Lena Kaligaris

Lena Kaligaris

35
    The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Photo Credit: Everett Collection

Character Analysis

(Avoiding Spoilers)

Grew Up… in Bethesda, Maryland with her mom, dad and younger sister, Effie. Lena has always been the quiet one in her big Greek family and especially amongst her group of best friends: Bridget, Carmen and Tibby.

Visiting… her grandparents in Santorini, Greece. The shy and introverted Lena isn’t used to the extroverted Greeks. She tends to relate to her quiet and pensive grandfather much more than the rest of the family, despite his inability to understand English.

Profession… aspiring artist. Lena has a natural gift for sketching and painting, and Santorini provides her with plenty of beautiful landscapes — and people — to draw. Though art is just a hobby for now, Lena spends a lot of her time practicing and someday wants to attend art school.

Interests… painting and hanging out with her three best friends. This summer, they will be apart for the first time but right before they all leave, the friends find a miraculous pair of jeans that fits all of them despite their different sizes. Convinced the jeans are magical, they agree to ship them to one another all over the world as a means of staying connected.

Relationship Status… single. Lena is very beautiful, but doesn’t like to date because she is afraid to fall in love and potentially get hurt. While in Santorini, she meets the charming Kostos Dounas and has a hard time trusting the handsome and captivating young man. As she puts it: “There’s a part of me that wants to let him in but then I feel myself put this wall up and I don’t understand why.”

Challenge… learning to open up to love. Lena has never truly suffered in her life, though she still has a vexing inability to trust others. She is reluctant to open her heart to anyone, and struggles to admit her feelings. As she puts it: “It makes me so sad that people like Kostos and Bridget, who have lost everything, can still be open to love… while I, who have lost nothing, am not.”

Personality… shy, insecure, introspective.  Lena much prefers quietly painting by herself to being the center of attention. Despite her beauty, Lena is modest and hates the stares she gets. She is anxious and afraid of being hurt by others, which causes her to be withdrawn and unable to really express her emotions.

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