Author Archives: Irini Belitsis

Metapost

This week the posts varied by three categories: focusing on the earthquake, highlighting other aspects of The Story of the Lost Child, or commenting on Lucamente’s article.

Most of the students chose to react to the effects of the earthquake. Ariana focuses on what the earthquake symbolizes by comparing the scientific cause and effect of earthquakes to the experiences the characters must endure from the disaster. She states, “Lenu is experiencing moments which lead to her own personal earthquake,” as she decides to leave the stability of Pietro to return to the chaos of Nino.” Next, Paul pays attention to the significance the earthquake has on Lila and Elena’s relationship. He emphasizes how earthquakes are uncontrollable and unable to be manipulated by humans and this catastrophe, out of Lila’s power, forces her to “finally confess to Elena all the reasons for her behavior.” Similarly to Paul, Kelsey notes how, on account of the earthquake, Lila is “stripped of the ability to precisely calibrate her thoughts, words, gestures, tactics, and strategies.” Kelsey also highlights how Elena notices the difference in Lila’s fear compared to her own fear of the event. Julie concentrates on the comparison between the earthquake and Elena, noting how the literal foundations of Naples and the foundations of Elena’s life overlap and suffer “violent breakage and destruction,” at the same time. While Naples shatters, Elena’s personal life faces catastrophe – she gives birth, her mother dies, and Nino cheats.

Shoshanna and Skevi both chose to focus on different aspects of the novel. Skevi focuses on the compelling passage that took place at the gynecologist. She comments on Elena describing Lila as “malicious” and “anxious.” Skevi finds that Elena has constructed an image of Lila that is inferior to the image she thinks and wants people to have of herself. She also notes how it is contradicting that Elena finds Lila to be “anxious” when Elena constantly questions her own life decisions. Shoshanna’s post discusses Elena’s rocky transition through motherhood. She highlights how the constant turbulence and “unmotherly” actions will affect Dede and Elsa, mentioning the idyllic image the girls hold of Lila, which juxtaposes with the image they have of their own mother. Shoshanna theorizes that is is easy for children to idealize other parents when they don’t witness the punishment and negativity.

Lastly, Katherine focuses on Lucamente’s article. She notes how this piece swayed her view of Elena. Lucamente describes Elena as an exploitative person, rather than a dependent one. Katherine finds that Elena’s actions are usually always self-sufficient and one-sided, as “most of the relationships she creates are because she can benefit from them,” socially, financially, and academically.

From the posts, it is evident that the earthquake had a notable effect on both readers and characters. The event undoubtedly changed Lila and Elena. It is also clear that this volume displays the repercussions Elena faces regarding her life decisions and the complexities she encounters juggling her personal and professional life.

Undoing Feminism

Stefania Lucamente compares Elena’s use of Lila to ameliorate her life and career to Ferrante using other female authors without crediting them in order to establish herself. Moreover, Lucamente labels Ferrante and her work as not feminist. 

First, Lucamente critiques that Elena Ferrante, if she is Anita Raja, lived through the second-wave feminism and Italian Women’s Movement of the 1970s. But, Ferrante does not “overtly recognize the merit of Morante and Ramondino as her most direct sources,” just as it “pains Elena to acknowledge the merits of Lila for her individual success” (33). 

Next, Lucamente argues that Elena’s narration portrays Lila as a “hysterical woman constantly on the brink of a nervous breakdown (or smarginatura)” and this doesn’t allow Lila to become neither a “full-fledged feminist nor a postfeminist character” (36). 

Furthermore, Lucamente disagrees that Elena’s soul seems to ache for Lila. I don’t agree with this because it always seems as though Lila is a component of all of Elena’s thoughts and actions. Lucamente continues her critique by stating that for Ferrante narrating is only possible at the moment of the disappearance of the most important woman from another woman’s life. She then adds, “a woman’s autonomy becomes possible only at the expense of the sisterhood; it undoes feminism” (39). I think that Lucamente’s argument is problematic. 

