Pirandello's Theatre of Living Masks

Dante and Augustine delights as a well constructed, elegantly argued, and intellectually coherent study of Dantean ideas through the lens of Augustinian theory. Simone Marchesi deftly juggles all the chief components of Dante's thought and praxis by employing his command of classical and post-classical linguistics, poetics, and hermeneutics. Covering an impressive amount of ground while maintaining a light, graceful style, Dante and Augustine makes a genuine contribution to both Dante Studies and the history of rhetorical and hermeneutical ideas - no mean feat. -- Teodolinda Barolini, Lorenzo Da Ponte Professor of Italian, Columbia University In robust and inspiring prose, Dante and Augustine offers original, well researched insights into the relationship between these two major authors. Marchesi's sound research methodology and excellent knowledge of the field are enlivened by his discussions of language and poetics, which are always clear and elegant. His comparisons between contemporary and medieval linguistic theory are particularly efficient and successful. -- Elena Lombardi, Department of Italian, University of Bristol

In Pirandello's Theatre of Living Masks, Umberto Mariani and Alice Gladstone Mariani offer the first new edition in nearly sixty years of six of his major works.

Nobel Prize-winning dramatist Luigi Pirandello is known worldwide for his innovative, complex plays. In Pirandello's Theatre of Living Masks, Umberto Mariani and Alice Gladstone Mariani offer the first new edition in nearly sixty years of six of his major works - Liola, It Is So If You Think So, Six Characters in Search of an Author, Henry IV, Each in His Own Way, and The Mountain Giants.
Mariani and Mariani's translations of these texts are both vibrant and faithful to the originals, using contemporary expressions and unambiguous language to facilitate readability and comprehension. This edition also offers a critical introduction to each play's most significant characters and structures, highlighting themes and poetics as they correspond to Pirandello's entire body of work. Pirandello's Theatre of Living Masks will appeal to those already familiar with his plays and those looking to discover one of the twentieth century's great dramatists.