he "reality" that the audience accepts outside of the theatrical presentation, in their everyday lives. He explores the themes of gender relationships, marriage, freedom, conformity, and so on, and he does so in such a way that the struggles of Nora and her husband and the other characters are recognizable to the audience or reader.
Pirandello, on the other hand, sees the theatrical experience as an opportunity to explore "reality" as if it were not grounded in such universally accepted conventions. He rejects the notion that the play should reflect conventional reality and life and begins instead with the notion that a pretense is taking place--the play. The audience which goes to the theater expecting a dramatic narrative in which they can lose themselves will be uncomfortable or disappointed with this play by Pirandello. The playwright does not want to let them sit back and forget the fact that they are sitting in a theater watching actors pretending to be actual characters in familiar situations of conflict and resolution.
To the contrary, Pirandello is calling into question not only the nature of reality in the theatrical setting, but the nature of reality in its entirety. He is asking who we are, what we are, who we pretend to be, how we bring together contradictory and chaotic elements in ourselves and present them as a unified front, and how we agree among ourselves to live our lives based on such fragile premises. There is a playfulness in Pirandello's play, in its anti-narrative approach, in its basically comic form, but there are also important and serious questions being asked (although not answered) with respect to the nature of reality and the function of art as a tool to educate and enlighten.
Pirandello has the Leading Man complain early in the play (or in the rehearsal of the play-within-a-play) about having to wear a cook's hat. He calls it "ridiculous." The Manager responds:
Ridiculous? Ridiculous? Is ...