Dear All
Please bring to class a copy of Lucamante’s essay.
I will be at Hunter tomorrow from 12.30-2.30 if you need to discuss any aspect of your final paper or of the class in general (room 1324HW).
See you soon!
The Earth Moves, But Not in a Good Way
Stefania mentioned early in the semester that Ferrante’s symbols are pretty obvious.
Of all the dissolutions, blurring of boundaries, penetrations, and loss of control that occur in the novel, the earthquake (the 1980 Irpinia earthquake, in fact) is by far the most dramatic: a life-threatening event delivered up by the physical world which occurs when Elena and Lila, both pregnant, are sitting in Lila’s kitchen having a conversation that Elena secretly hopes will yield up Lila’s unpleasant knowledge about Nino.
Just before her body registers the imminent earthquake – “I tried to resume the conversation but something wasn’t right…” (169) – Elena has a confused thought about changing the way she writes to be more like the way Lila talks, that is, leaving gaps that the reader has to fill in rather than telling everything. She envisions the influence of the Solara brothers penetrating the neighborhood anew with their heroin distribution and has flashes of other kinds of penetration: homosexual acts, shooting up. In short, the merging of “desire and death” (169).
Likewise Elena changes her mind, knowing that Lila would penetrate her mind with information she is not ready to handle, and she moves to push it all out of her mind. Then the earthquake hits, finishing the work of repressing her thoughts and petty feelings.
Her description of the shock, of the earthquake “crashing and shattering” “our foundations” (170) seems baldly metaphoric because of what follows. During the evening and night of the earthquake, Lila, terrified and stripped bare of her defenses, confesses in stark terms her smarginatura, revealing to Elena her lifelong, intricate, and painstaking strategies to keep it at bay. Then, very soon afterward, Elena’s mother is finally, clearly, terminally ill; Elena gives birth to the child she so ardently desired; her mother dies; and she discovers Nino in flagrante delicto with the maid in her bathroom. Her “foundations” (170) and the foundations of Naples have suffered violent breakage and destruction; her overlapping of the two is another instance of the tenuous nature of boundaries, in this case the ones between herself and the city itself.
Coveting Mothers
Elena’s parenting has taken many turns throughout her time as a mother. At first she had much trouble connecting to the baby Dede and held resentment towards her for that. Then Elena started devoting all her time to being a mother to Dede and Elsa during their formative years, until Nino came into the picture. Elena started ignoring her children in favor of her love for Nino. She involves her daughters directly in the divorce with Pietro, which must have a lasting impact on them. I think about how much Pietro was affected by that one time he saw his mother with another man; it still had lasting effects until he was an adult. Dede and Elsa have been subjected to much worse, so I can only imagine how it will affect them as adults. Elena even leaves her children with her in-laws for almost a two year period. Dede and Elsa are constantly changing cities and schools and that must be hard on them. It seems extremely unmotherly to me to leave one’s children for that amount of time when they are growing up.
What interests me is the phenomenon of children wanting others as their parents. I remember growing up that my best friend’s mom always made delicious dinner that would be on the table by 6p.m. every night, while my own mother was usually at work until 8p.m. most nights of the week. I used to tell my mother that I wished my best friend’s parents were my parents because they took better care of their children. I am sure that it must have been heartbreaking for my mother to hear that, just as it is heartbreaking for Elena.
When Elena goes to America with Nino she leaves the kids behind with Lila. After they return home they say to Elena, “Mamma, why don’t we go see Aunt Lina, why don’t you let us sleep at her house more, don’t you have to go away anymore?” (135). Elena refers to this as her daughter’s “idealization of Lila” and it “hurts” Elena (135). This encounter made me look both at Elena’s life and my own life and wonder what it is that makes children resentful of their own parents and attached to the parents of others. I tried to find a scholarly article on this subject but had trouble coming across anything of substance, so I will give my own interpretation. I think that one’s own parents are always the ones that have to make the rules and punish their children, while other parents will seemingly treat their own children like angels. It is easy to idealize the treatment of another child by their parents when you don’t live there and don’t see their own children being punished as well. I believe this is especially true for Dede and Elsa who must hold even more resentment towards their mother because she has left them before for long periods of time.
