Scientific and Philosophical Theories of Relativity in Six Characters in Search of an Author

In 1916 Albert Einstein proposed the General theory of relativity. This mode of scientific relativism touched the thought-pattern of the creative writers. The charm of this revolutionary scientific thought influenced each and every search of knowledge and truth. The scientific relativism fascinated not only the disciple of science, but a group of philosophers and creative writers.

Even popular playwrights of that time revealed their interest. In this direction the first playwright to graft the new scientific idea in his play is Pirandello. Through this play Pirandello succeeded in disseminating the then scientific thought which was sure to affect all hitherto existing traditional structure of thought.

In Six Characters in Search of an Author the father repeatedly talks about the impossibility of communication. The Father says "Since there is no objective truth, there is no chance of coming to terms to reality at concrete level." The Father continues to argue that each of us has his/her own truth, own reality embedded in his/her own solipsistic world. This remark made by the father in his argument with other characters in the play proves that the father is an ardent follower of the subjective truth. The notion of subjective truth, the notion of personal reality, and the notion of individual perception are the effects of the widening impact of the early 20th century's scientific relativism. In the end the father affirms his firm belief in the changing perception, which is the greatest contribution dubbed by the scientific relativism to the field of art.

In Act III the father says what was real for the actors in the past becomes an illusion at the present. This remark inserted by the father in the middle of conversation exemplifies the fact that the absolute categories of truths began to dwindle down with the emergence of the theory of the scientific relativism.

If perception is changing, reality also can change if reality can change, it can become illusion. If reality gives way to illusion, the separate domains of both reality and illusion crisscross. The increasingly blurred boundary between illusion and reality is illustrated in the final scene where the manager utters "pretense". In response the father says "reality".

Related Topics

Six Characters in Search of an Author: Introduction

Six Characters in Search of an Author: Summary

The Relation between the Creator and the Created in Six Characters in Search of an Author

Modernism in Six Characters in Search of an Author

Art and Life in Six Characters in Search of an Author

Relationship between Characters and Actors in Six Characters in Search of an Author

Illusion and Reality in Six Characters in Search of an Author

The Concept of Meta-theatre in Six Characters in Search of an Author

Luigi Pirandello: Biography