The (Un)Masking of Patriarchal Power in Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author and Clothing the Naked

This article explores the conflict between female and male voices in two plays by Pirandello, Six Characters in Search of an Author and Clothing the Naked. Through the representation of female characters who ‘talk back’, Pirandello unmasks gender roles as the product of patriarchal power and offers an alternative view to the self-righteous narratives of male characters, especially about sexual abuse. The result is a fractured, humoristic discourse, which reproduces patriarchal gender roles while at the same time casting a doubt on them – that they may well be a constrictive mask that men impose on women; and on themselves.