The Old and The Young

The Old and The Young (I vecchi e i giovani) is a historical novel by Luigi Pirandello, published in 1913. It reflects on Sicily at the end of the 19th century and the disillusionment following the ideals of the Risorgimento, the movement for Italian unification.1

The novel explores themes of the incoherence of personality, the lack of communication between individuals, and the blurred lines between sanity and insanity, or reality and appearance. Pirandello's work often delves into the psychological complexities of his characters, examining the subconscious and the fragmented nature of identity. While it is a historical novel, it also serves as a vehicle for Pirandello's broader philosophical inquiries into the nature of truth and the relativity of human perception.21