Post 10 and reminders
Dear All,
Thank you for another great discussion. Please keep reading and write your post by Monday, Nov. 25. Download Stefania Lucamante’s essay “Undoing Feminism” and consider, for your post 10: 1) reacting to Lucamante’s essay; or 2) reflecting on the symbolic value of the earthquake; or 3) is there anything else to consider (Lenù as a mother, etc.)? Do you notice any shift in perspective? How is the gender issue shaping up for Alfonso?
Please read also our syllabus page. It hasn’t changed, but make sure that you are aware of what to expect in terms of grading and requirements. If you have any comment about the syllabus, please email me.
Lila’s Clone
We spoke in class about the complicated, yet unique relationship between Lenu and Lila, which is a form of give and take; Lenu is able to improve because of Lila and vice versa. It is possible that over the course of their friendship Lila’s influence managed to subvert Lenu’s identity. It is by this notion that I am beginning to notice that Lenu is becoming Lila, for she is exhibiting familiar acts that we have seen from Lila.
In the third volume, Lila leaves her son to Elena so she can pursue her career. We see this again in the fourth volume, but this time from Lenu, in which she leaves her children in the care of Adelle so she can pursue her needs (Ferrante 37),both of which expressed the same level of selfishness to put their needs above everyone else. In addition, Lenu puts Pietro and her children in an uncomfortable position when she leaves them (30). This is familiar, for Lila puts Lenu in the same uncomfortable position in the second volume when she leaves her to be the “lookout” while she is with Nino. Finally, Lenu thinks blindly about her needs, in which she foolishly claims her devotion towards Nino (35). Furthermore, Lenu is indifferent to the consequences, for she believes everything will work out in the end. Again, we have seen this before in the second volume when Lila begins her affair with Nino, despite Lenu ‘s many warnings. There Lila truly believes that no one will find out about her affair, for she believes that situations eventually works itself out.
Motherhood in Reverse
Although I did not get a chance to write a post this week since I was behind on reading, I would still like to contribute to the posts. I find it appalling that at the beginning of The Story of the Lost Child, Elena makes a comparison between her and Lila’s style of parenting. She goes on to criticize, “Had Lila worried about Gennaro when she left Stefano, when she abandoned the child to the neighbor because of her work in the factory, when she sent him to me as if to get him out of the way? Ah, I had my faults, but I was certainly more a mother than she was.” (Ferrante 24) Although Elena goes on to explain herself, revealing that such sentiments were the result of bitterness and confusion, seeing as how Lila paid little attention to Elena’s children before, it seems as though Elena is attempting to lessen her own feelings of guilt. She knows perfectly well that the circumstances in which Lila committed each of those actions were done out of necessity and desperation rather than in carelessness and neglectfulness towards Gennaro. The abuse, rape and violence that Gennaro witnessed at home with Stefano towards his mother, the necessity to provide for her child and the desire to keep him out of harm’s way due to Naples’ political catastrophes were all motherly and shrewd decisions on Lila’s part. Although Elena should be given the benefit of the doubt in the sense that she’s aware of these facts, it seems as though Elena lacks any pride on her part knowing that her children do not have to fear the same things that Gennaro does. This, in itself, is definitely one of her successes as a mother and grants her the ability to escape the neighborhood, at least physically. However, having known Lila all her life in the context of the neighborhood, she should have realized that what constitutes a “good mother” in Naples is a spark contrast to this concept in Florence. Even so, Elena is in denial, choosing to put off the idea that her children will be harmed mentally by her running off with Nino, and that, in doing so, she is inevitably bringing herself back to the neighborhood where, until that point, she had managed to avoid almost wholly. She is reversing her life by giving in to old desires and forgetting that the future demands her moving on from her past insecurities and pettiness towards Lila.
Meta-Post
Even though everybody’s posts were very interesting and nicely written, I chose to focus on the posts of 4 people.
Katherine talks about how Lenu writes about women and feminism, but when it comes down to helping and empowering other women(in this case Lila), she’s not having it. She emphasized the fact that Lenu’s “feminist role model” was Adele, her mother-in-law, who is not the best example of a feminist, either.
Irini also focused on Lenu’s feminism. She specifically mentioned Lenu’s internal conflict regarding love life, motherhood, and her job as a writer. Her quotes explain perfectly Lenu’s struggle to keep up with everything that is going on in her life, but to also follow her own advice. Even though she [Lenu] considers herself a feminist, she depends on a man, and can’t imagine her life without him.
