Elena and Lila: outside and inside the “same story”

Abstract

This article is a reading of the friendship between the two protagonists of The Neapolitan Novels in light of feminist philosopher Luce Irigaray’s theories. It suggests the influence of Irigaray in Ferrante’s representation of Elena and Lila’s female friendship. Ferrante drew inspiration from the philosopher to create the play of shared creativity between the two protagonists and design their opposite characters. Lila corresponds in many ways to the ideal female figure and behavior elaborated by Irigaray in When Our Lips Speak Together, while Elena represents the consequences of detachment from this model. Moreover, the society in which the protagonists live can be seen through the lens of Irigaray’s This Sex Which Is Not One and Speculum of the Other Woman, an approach that reveals its patriarchal essence. These societal constraints and Elena and Lila’s opposite ways of facing them do not allow a female bond outside what Irigaray calls “the same story” – namely, the usual separation that patriarchal economy demands from women.