Based on Luigi Pirandello's play - Henry fourth
Masks – a stage prop being used ever since
theaters came into existence. But is it only in theaters that one wears masks?
Are we not performing numerous roles during numerous situations of our lives?
Luigi Pirandello’s play - ‘Henry 4th’ deals with the same
criss-cross of reality and illusion, sanity and madness, truth and fictional
fusions. So what is life all about? Should one be blunt about everything and be
real about those real motives repressed inside or should one appear to be true
in order to match the society in which one resides? Can time be frozen and
lived on till eternity in the shape mind set and shape? Should one avoid all
types of change and nature’s facade?
The play deals with an actor and historian
in 20th century who took his role of Henry 4th of Germany
too seriously. Having met an accident during play, he lost his memory and got
locked into those prisms of time and character forever. His nephew Charles -de- Nollie assured him
comfortable ambience by succumbing to his madness. He created a stage set up of
the fort of Henry 4th for him with his private four counsellors to
take care of him along with a servant John.
The play begins with the entry of one such
counsellor Berthold who undergoes difficulty in getting his role of Henry’s
counsellor in not exactly a play but a play that is reality for a madman. The other three counsellors assure him that
even they are not sure of their roles and they always need Henry's cue to act
according to his desire.
Enter Donna Martilda – Henry’s beloved when
he used to be sane, her daughter – Frieda –aloso fionce of Charles De Nollie,
Belcredi – Martilda’s lover and therefore Henry’s competitor and doctor genoni
– a psychopath – there to treat Henry 4th so that he attains his
senses after a risky shocking experiment of making him encounter both his past
and present at the same time – by bringing both Martilda and Frieda in front of
his eyes.
It
is strange – that woman instinct – that always tell a woman some kind of hidden
reality inside her lover’s heart. It is this instinct that had assured Martilda
that Henry had infact recognized her. She had all reasons to believe so as
henry had made sure she gets it. he had taken her to an isolated corner and
said, ‘ does she love her daughter?’ she was shocked – all confused between real and illusion.
The audience is repeatedly shocked with
stunning revelations time and again, the most significant being the moment when
henry reveals to his counsellors that he is all lucid and has been acting
inswane since many years. Everyone gets shocked with such a strange possibility
of a person voluntarily accepting masks of madness and fixidity of time. It is
there that he reflects that for him the entire world is mad as madman is
someone who is not aware of his masks. In a way, everyone wears some kind of
mask in reality and it is he who despite of being considered a madman – is
however aware of his own mask and is also proudly able to see beyond others’
masks. For him, madman is someone who tells truth but the world cannot digest
truth and hence one is given this category of madness. Madness in real is being
unaware of both your reality and illusion – like that priest in a story who was
once smiling in his dream but moment he woke up and noticed a child observing
him, he brought back a ,mask of serious expression upon his face. Henry
identified with that mask and said only difference between that madman and he
was that the priest was unaware of his voluntarily assumed mask, but he instead
was well aware of what he was pretending and what he was not.
Pirandello had huge issues with doctors of
his time maybe because of their inability to treat his mad wife. His anxiety
appears time and again with his personal views vocalized by Belcredi’s opinion
about doctors and the comment that it is better to have lawyers rather than
doctors in those times. Also, the doctors plan to shock henry was efficient
enough to turn him mad a second time. How do you expect a person living all
frozen in layers of time – to face 20 years loop one shocking time.
The stage setting had one significant prop
of portraits of martilda and henry in
their costumes of Tuskany and Germany respectively. The portraits emerged as dissimilar to
setting that came out through Berthold’s eyes. Henry called those portraits
mirrors and reflected upon his ill fate due to his actions in previous times.
He said that maybe the pope had cursed him to stay 26 forever far off from the
doings of time. In his acts he pleaded sorry and asked once again for the
moment of time. Yet in reality, he was scared of changes and that fast pacing –
fecundity of times.
After 12 years, he suddenly had attained
back his senses , only to lament the changes of times. His beloved was taken,
and so was his world and those anciemt rhymes. He had no more attention, no
more acceptance of his own self in his times. He needed no more changes, no
more pacing intensified times. So he opted to stay mad forever and play with
those illusions of those around. He continued to prefer a lantern than blinding
lights and maintained that 11th century rhyme.
The doings of time yet appear, especially
when one finds that portrait and those in real. when the picture resembles more
to Martilda’s daughter and in illusion mixes all real. it is through costumes
that they had planned to bring henry back to sanity. It is through costumes
that henry was living in the garbe of insanity.
Frieda’s yellings on encountering Henry
horrified him and he for a moment went back to his mad – stage where he grabbed
her to hold on to that once clutched reality. However, he soon escaped in
pretentious self and with his valots’ help managed to hold others back who had
reveled themselves in order to be at frieda’s aid. But ofcourse, Belcredi
managed to escape and for this he paid a huge rate. Henry stabbed him to
revenge his state as Belcredi was the one responsible for his fate. It was
Belcredi who had long back pricked henry’s horse in order to attain Martilda.
For that Henry finally stabbed him hard out of his insane crusade. And there
laughed out at peace. Telling his valots to hold on, they would all now face
the same fate.
The play might seem a shock to be digested
- a play plotted with play inside play - Each character with his own reality,
each with his own theatrical state. What is significant is the themes involved
– those of time and those masks with numerous shades. The urge to hold time and
stop the time’s shifting crate. Those doings of our roles and characters
portrayed .the battered emotions, reality – on trade.
Each of us have our own illusions, each
have reality’s varying notions. Those masks we wear voluntarily, those that are
imposed by social fusions. The play portrays the frozen time – deep inside the
psyche of characters. And yet that need to change with time – human cycles and
their structure. The reality –changing with changing times - Old hair, youth
lost and changing paces of time, Those who get lost in those illusions and
those who are unable to hold back time with their own rhymes.
So do we really require masks or is it ok
to have multiple selves of numerous times. Is life really a theatre or theatre
more life like? Do characters need author or author can on his own all decide.
What does it take to have a play - Mere masks or the puppets of Time?
A madman at times speaks more truth then
those considered as sane and civilized. Who knows who is foolish or who is in
turn pretending to be wise. This world is full of maskd – those varying colors
and voice. Right behind the palest shade is hidden something dark – which masks
its shade – so bright. With past we might stay connected but present is more
alive. To stay in illusion or become illusion - It is all the work of mind.
Some try to follow cyclic history- it has fixed actions and an end to time. How
difficult for some it becomes – to take decisions with varying times. Lucky in
waiting for godot was lucky – as he needed not to decide. All his actions were
the master’s decisions – the game of the playwright. And yet the three others
had this issue with life. To time pass and do some action, while waiting for
death – is a real strife.
So what should one do – to act or stay
inside? is that wide strange world mutable enough or that enclosed illusionary
fort – a better reside? For our madman – it was better to stay fixed – capping
that fiction in real life. Is it too difficult to live or is it the problem
with illusions outside? But the fort is also an illusion. So is all outside.
The real challenge lies in living – right in every actor along with the power
of a playwright. So masks if one has to wear, so be it – to whosoever’s
despise. It is when a person is bare most naked that he is considered to have a
mask to reside.
written by - Mystical Wanderer
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