The lost daughter(s) in the ties of motherhood, by Elena Ferrante

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the novel The lost daughter by Elena Ferrante, exploring the narrator Leda and her relationship with motherhood. While spending her July vacation on the southern coast of Italy, she relives her “role as a mother” by observing the affectionate relationship between Nina and her daughter Elena, which seems to provoke both envy and admiration in her. Leda, who at some point in her life realized she was part of a long lineage of women who sacrificed their own ambitions for motherhood, joined the ranks of the “abandoners”, women who have abandoned their children. Even though she returned home and resumed caring for her daughters after years, Leda is still haunted by this past. In light of this, we intend to discuss the social pressure on women to conform to the ideal of motherhood, using as a basis the work Antimaternalist manifesto by Vera Iaconelli, which questions the nature of the “maternal instinct” as a cultural construct. Additionally, we will also address the idea of "unnatural mothers," those who do not fit the stereotype of the good mother, facing stigma and social judgment, based on The abandoners by Begoña Gómez Urzaiz.