Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend explores the power relationships between the two main female characters and how they are conceived through certain environments. Through the protagonists, Elena and Lila, Ferrante is able to address power in a microcosm scale. While both characters struggle to fend off their influence, their relationship becomes a game of opposition as one tries to surpass the other. Within (society), there is a more determinant factor controlling one’s future. This is demonstrated in Lila’s character as she seemingly embodies an ambitious and erudite individual, yet she does not have the resources to project these qualities in school due to her economical circumstances. In this manner, the power of the individual in a miniature
