[lit-ideas] Re: FW: Six Characters in Search of an Author
- From: JimKandJulieB@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 27 Dec 2005 02:08:21 EST
My maiden name was "Campbell". I can't tell you how often I was asked in
High School if I were a relative of Glen's. My standard response was, "who"??.
Julie Krueger
suffering either holiday post traumatic stress syndrome or a variety of flu
========Original Message======== Subj: [lit-ideas] FW: Six Characters in
Search of an Author Date: 12/26/05 9:23:59 PM Central Standard Time From:
_aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (mailto:aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx) To:
_lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (mailto:lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx) Sent on:
Glen Campbellâs life is a journey. My life too. With Joseph Campbell it
should be "life is a journey", in quotes.
----- Original Message -----
From: _Andy Amago_ (mailto:aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx)
To: _lit-ideas_ (mailto:lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx)
Sent: 12/26/2005 9:56:04 PM
Subject: [lit-ideas] Six Characters in Search of an Author
I finished reading Six Characters in Search of an Author. I want to say
that the following are simply notes, quick thoughts and direct quotations
without credit from the Internet, although I do indicate when Iâm
plagiarizing. Itâ
s written with total stylistic abandon.
I canât say I loved the play, but, I did get a sense of the surrealism in
it. I couldnât help but notice that itâs a play that had to be written in
the
1920âs and not, for example in the 1820âs or even the 1890âs. It was
revolutionary for its time, like much of the literary and artistic work of the
early 20th century. Audiences actually rioted when it was first produced.
The early 20th century had to be a wonderful time to be in literature and
the arts. The atomic age was dawning; Einsteinâs relativity had just come
along, together with Heisenberg and his principle of uncertainty. The
Industrial
Age had a tremendous impact on architecture. The Heisenberg principle
alone explains the inevitability of surrealism. I want to say this sounds
obvious, but Iâve never heard it expressed on this list, so maybe itâs not
so
obvious.
Six Characters also is consistent with the discovery of unconscious
motivation by Freud, and it foreshadows the discovery of post traumatic stress
disorder (my words) as well as the work of Joseph Campbell (my words).
Quoting
from the Internet:
âSix people arrive in a theatre during rehearsals for a play. But they are
not ordinary people. They are the characters of a play that has not yet been
written [Joseph Campbellâs life is a journey]. Trapped inside a traumatic
event from which they long to escape [a veritable definition of PTSD], they
desperately need a writer to complete their story and release them
[contemporary
psychotherapy, indeed the whole New Age thing is about telling oneâs story;
Toni Morrison was mentioned recently]. Intrigued by their situation, the
director and his company of actors listen as the characters begin to describe
and
argue over the key events of their lives...One of the most extraordinary and
mysterious plays of the 20th century, Six Characters speaks directly to an age
of uncertainty: where do we come from, where are we going, how do we become
what we want to be?â
More from the Internet: "Pirandellian themes like the relativity of truth
[very early and mid 20th century], the constantly changing nature of personal
identity, or the difficulty of distinguishing between reality and illusion or
between sanity and madness all have a common threadâthey all point to
uncertainty as a significant part of human experience. As John Gassner has
observed,
Pirandello was consistently "expressing a conviction that nothing in life is
certain except its uncertainty.'"
I canât at the moment see how this play is seminal per se, however. Its
concepts sprang out of and reflected much of the early and mid 20th century,
but
I canât think of any works that it would have directly influenced or
spawned. Anybody have any ideas? Other than the Twilight Zone or Woody
Allenâs
movie where the character comes off the screen? Or even indirectly?
Other related posts:
