Pirandello Reflection

The first and second acts of Six Characters in Search of an Author and Other Plays, in my opinion, were about Pirandello expressing madness and Art within each of the characters. Pirandello expresses madness as a question of representation. Pirandello is trying to get the reader to ask themselves if an actor is real. Can an actor portray the life of a real person? Pirandello thinks that actors are, in fact, fake and they cannot take on the role of a "real" person. Meaning that an actor can only do so much to try to live the life of a "real" person. He does not specify what a real person is, but one can assume that a real person is one that does not live by the standards of society. A real person is someone who is not swayed by what society thinks of them. A real person, in Pirandello's eyes, could also classify as a mad person. As stated in the text Pirandello touches on madness as he writes "I say that it may well be considered a madness, yes sir, a madness, to force the opposite process; that is to create credible situations so that they may appear true" 12. In this quote Pirandello expresses that a person that shows madness is one who poses solutions to problems that cause hindrances and because the pose a viable solution they are classified as mad because they say what others are afraid to say. Madness is also expressed in the article Reality and the Hero  as the author notes "And what is an authentic madman? It is a man who has preferred to go mad, in the sense in which society understands the term, rather than be false to a certain superior idea of human honor" 202. Here the author also validates the point that society labels individuals as "mad" when they state things that normal people would not dare to say.