Whereas in My Brilliant Friend, Lila and Elena thought that the opposite of their poor, working class origins was wealth, in The Story of a New Name, Elena realizes that there are certain privileges that are not “‘just a matter of money”’ (125). She discovers that people who have grown up in a middle-class home with educated parents have automatic advantages because of the ways they speak and present themselves; advantages that no money or school education can buy. Although Elena is galled that Nino has a girlfriend, Elena reasons that Nadia, Professor Galiani’s daughter, is a fitting choice for him because her middle class background makes her “superior to us, just as she was, unwittingly” (125). Whereas Lila, the other beauty Elena admires, takes advantage of the new money she has acquired through her marriage to dress showily, like a fashion mannequin, “every item” of Nadia’s “spring outfit has a deliberate restraint” (69). Nadia, who has never experienced scarcity, has no need to show off her wealth. Instead, she displays her elegance with a seasonal outfit whose components harmonize rather than draw attention.

When Elena goes to Pisa and is for the first time in her life surrounded by middle-class Northern Italians, she learns that while she can match them in their academic success, she lacks their ease and refined manners.