After reading these two plays many of the symbolism and themes remain in the shadow to me because of how complex the genres involved are. Surrealism and Absurd theatre both connote using confusing and irregular forms of plots and dialogues to convey the author’s message. For Albee in The Zoo Story it seems quite apparent that he is dealing with the subject of alienation. Pirandello also touches on this subject through the character known as THE SON in Six Characters in Search of an Author. But here we see the difference is that the son would rather alienate himself from the world rather than face his family and the situation he is forced to be involved in. “Well, go away then, if you want to! [The SON looks at her with contempt and hatred. She laughs and says] You see, he can’t, he can’t go away! He is obliged to stay here, indissolubly bout to the chain.”(pg 191) We can see the same characteristic through Peter in Pirandello’s drama. He too wished to unchain himself from the household that contains his family. They both wish to be free of their shackles but even though Peter is able to achieve this temporarily he will have to return and be in the same position as The Son. As an audience we may not see this initially we are lead to believe the alienation symbolism solely pertains to Jerry’s character but we fail to realize alienation can occur also if one chooses to be away from others in society.