I don’t think that Ferrante is “undoing feminism” but instead simply expressing how life works sometimes. I find the fact that her writing shows the autonomy of one woman at the expense of so much does not undo feminism, but in fact, displays the honest difficulties that arise for women and between women. I found a compelling quote in a Vox article that pertains to My Brilliant Friend: “What Elena Ferrante has done is to create characters who are hateable — who sometimes hate each other and sometimes deserve to be hated — and to remind us that women are worthy of depiction in art not because they are better than men but because they, too, are human.”  Ferrante highlights the complexities and various layers of women, which is not unfeminist, but realistic.

Elena’s Struggle between Love, Children, and Career

In “The Story of The Lost Child”, Elena’s fame widens as a lecturer during the feminist movement but she faces a struggle between choosing her strongest loyalties. I really like how Ferrante genuinely highlights the conflict women must endure between professional life, romance, and family.

Elena spends time away from her children and feels guilty, while simultaneously feeling happiness thinking of her time with Nino. She states, “I soon discovered I was getting used to being happy and unhappy at the same time as if that were the new, inevitable law of my life” (76).

Elena also struggles with her romantic life. She displays an inconsistency between her feminist rhetoric and her actions towards Nino. She states, “Although I now wrote about women’s autonomy and discussed it everywhere, I didn’t know how to live without his body, his voice, his intelligence. It was terrible to confess it but I still wanted him, I loved him more than my own daughters….the free and educated woman lost her petals, separated from the woman-mother and the woman-mother was disconnected from the woman-lover from the furious whore, and we all seemed on the point of flying off in different directions” (100). I find this quote incredibly compelling. It perfectly showcases the conflict inside of Elena between her professional, romantic, and family life. She is angered with herself because of the natural desires she has for Nino, while she preaches about women’s independence. She categorizes herself into varying types of women – woman lover, woman mother, and furious whore – and she finds it hard to exist in harmony as all three of those women.

In Spite of Everything

I found the Ferrante interview with Nicola Lagioia to be quite compelling. On the topic of interdependence, Ferrante states, “I wanted them against the closed, fixed state of the environment, to be mobile, so that nothing could truly stabilize them and they themselves would pass through each other as if they were air – but without ever freeing themselves from the gravitational pull of their birthplace” (Frantumaglia, 367). I find this to be a perfect representation of the relationship the girls have with each other and with Naples. Once Elena physically leaves Naples, there will always be a force that always attracts her back mentally and sometimes physically.

Another quote from Ferrante’s interview that I like is “people move between good and bad almost without realizing it” (367). Lila, Lenu, as well as some of the other secondary characters certainly have their good moments and their imperfect moments where they display unfavorable qualities. I think that both Lila and Lenu are insecure in different ways when it comes to their relationship. The power and competition they possess over each other leads each of them to at times demonstrate harshness. I think both girls more often than not realize how they are acting towards each other because they do so to invoke a reaction.

Lastly, Ferrante states, “Writing is an act of pride” (379). This is visible through many of the characters who write like Elena, Nino, Donato, and Lila. Each of these characters at some point feels a sense of satisfaction based on their own literary achievements or abilities. Writing is especially significant for characters in the Neopolitan Novels because it enables them to assert their awareness of Italian. Elena advances in life, socially and economically, because of her expertise in writing Italian, which for a time being provides her with self-fulfillment.

Political Extremism and Social Fracture

The 1960s-1970s displayed a time of political extremism and social fracture in Naples and the rest of Italy. Ferrante’s inclusion of historical events creates authenticity and intimacy to the novel that affects both Elena and Lila distinctly as women, members of diverse classes and different careers.

Towards the beginning of “Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay,” Elena feels a sense that her novel is dismissed as foolish by Franco and Mariarosa in comparison to the current turmoil and activism. Elena states, “in those circles that were so caught up and sucked in by political passions my book was considered an insignificant little thing” (80). Additionally, Franco tells Elena that this is “not the moment for writing novels” (80).

