Thus Boggiolo serves as Silvia's aggressive Id, protecting as well as promoting the wan artist, kowtowing to the whims of opportunistic critics and editors, haggling over royalties, attending swanky parties with bigwigs, hammering out licensing agreements. Wounded by charges he had exploited the couple's relationship, Pirandello refused to republish the novel in his lifetime. The reasons behind the reticence weren't only sensitivity to Deledda's reputation and accusations of author envy. I have a very high opinion of Grazia Deledda. Woman writers should not be thought of as women.
Woman is passivity, art is activity.
That is not to deny that there can be an active female spirit. But then it is not a woman's spirit. For Pirandello, most women were meant to author babies. Roncella is punished for choosing writing over caring for her child. Stringbergian sexual dynamics complicate the story's tale of submission and domination.