Progress Review: 'The Loss and Return of the Dolls in Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Quartet' - Talia Fell

In Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Quartet, the story of the lives of two women is bookended by the loss and eventual return of their dolls. Using psychoanalyst D.W. Winnicott's theory of the 'transitional object' as well as the work of Luce Irigaray and Sigmund Freud, I analyse the symbol of the dolls to understand the situation of girls from their early years. I argue that doll play can be understood to recreate the girl's original union with her mother in infancy. I will also introduce the overall topic of my thesis; a philosophical analysis of girlhood, friendship between girls, and how girls become intellectuals, using the work of Simone de Beauvoir and Elena Ferrante among others.