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
Lenù feels triumphant about Lila’s good fortune—and her own part in securing it. The shoe shop is busy at work making Cerullo shoes, even as Fernando and Rino clash over the finer points of bringing Lila’s vision to life. Stefano encourages both men to work as hard as they can to reproduce Lila’s designs faithfully. Lenù admires how Stefano, out of plain love for Lila, has moved so many people to do the things she wants—but at the same time, she is waiting for something bad to happen. However, Lenù is surprised (and, admittedly, “disappointed”) when she realizes how easily Lila is settling into life as a fiancée.
Lenù is both envious of Lila’s good fortune and nervous that it will soon come to an end. There is a part of her that is truly happy for Lila’s dreams to begin coming to fruition—and a part of her that yearns for more on Lila’s behalf.
Themes
Gigliola, who is dating Michele, begins spreading rumors that Lila performed oral sex on Marcello every night that he came over to her parents’ house. Lenù becomes nervous about what will happen if these rumors reach Stefano. Soon, though, Lenù discovers that both he and Lila aware of the rumors and find them laughable. Lila tells Lenù that while both she and Stefano want revenge, they have mutually decided to rise above both the Solaras and the “logic of the neighborhood” by refusing to retaliate. Lenù is astonished by Lila and Stefano’s benevolent behavior. Lenù begins to wonder if Lila is somehow trying to “leave the neighborhood by staying” and changing things from the inside out.
