The concept of the mask and the doctor-patient relationship: insights from a (re)reading of Luigi Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author

The concept of the mask and the doctor-patient relationship: insights from a (re)reading of Luigi Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author. The aim of this article is to explore the concept of the "mask" and its relevance within the doctor-patient relationship, as well as within the broader medical-scientific context. The primary reference for this analysis is Luigi Pirandello's work Six Characters in Search of an Author (1921), which embodies universal themes, supplemented by examples from figurative art. What emerges is the patient's necessity, utilizing artistic expression, to narrate their own experiences through a mask that serves as the vessel for their innermost emotions.