Luigi Pirandello was born in Sicily (the large island near the "toe" of Italy) on June 28, 1867, to a wealthy father who owned sulphur mines. Though his father wanted him to pursue a business career, Pirandello preferred academics and by 1891 had earned a Ph D. in linguistics, eventually spending many years of his life as a professor of Italian literature and language at a school for women in Rome.

In 1894 Pirandello's father arranged for his son to marry the daughter of his business partner, and Pirandello's resulting financial independence enabled him to live in Rome and pursue a writing career. Although he initially focused on poetry and short stones, Pirandello first achieved success as a writer in 1904 with the novel The Late Mattia Pascal. However, in 1903 floods in his father's sulphur mines had brought financial ruin to the Pirandellos and altered the playwright's life irrevocably. Pirandello's wife...