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.