Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in My Brilliant Friend, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Female Friendship
Masculine vs. Feminine Violence
Women’s Work
Poverty, Social Climbing, and Sacrifice
The Uses of Community
Love, Sex, and Strategy
Summary
Analysis
Lila’s life begins to change rapidly. Lenù accompanies Lila on frequent trips to visit Stefano at the grocery over the next several days. On their walks there, they gossip endlessly about Stefano and Marcello, plotting out the minutia of how to “make things come out right.” Lenù realizes that Lila’s plan is not just to help her family’s business by goading Stefano into buying the shoes, but to secure a marriage proposal from Stefano in order to escape the hated Marcello.
Lenù knows how dangerous Lila and Stefano’s plan is, but she finds herself caught up in the giddiness of the drama the arrangement inspires. There is a part of Lenù that is fascinated by such complicated plans and machinations—a part of her that is afraid of being left out of Lila’s life as she creates a new future with Stefano.
Themes
Three days later, Stefano returns and purchases the too-tight shoes. Stefano pays 25,000 lira for the shoes and another 20 for Lila’s drawings, announcing his intention to have them framed. A few days later, he informs Fernando that he has rented the space next to the shop; if Fernando wants to expand, Stefano says, all he needs to do is say so. Lila privately tells her father and brother that Stefano is prepared to invest in a workshop for making Cerullo shoes. In all of the hubbub surrounding the possibility of expansion, the Cerullos begin behaving somewhat distractedly toward Marcello when he arrives for dinner each night.
The Cerullos, who very recently believed that Lila’s marriage to Marcello was a surefire way to improve their financial and social prospects, quickly begin to realize that Stefano is actually a better suitor not just for Lila but for all of them. The Cerullos are just as desperate to game the system as Lila is—so much so that they even begin neglecting their esteemed guest at the risk of offending him.
Themes
Eventually, Rino convinces the uncertain Fernando to accept Stefano’s offer. Fernando calls Stefano to the shop and tells him that if Stefano puts up the expenses, he and Rino will begin production on the shoes right away. Stefano says he’ll pay two or three workers to join the shop and start immediately. Fernando is hesitant, insisting on employing himself the craft he has learned from his father—but Stefano insists upon having Lila’s exact designs made at once. When Rino asks skeptically if Lila knows about and has agreed to all of these terms, Stefano replies that nothing can ever be done if Lila doesn’t agree with it.
This passage makes it clear that Stefano has effectively taken control of the Cerullos’ business. His offer to marry Lila—and take her away from Marcello’s influence—comes with strings: he wants the chance to build a fortune using Lila’s ideas as a jumping-off point.
Themes
