflict………………………………………………………………….39 1.6. Fear……………………………………………………………………………….40 1.7. Low Self Esteem………………………………………………………………….42 1.8. Communiqué Collapse……………………………………………………………43 1.9. Homelessness……………………………………………………………………..45 Chapter 2: Psychoanalytic Study of Vitangelo Moscarda…………………………….......47 2.1. Trauma……………………………………………………………………………48 2.2. Otherness…………………………………………………………………………51 2.3. Instable sense of self……………………………………………………………..52 2.4. Complexes………………………………………………………………………..55 2.5. Fear……………………………………………………………………………….58 2.6. Illusion and reality………………………………………………………………..60 2.7. Identity Construction…………………………………………………………….63 2.8. Low self-esteem………………………………………………………………….64 2.9. Communique collapse…………………………………………………………....66 2.10. Homelessness…………………………………………………………………….68 Chapter 3: Comparison and contrast between Mattia Pascal and Vitangelo Moscarda.70 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………84 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………….....86 Abstract Popular for giving an appreciable shape to uneven nature of self and defining contribution of certain human behaviors in making a person, Pirandello stands apart the crowd. For him, self gains an undeniably significant position in the construction of personality. There are effects of behavior on one’s self and vice versa. However, generally assumed to be one with the identity of a person, the self is not bound to time or place. According to Pirandello it changes and keeps on changing and in doing so it involves the so called dissolution of the ego. This dissertation, therefore initially claims that, Pirandello attempts to put forward his concept of transitory self by revealing the artifice of human existence and the resulting sickness, also by theorizing that the individuality, identity and normality are mere false structures. Therefore, it proceeds to analyze and compare Pirandello’s major characters, illustrating the themes and philosophical ideas that distinctly converge and echo throughout both of the selected narratives. The following work covers two of major characters; Mattia Pascal and Vitangelo Moscarda, from Pirandello’s novels Late Mattia Pascal (1904) and One, No One and One Hundred Thousand (1924), as two representatives of his notion of disintegrated self. These two characters therefore suffer through a journey from unawareness to awareness about self. Both of them live the life of an-other person to realize the essence of their own unified self, however, their strategies do not have a similar motive for hiding under the guise of other. Psychoanalytic theories presented by Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Jacques Lacan and Alfred Adler are taken under consideration and applied as determinants of the direction of this study. Then, there is a further segmentation of the analysis through studying the features like trauma, otherness, fears, complexes, identity conflicts, illusion and reality, communiqué collapse and homelessness in both the pieces of literature. Furthermore, the methodology adopted for conducting this analytic study is described in detail in Theoretical Background section and it reflects all the theories and theorists selected and applied to assist and validate the study in psychoanalytic dimension. The critical study also covers positive and sarcastic criticism on Pirandello determining that he eventually undermines all moral systems, all attempts to deal systematically with human life, and, of course, all individual responsibility. Pirandello's conception of self or, to be more precise, is liable to more than one interpretation, i.e. it may be interpreted as existential as well as spiritual. However, according to Pirandello in both ways, the real essence of being is in becoming No One. 1 Introduction Self and self-consciousness has always been a favorite with the literary personalities since the riddle of self goes as deep as anything when delved into. A number of writers, thinkers and philosophers have aspired to solve the riddle and bring answer to all the questions arising in speculative minds. Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936) struggle all his life to present an essentially satisfying answer to the queries about self. His main conjecture is to present self functioning behind the existence of all human endeavors and personalities along with all the choices he makes. However, he also worked for fetching an understanding of human behavior and certain with respect to self. He opines the view that self is not an everlasting entity but an ever consuming and regenerating moment by moment. Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936), an Italian playwright, a novelist, and a short-story writer, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1934 for his distinguished and unique works enriched with highly individual themes. Educated at University of Rome and University of Bonn, Germany, this genius owned and ran a sulpher mine earlier in his life and performed as a teacher after mines were destructed. Therefore, Pirandello started his career as a writer by producing translations to manuscripts. Since he spent a time span of seventeen years with a trauma stricken and mentally retarded wife under one roof, Pirandello became obsessed with the notion of tragedy, illusion, madness and isolation. As a result these issues further got emphasizing and recurring expression through his later works, whereas, his earlier works were majorly the products of naturalistic fiction. A great deal of identifiable difference between the content of his very first novel and that of his last, explicitly suggested the maturity that he achieved on the way of his writing career. Furthermore, apart from his popular works as novels, plays, short stories and essays, he earned his popularity and distinction by proposing renovating principles for the theatre. These principles, however, 2 became the central theme of his major literary works like his play Six Characters in Search of an Author 1924; and through this he became an important reformer in modern drama. Indisputably unique and eminent Italian writer Pirandello owed lion‘s share of his popularity as a versatile author to his plays, essays, stories and novels that usually followed the trend of questions, contradictions, and intrusion upon one another. Adopting dramatic form for his works, he used the technique of putting spokesperson, that is to say he used to express his peculiar views about uncertainties of life and relevant issues through the tongue of dramatic characters. Moreover, Pirandello was one of those people who were considered responsible for a revolution in the concept of theatre; the mode of presentation of actors and stage, dialogues and performances to bring a philosophical account of theatre and its contents as well. However through his preferred the dramatic form, over other genres because he regarded drama as the only flexible genre among all. Furthermore Pirandello‘s fondness of psychology acquired refinement and maturity by his readings of number of works by remarkable psychologists and psychoanalysts, therefore traces of its penetrated influence were always evident from almost all of his works. However, the Theory of the subconscious personality usually glimpsed through backdrops of Pirandello‘s works. Therefore, when the two roles; Pirandello as novelist and Pirandello as dramatist were mingled together, it established a far-reaching fusion that created the dramatic-fiction form: a product that is cohesive of two realms, one narrative, and the other dramatic. This amalgamation of genres allowed his writings to be undertaken from the perspectives of both imaginary and factual. Moreover, the psychological themes adopted by Pirandello particularly found their most complete expression in Late Mattia Pascal (1904), Shoot (1916), Right You Are If You Think You Are (1918), Naked Masks (1918), Six Characters in Search of an Author (1921), To Clothe the Naked (1923) and One, No One and One Hundred Thousand (1924). 3 Thereupon, a brief review of Pirandello‘s contributions to Italian and English literature as a playwright, a novelist, a short-story writer and as an essayist assisted to form out a comprehensible perception of his life and works. As far as the overall impact of his plays is concerned it always appeared as contradicting, questioning and analytical in nature because instead of depending on actions his plays proceeded with depicting the far reaching philosophies. Therefore, Pirandello's plays in most part, were written as philosophical speculations on the conflicts that he preferred to put as themes of his works; conflict of illusion and reality, of an always changing human personality, shift of identities and of impossibility of communication. Since he aimed at exploring the art of masking and unmasking as central anchor of his writings, he published his collected plays under the title ―Naked Masks‖,
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