Ariana is still talking about the females of the book, but her central theme was a little different. She talks about how Lenu is always blaming the people around her about all the bad things that are happening to her, instead of claiming responsibility for her own actions. Lila is trying to protect her friend from Nino because she’s been with him in the past and she knows how he is, but Elena just refuses to take her advice, probably because she thinks that Lila is jealous of her relationship with Nino.
Julie focused on the aspect of code-switching in the novel. She talks about the code-switching between Italian and dialect. We notice that Elena is able to use both Italian and dialect fluently, whereas Lila only uses standard Italian when she is around who are not part of the neighborhood- and even then, it does not come out very naturally- it’s like her words come out of a book she’s read. Elena on the other hand uses dialect when she is mad, feels threatened, or wants to sound dangerous.
From what we have read so far in the 4th volume, we can tell that Elena is focusing a lot on talking about herself and her personal life, and I hope the book becomes more interesting later on.
Superficial Feminism
Lenù’s feminism appears very superficial. She is able write “feminist” literature, and discuss feminist topics with other academics around her, but when it comes to her own life and her own actions, she does not put much of it to use. For example, the ways she treats and perceives Lila. When Lila criticises Lenù’s actions, Lenù immediately proclaims it as Lila being ‘jealous’: “Only now – out of jealousy, surely, because I had taken Nino – did she remember the girls, and wanted to emphasize that I was a terrible mother, that although I was happy, I was causing them unhappiness” (page 23). Instead of seeing Lila as a rational person, she diminishes her. Instead of using her power or status to help other women, she looks down on them, such as with Lila in this example.
Lenu’s lack of concrete real world feminism could be explained in part by her mother-in-law, Adele. Being in a way, a role model for Lenù for many years now, Lenù must have at least in some way absorbed how Adele interacts with others. While Adele seems to be a supporter of women writers, such as by encouraging Lenù in her career, it seems this is just as superficial as with Lenù. Instead of continuing to support her Lenù as a writer, Adele attempts to derail her career when she is no longer with Pietro, being behind a number of bad reviews of her book. She also does not respect Lenù as her own autonomous being, and the work Lenù has done to achieve what she has: ”I’ll take away everything I’ve given you” (page 25). When this is one of her few ‘feminist’ idols, it would be hard for Lenù to know any other way of being a feminist.
Meta-Post
The common themes in this week’s posts were about Elena’s deepening crisis. It seems safe to say that no one is on Elena’s side anymore. Elena is making one bad decision after another and can’t seem to take responsibility for her actions.
Ariana talks about Elena not taking responsibility for her actions and constantly blaming Lila for everything wrong in her life. Paul’s thoughts are similar to Ariana’s. Paul says that Elena is in a toxic relationship but she is unwilling to admit it to herself. She is hiding behind the idea of “exciting” change which she convinces herself is part of being an intellectual. Paul remarks that it is easy for Elena to be blinded by love because she has been in love with Nino ever since she was a child. Irini talks about Elena’s struggle between being a mother, feminist lecturer, and a lover. Kelsey also refers to Elena’s struggle between being a mother and being a writer. And how at different times in the book each one takes more importance. Jackie writes about the impact that men have had on Elena’s education. And although her role model used to he Lila, it is not men like Pietro, Franco, and Nino.
Julie brings up a new subject about code-switching in the novel between dialect and proper Italian. Julie mentions how Elena’s primary dialect is proper Italian while Lila chooses to use dialect. But each will code-switch in different scenarios. Elena when she is mad will speak in Dialect; Lila when she wants to prove her intelligence will speak in proper Italian. Julie ends by discussing times where the characters and code-switched mid conversation, like when Elena turns to Dialect on the phone with Elianora.
Some thoughts of my own. In regards to Jackie, I mentioned in class about how Elena is finally forming her own ideas about feminism, but in this portion of the novel she consistently refers to the book as something that she wrote for Nino. I question what that feminism can mean if it is expressed in writing for a man.
I agree with Paul; it is obvious to everyone around Elena that she has always loved Nino. Antonio tells Elena that it was unfair of her to tell him that she did not like Nino. Elena made Antonio feel like he was crazy, but Elena was just lying to him. Also Elena’s mother-in-law told her that she should not have married Pietro if she loved someone else [Nino]. Elena tries to tell her it’s not true, but they both know it is.
I am excited for the continued class discussion on all these wonderful topics and more.
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.
