Pirandello’s ‘Servitù’

Although dolls are more common in children’s literature, they occasionally appear also in literature written for adults. As in the 16th-century fairy tale by Straparola, ‘La poavola,’ so also in late 19th- and early 20th-century Italian literature the ambiguous figure of the doll represents both the loving world of childhood and a dangerous catalyst for personal change. In Contessa Lara’s ‘La bambola ’ (1887), the doll of the title belongs to a young woman – herself treated by her husband as a doll – who collapses into madness when she believes her doll to be the child she desires and does not have. In Luigi Pirandello’s ‘Servitù ’ (1914), the young protagonist is unable to escape her condition of servant even when she pretend-plays with the gift of a doll. In both short stories, the tragic conclusion occurs when the men in these protagonists ’ lives – husband and father, respectively – physically destroy the dolls. Their violence may be partly explained by the complicated relationship adults, and especially male adults, have with dolls