My Brilliant Friend

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What was Italy’s role in World War II? How did the nation’s role impact the country in the years following the war? How was life for women in Italy different from that of men during the 1950s and ’60s?   

Teaching Suggestion: This question introduces the novel’s time period and allows students to connect to prior historical knowledge about Italy’s alignment with the Axis Powers during World War II. While students may not be familiar with the specifics of the feminist movement in Italy, they might be prompted to start with the more familiar history of women’s rights in America and predict what the movement may have looked like in other countries like Italy. The context built by this question will help students understand Ferrante’s novel under feminist and historical lenses.  

• “The Historical Truth Behind Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels” in TIME Magazine evaluates the book’s historical context surrounding Naples in commentary from Dr. Paola Gambarota, a professor at Rutgers University. The article also includes photos of people and places of Naples during the time period in which the book is set.