Ofelia Pirandella: rozważania nad kobiecym szaleństwem
Ophelia of Pirandello: reflections around female madness

Summary/Abstract: The article is devoted to an analysis of Luigi Pirandello’s drama As You Desire Me which draws inspiration from an actual event connected with questions on the identity of a person suffering from amnesia. Unlike the real incident, the main character of Pirandello’s is a woman known only by her alias Stranger, as the main theme of the drama is establishing her true identity. The present article aims at proving that Pirandello’s drama is not a criminal mystery, but rather a deep reflection on the notion of human personality which in the case of a woman receives new, interesting meanings. One of them is spotting the correspondence between Pirandelli’s Stranger and Shakespeare’s Ophelia, as madness of both characters appears to have similar roots: female’s insanity seen through the prism of both dramas appears as defiance against the culture of patriarchy, but also stems from the conviction of one’s own emptiness and undefinedness. In this context, referring to studies on feminist criticism (E. Shawalter, K. Kłosińska, K. Woźniak), including studies on female hysteria is of relevance. Even though the structure of drama appears to lead to a finale in which the truth about the character is uncovered, Pirandello does not reveal her true identity. However, questions on female identity and female madness are worth reflecting upon, even if they remain unanswered.

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