The Maze Of Mirror Images In Pirandello's Plays

Luigi Pirandello(1867-1936)is an Italian dramatist and novelist whose works are very prolific.He was awarded the 1934's Nobel Prize in Literature for his achievements on the play.With ingenious drama structure and the strong philosophical thinking,his play works show a maze of mirror images,which reflect Pirandello's attention and thinking of the self as well.Based on the Pirandello's four plays To find oneself,Six Characters In Search of an Author,Henry IV,Clothing The Naked,this thesis aims to explain the forming and characteristics of the "Maze of Mirror images".Meanwhile,combining with Lacan's theory,it aims to explore the circumstances the people facing,and the reflections to readers.Thus,this thesis is divided into four chapters except for introduction and conclusion sessions:Starting from the literary phenomenon of mirror in the history of literature,chapter one mainly analyses the elements and characteristics of such phenomenon,and the far more unique "Maze of Mirror images" in Pirandello's plays.Chapter Two mainly analyses how the "Maze of Mirror images" is constructed.To classify and symbolize the behaviors act as "mirror" in Pirandello's four plays,we define the behavior of language as "Mirror A",and the behavior of re-creation as "Mirror B",then it specifically analyses the kinds of mirror images,the relationships among them and the frame of "Maze of Mirror images" formed on the two face-to-face mirrors.Chapter Three mainly analyses the plight when people are looking for self in the "Maze of Mirror images".According to the theory of Lacan's mirror stage and signifier,it discusses the lost of subject from three aspects of the mirror stage,speech,and play behavior and analyses the process for subject "to find that is lost" as well as the moment of "meet that is lost".Chapter Four mainly discusses how to resolve the "Maze of Mirror images".Through bringing the question that find oneself in the mirror image back to the opposition between "I" and "me",moreover draws support from Franz Kafka's The Castle and Dong Qizhang's Androgyny,to explore how to resolve the "Maze of Mirror images" with life in the condition of easy-going.