Henry IV

By Luigi Pirandello

LANDOLPH (to Berthold as if explaining). And this is the throne room.
HAROLD. At Goslar.
ORDULPH. Or at the castle in the Hartz, if you prefer.
HAROLD. Or at Wurms.
LANDOLPH. According as to what's doing, it jumps about with us, now here, now there.
ORDULPH. In Saxony.
HAROLD. In Lombardy.
LANDOLPH. On the Rhine.
ONE OF THE VALETS (without moving, just opening his lips). I say...
HAROLD (turning round). What is it?
FIRST VALET (like a statue). Is he coming in or not? (He alludes to Henry IV.)
ORDULPH. No, no, he's asleep. You needn't worry.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Luigi Pirandello
• Release date: Jun 22, 2016
• ISBN: 9786050462555

Luigi Pirandello

Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936) was an Italian playwright, novelist, and poet. Born to a wealthy Sicilian family in the village of Cobh, Pirandello was raised in a household dedicated to the Garibaldian cause of Risorgimento. Educated at home as a child, he wrote his first tragedy at twelve before entering high school in Palermo, where he excelled in his studies and read the poets of nineteenth century Italy. After a tumultuous period at the University of Rome, Pirandello transferred to Bonn, where he immersed himself in the works of the German romantics. He began publishing his poems, plays, novels, and stories in earnest, appearing in some of Italy’s leading literary magazines and having his works staged in Rome. Six Characters in Search of an Author (1921), an experimental absurdist drama, was viciously opposed by an outraged audience on its opening night, but has since been recognized as an essential text of Italian modernist literature. During this time, Pirandello was struggling to care for his wife Antonietta, whose deteriorating mental health forced him to place her in an asylum by 1919. In 1924, Pirandello joined the National Fascist Party, and was soon aided by Mussolini in becoming the owner and director of the Teatro d’Arte di Roma. Although his identity as a Fascist was always tenuous, he never outright abandoned the party. Despite this, he maintained the admiration of readers and critics worldwide, and was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize for Literature.

Book preview

��2^book_preview_excerpt.htmluX�r�8��)N�V�٩��r\vɶlqF��O!1& �0_���(�ڇT,h���i\VW���(��������~���M����t�c�X�q5�.��E�m|��Ǖ����z6����,��� ����D����d��M��n��0�Pq����O$�{��x 1�}�V���OW�.�x>�[o&�x!��:7���rz���o�1.��W��JVU��*=�6|P�VrU�r$6�_4��n$R�upz]���D޽ѕ���x!(��sM]:��zG�`
�\4���0o��&����mZ㏐����stE
UQ�A�7 �F�~����L�~��ba�\SDP�M���s!]��*/n!Щ<7�qe(��ԇ���� ]�xl ��e�߃�HG�Z���+��"8-���m�Gu�!��4#*��k �A�hdXLk�a�cq[m mt��b�ω)*Y2�1��$:�� �p$��|�E�t��x�l�Q�g���8ᠲ"�pr�hG>���iJ� ��hS���P��p�3��f�ϑ���'��
�������������I<� y���VdpSm�� �_j[��
�5A�H�U���O��� �R��yS�P5j�D�P~��8U�ZG�Xɟ�Q%|��b#mڜP)�-
�GR�������~NڐV�yce9��R��EE�$N6��xj��jQ$)��p�A��u��>Z���Bq޶�$$� ����P��Ξϰ-�k����Zr�b�r�r�����P�J��'8�Xۻh5��w�:V�J��V��|�P�i࿍U�g-Lr5��h��Zz� n?��x[Oi]s�0��I��� 8G�2�AԌPZ���B��W���ztr�5ߏ��]a�ە�T�j$��vZ 4�\���P ��
� �>����W�w��a��<`����� ������
(t'��ڈ����A���v�@�P�;m����;h�n}��(!�i|t���p�<"�!�#�C~E��;E��K�~3����H�!�'> X߻�nF�j��IM�M��z������;��gk��Lu��}���VP���%�S�� ��,ـe��jnF(lj�q�۾eA!`�񳏀��C�6#Q4 e��<��ӦB7g�R�n��zt�ʝNĔ���g�r�1����qN���Ո}~O=���%�Eh+�Z�ɉ�Z��S�f5h_�d���%�@�����.���#��$+�4gL� 8��o�� C�d>�m�)�\�z�n�]Ý�7%\ ���ۜx�H�;q��H5�c��T��Xv_� !X����i�v��H3-L&*!A�b{d?vI�[$OƑ�%�L�sW. �K�q������,�jT3�Sy��৒����|*����E[��-:�6��vDɮ?���W�>�q��aQ���j���e��*r̵���� �,�*=��_�}��#� �0���*�}�R7�7����_�������~��~;j�}: ����bp�FPiH̨X�.�~D�N� =��i�?e=��L,� SK�\]Q�M�Ǟ'��{K�i �-����zcu�� ��n�:n/����DV?ո!=��mqK�v��.F}D{!�MkKt�
�:���J��oFo���:�l����Ђ%�w��D��H!�ܠ�n�TR-ó�Hj�O���0�� ���� d

Enjoying the preview?

Subscribe to continue reading