Three Plays: Six Characters in Search of an Author, Henry IV, The Mountain Giants (Oxford World's Classics) by Luigi Pirandello Read Free Book Online

the
fasci siciliani
movement which will form background of novel
The Old and the Young
(1913). Becomes engaged to cousin Paolina.
    Ibsen,
Ghosts
(1881); Strindberg,
Miss Julie
(1888).
1889
Transfers to University of Rome where he enrols in the Faculty of Letters. After writing a number of plays (now lost) that fail to reach the stage, publishes first volume of poems in late Romantic vein,
Joyful Pain
; breaks off engagement to Paolina; quarrels with Professor of Latin and transfers to University of Bonn.
    Giovanni Verga,
Mastro Don Gesualdo
(1889).
1890–1
Studies at Bonn where he obtains a doctorate in Romance Philology with a thesis on the Agrigento dialect (1891). Love affair with German girl Jenny Schulz-Lander to whom he dedicates his second volume of poetry,
The Easter of Gea
(1891).
1892
Returns to Rome where he lives on allowance from father and devotes himself to literature. Meets with prominent writers, including fellow Sicilian novelist Luigi Capuana.
    Italo Svevo,
A Life
(1892).
1893–4
Brutal suppression of Sicilian peasant movement (
fasci siciliani
) by government of Francesco Crispi.
    Shaw,
Mrs Warren’s Profession
(1893); Maeterlinck,
Pelléas and Mélisande
(1893); Federico De Roberto,
The Viceroys
(1894).
1894
First volume of short stories,
Love without Love
; translation of Goethe’s
Roman Elegies
; consents to arranged marriage with Antonietta Portulano, daughter of his father’s business partner.
1895–9
Birth of children: Stefano (1895), Rosalia (‘Lietta’, 1897), Fausto (1899). Begins teaching at college for girls, Istituto Superiore di Magistero (1898). Italian colonial expansion halted by defeat at Adwa (1896) in First Italo-Ethiopian War.
    Wilde,
The Importance of Being Earnest
(1895); Jarry,
Ubu the King
(1895); Italo Svevo,
As a Man Grows Older
(1898); Ibsen,
When We Dead Awaken
(1899).
1900–3
Continues to write short stories, first published in magazines and then collected in volumes. Publishes two early novels
The Outcast
(1901) and
The Turn
(1902). Flooding of the Aragona sulphur mine (1903) in which his father had invested not only his own fortune but also the dowry of his daughter-in-law. At first paralysed by the shock, Antonietta descends into madness. P forced to supplement modest salary by taking in private pupils and working for magazines.
    Freud,
The Interpretation of Dreams
(1900); Strindberg,
A Dream Play
(1901); Luigi Capuana,
The Marchese of Roccaverdina
(1901); Thomas Mann,
Buddenbrooks
(1901); Wedekind,
Pandora’s Box
(1902); Gabriele D’Annunzio,
Tales of Pescara
(1902) and
The Daughter of Iorio
(1903).
1904–7
Innovative and successful third novel
The Late Mattia Pascal
(1904) leads to collaboration with publishing house Fratelli Treves and major newspaper
Corriere della Sera
.
    Chekhov,
The Cherry Orchard
(1904); Yeats,
On Baile’s Strand
(1904); Strindberg,
The Ghost Sonata
(1907); Synge,
The Playboy of the Western World
(1907).
1908–9
Publishes
Art and Science
and his major theoretical essay
Humourism
(
L’umorismo
, 1908) which sets off a bitter feud with Benedetto Croce. Promotion to rank of full professor at Istituto Superiore. Publishes first part of historical novel
The Old and the Young
(1909). Begins composition of novel
One, No One, One Hundred Thousand
.
    Filippo Tommaso Marinetti,
The Futurist Manifesto
(1909).
1910–14
Sicilian playwright-producer Nino Martoglio persuades him to adapt short stories for the theatre (
Sicilian Limes
, 1910;
The Doctor’s Duty
, 1912). Forced to halt circulation of new novel
Her Husband
(1911) because of presumed satirical allusion to Sardinian novelist Grazia Deledda. Publishes final volume of poetry (1912) and complete version of
The Old and the Young
(1913); continues prolific production of short stories. Italian conquest of Libya (1911–12).
    D’Annunzio,
The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian
, with music by Debussy (1911); Dino Campana,
Orphic Songs
(1914).
1915–16
Increased production of Sicilian dialect plays