When Elena is at a Communist meeting with Franco, Silvia, Juan, and Mariarosa she displays a sentiment of irritation towards the men in the room. She writes, “The result was that we found ourselves, we three women, in the situation of drowsy heifers waiting for the two bulls to complete the testing of their powers” (75), which displays the gender inequalities within the movement.

Elena stays with Lila in San Giovanni a Teduccio and Lila informs Elena on her involvement with anti-fascists. Lila also tells Elena about the horrible sausage factory and the sexual harassment of her boss. It is evident that Lila’s working-class circumstances influence her political awakening.

Elena also pays attention to the way the boys of the rione are involved in political extremism. She again alludes to gender inequality regarding the political movements of the time when she is with Pasquale and Enzo. She writes, “Maybe they had other male wars to fight” (151). I found the use of “male” as a compelling distinction that exposes Elena Greco and Elena Ferrante’s view towards the gender disparities.

Womanhood and Motherhood in Ferrante’s World

Throughout adolescence and early adulthood, Lila and Lenù must grapple with confronting the socially constructed norms for women, wives, and mothers in Naples. As girls, they had examples of what was expected of females in the Rione. As Emma Van Ness states, “by rejecting the dolls and the significance of those dolls, Lila and Elena open up the opportunity for new significance, for new possibilities for themselves as female objects outside of the familiar, gendered semiotic framework” (299). It is evident from youth that the girls want to be destined for a much more fulfilled life than what is traditionally expected for them.

As the girls grow older their paths diverge as Lenù goes against the expected of a woman and continues in academia and Lila goes down a domestic path. Despite choosing to get married, Lila still tries to be a married woman under her own terms, though that proves to be difficult. Nevertheless, Lila continues to be fiery, fearless, strong-willed, and free-spirited. Ness justly writes, “Ferrante frames Lila from the beginning of her trilogy as a violator of taboo whose boldness blazes a trail for Elena” (299). Lila defies what is considered normal in all of her decisions. She has a child with Nino while she is still married to Stefano. I think that Lila’s constant spontaneous actions and ability to make decisions without caring about how others will think or respond are major points of envy for Lenù, someone is who is meticulous and overly considerate of the opinion of others. But, without Lila pushing boundaries, Lenù would not be who or where she is in life.

Lila quickly becomes a sincerely devoted mother to Gennaro. She personally dedicates her time to making sure he is brilliant. After her encounter with Maestra Oliviero, it is apparent to Lila that her son will be the smartest in the class and go on to achieve a life that she herself should have achieved. The relationships between mother and child are a powerful component of Ferrante’s work. Lila does not want her son to turn out stuck like her, while Lenù never wanted to turn out like her own mother. Lenù was always afraid she would turn out like her mother and I think that was a major factor in how hard she pushed herself to success.

Nino Sarratore: Problematic and Symbolic

Throughout “The Story of a New Name”, Nino’s personality becomes more and more prevalent. He is elusive, charming, intelligent, witty, handsome, and most importantly he seems different than all of the other men in the neighborhood, especially his father. He does not concern himself with the neighborhood drama. Nino is able to use his intellectual charm to physically and emotionally attract many women. He has always been Elena’s only love interest and the one person she obsessively desires. Then, Lila spends more time with him and her attraction to him thickens.

Nino is sexually and intellectually intriguing to both girls. He is an equal who possesses access to a wordly knowledge foreign to Lenu and Lila. He is symbolic and vital to the rivalry between the girls. The girls both crave attention from Nino who represents something else that Lila is able to acquire over Lenu. Nino is symbolic in the sense that he is just another controlling factor in the enduring competition between the girls. The fact that Nino chooses Lila is an unbearable betrayal for Lenu. Present-day Elena writes, “Today I feel some uneasiness in recalling how much I suffered, I have no sympathy for myself of that time” (236). In retrospect, it seems that Elena is critical on her younger self and deems her time and effort was wasted on trivial affairs.

What I find most compelling while reading Ferrante’s second volume is that there is always mutual jealousy between Lenu and Lila. The symbiotic envy between the girls continues from the first novel. Lenu is bitter when Lila gets Nino, while Lila remains envious of Lenu’s academic life that grants her an independence Lila can never attain.

