Melina Cappuccio Character Analysis in My Brilliant Friend

Melina is a desperately poor woman who lives in Lenù’s apartment building. She’s Antonio and Ada’s mother, and she’s a distant relative of Lila on Nunzia’s side of the family. Melina has an affair with Donato Sarratore, which leads to a vicious feud between Melina and Donato’s wife, Lidia. Melina’s mental health deteriorates after the affair falls apart, and when Donato and his family pack up and leave the neighborhood, Melina collapses entirely. Melina soon gains a reputation as the town lunatic—few people, Lila among them, defend her against the cruel forces of gossip and isolation that infect the neighborhood.

Melina Cappuccio Character Timeline in My Brilliant Friend

The timeline below shows where the character Melina Cappuccio appears in My Brilliant Friend. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

When Lila and Lenù are still young, Lila’s mother, Nunzia’s, relative Melina Cappuccio is suddenly widowed. Donato Sarratore, a railroad worker who lives in the apartment above... (full context)

...sides with Lidia, the mother of her crush Nino Sarratore, Lila sides with her relative Melina. Lenù attributes Lila’s fealty to Melina not just to their status as distant relatives, but... (full context)

...railroad, rumor has it that Lidia is forcing Donato to abandon the neighborhood to escape Melina. As the Sarratores ready their wagon to leave, the sounds of crashing and screaming begin... (full context)

...arguments with her parents over school and Pasquale. They open the door to find that Melina is having “a new crisis of madness.” Her daughter Ada is shouting for her to... (full context)

...meet up with Pasquale against her parents’ wishes. She tells him about the drama with Melina and Donato, embellishing their “tragic love” and Donato’s poetic gifts. Lenù soon realizes that Pasquale... (full context)

...mother’s hands. Lila says that Donato is a scoundrel for sending the book—now, she says, Melina expects him to come back to the neighborhood, and when he doesn’t, she’ll just continue... (full context)

...feel irritated. She tries to distract herself by talking some more with Lila about the Melina and Donato situation, but Rino reminds Lila that they must get back to work. (full context)

...about Gino. Lila taunts Lenù for having “given in” to love. Lila begins talking about Melina and the hardships the poor woman is facing—Melina has become more erratic than ever, all... (full context)

...to tell Lila about Nino and Lila urges Lenù to tell Nino what’s happening with Melina so that he will tell his father. Lila declares that she will never fall in... (full context)

...starts telling her about his hatred of his father. He cites Donato’s cruel treatment of Melina—and the façade of a family man Donato adopts around his own wife and children—as his... (full context)

...cruelty and betrayals of Lidia with the man she has come to know. Lenù understands Melina a bit better—she now sees how Melina’s “fragile mind” failed to adjust to the “rough... (full context)

...the month, she’ll break up with Antonio. As the month goes by, however, Antonio’s mother, Melina’s, mental health starts to suffer again—she begins saying that she has seen Donato around town. (full context)

...Antonio and tells Donato that the two of them are together. Antonio tells Donato that Melina’s health has suffered greatly because of Donato—if she sees him, she’ll surely end up in... (full context)

Antonio cuts Lenù off. He warns Donato that if he harms Melina in any way, directly or indirectly, Donato will soon “lose forever the desire to see... (full context)

...where they can all sit together. Lenù’s mother calls her over and asks why “crazy” Melina’s son is always hanging around her. She implies that she knows the truth about Antonio—and... (full context)