Lila’s constrained life in 1960s Italy

“The Story of a New Name” depicts Lila and Lenu on distinct life paths. Lila is trapped in the role of a 1960s housewife, which “enclosed her in a sort of glass container” (Ferrante 57). She came to the realization that she is indeed her husband “Carracci’s possession” (Ferrante 39) and she must obey his sexual desires and submit to his will. This subordination is habitual for all of the housewives like Lila, for when she returns from her honeymoon with a black eye and bruises no one views the abuse as abnormal, especially her mother.

Despite her captivity in marriage, Lila is still a complex woman, different than the other women of the neighborhood. Lila is able to buy whatever she wants, whenever she wants, just by simply using her new last name. She is able to continue her friendship with Lenu, the one person who makes her happiest and truly completes her. Through Lenu, Lila is granted a look into life outside of the confines of her existence. Lenu is Lila’s ticket to the escape the two girls always longed for as children, therefore Lila continues to push Lenu to study and excel in her education.

Lila still knows how to manipulate others and despite not holding a physical strength, she holds a different rebellious power over men. Regardless of her role as a 1960s housewife, “Lila was Lila, not an ordinary girl of the neighborhood” (Ferrante, 52). Lila craves a life that only Lenu is able to acquire, while Lenu desperately wants to live her life through Lila, creating a balance and reciprocated need for dependency, which continues to be a staple of their friendship.

The Clichéd View of Naples

Walter Benjamin’s take on Naples includes ideas about the “banal tourist” (164). The tourist visits the city to observe much of the other topics of Benjamin’s essay such as the crime, poverty, Camorra, and the gray working-class rione. Benjamin writes that the tourist “fares no better” in Naples (164). I interpreted this as the idea that the tourists who may visit the city with all clichéd purposes and stereotypes in mind may not end up as satisfied once they authentically experience real Naples.

One could argue, as many Italians probably do, that Ferrante’s novel is crowded with these same clichés of Naples recovering from WWII. While corruption, violence, poverty, and strife were certainly prevalent, as they were in many Europeans cities post-war, Ferrante’s book advocates the usual stereotypes that enthrall the foreign reader and tourist into Naples.

The foundations of Ferrante’s plot consist of two poor girls navigating their way through a difficult life. The version of Naples full of the Camorra, disorder, and discomfort is attractive to readers outside of Italy because it is how the city is constantly depicted for the international eye. It is difficult for me to fully decide my take on this novel because it seems rather challenging to write about this period of time in Naples without including the clichés, of which many hold truths to them.

Elena’s Realization: Who is more dependent?

For this week’s reading, I chose a part of the novel found in Chapter 19 of Adolescence. Elena is in high school and it is the first time she truly expresses personal feelings of strength, power, and almost a sovereignty over Lila. Elena is extremely successful in her studies and gains the respect of all of the teachers and many students. Elena is at a place in her life where she finally feels comfortable and not necessarily inferior to those around her, especially Lila.

Elena states, “During that period I felt strong” (pg 163). She continues and expresses a feeling that “Sometimes I even had the impression that it was Lila who depended on me and not I on her. I had crossed the boundaries of the neighborhood, I went to high school, I was with boys and girls who were studying Latin and Greek.” It seems as though Elena almost with her new life she has surpassed Lila, who spends her time surrounded by the less sophisticated class of “construction workers, mechanics, cobblers, grocers, and shoemakers” (163). Elena continues to acknowledge that when Lila speaks to her she sees “with increasing clarity that it made her somewhat uneasy as if it were ultimately she who felt the need to continuously prove that she could talk to me as an equal” (164).

I find this to be a very significant time in the book. Up until this point, Elena has felt inferior to Lila regarding many aspects of life. High school is the one thing that Elena thrives in and she doesn’t have to worry about the threat of Lila stealing the attention. Elena is moving on and exploring life outside the neighborhood, which is something Lila does not have the privilege to do.