Could she have suffered the same fate if she was a bit more friendly?

She wasn't unfriendly, she was just reacting to the hostility that was being shown towards her. She was looking to the ground so as to make it clear to the men she didn't welcome there attention. In the last scene with Renato, she was friendly towards him so under the right circumstances she was a friendly person.

No. Because then she would have been "leading men on." Then when she wouldn't "put out" the men would hate her. And, the women would hate her for being friendly to men in the first place.

She couldn't win. Whatever she did, it was 'wrong.' Would have been wrong. Minding her own business - wrong. Grieving, as a widow of a soldier - wrong. Needing a lawyer - wrong? Throwing in the towel and becoming what they accused of her being anyway - wrong. This movie made me sad! I'm glad the husband came back.

And I was sad for Renato too, I wanted him to just talk to her already haha. I'm an ace at the whole unrequited love thing but damnit I always talked to the people and gave it my all! I know it was an age difference here so obviously wouldn't ever go anywhere, but his lack of saying anything ever (except the very end, and that was minimal) was painful to watch. I even wish he had damn told the husband who he was, or told her at the end his name (since the husband probably showed her the letter). But nooo. I know I know, that was just me wanting a gratifying pay off, and that's not how life is. It was fine for the movie. But I still wanted that moment :P

The problem with this scenario is that there was always going to be someone who disliked and was envious of her. And worst of all, it would have likely been a Queen Bee type who would use coercion, manipulation and groupthink to get people to turn against her. I imagine some of the women would initially have been receptive to her, but they would succumb to the groupthink mentality created by a petty group leader, because no one wants to stand up against or question the status quo. Compound that with the idea that any friendliness towards their husbands on her part would further the hostile environment. Think Jessica Chastain's character in the help: an attractive woman who tried to extend hospitality and kindness, only to be treated like a social pariah because the group of women she was reaching out to were full of weak-minded types who submitted to their hostile Queen Bee leader.

There are few things as fetching as a bruised ego on a beautiful angel. 😇

In a civil society, one shouldn't be obliged to talk to others for the sake of disarming their jealously and hatred

Why is it that attractive people have to be more outgoing than others are? Shallow and small people think that introverted attractive people believe they are better than others, where instead they often feel the opposite and the attention to their appearance is a way to overcome those feelings. Can you imagine walking down a city street while everyone stopped and stared at you? Why is it that the attractive people have to make the first social overture in your mind? Do you feel that they are better than others?

All questions to consider.

first of all i know this is a really old thread. but you have raised a fantastic point which made me ponder and also made me give my thoughts on it.
beauty is a curse,they say. but does it have to be? Being beautiful gives us things(materialistic and otherwise) which otherwise we would have got only if we busted our ass or did something which made us deserving of those things. We get this different and nice treatment from people who attribute many good and ideal things to our personality just basing their judgement of us on our looks. But why would they do that? becasue people have this unsatiable urge to place other people somewhere.To imagine what the personality of someone whom they just met or even just saw would be like. And what material do they have to make this judgement. what raw facts? you guessed it right. its our looks.
If you are a good looking person they behave with you in the same way they would behave with a person who has good personality,and a likable personality,and a person who has all the ideal qualities and good habits,and charismatic,and articulate and gregarious and etc.

But whatever your actual personality is ,it comes into play after this point. So lets say your not gregarious ,instead you are shy. So you go on behaving like a normal shy person irrespective of what their pre conceived notions about you are.But they see you as a person who has a good personality a likable personality,and a person who has all the ideal qualities and good habits,and charismatic,and articulate and gregarious (yes,i copy pasted) but they also see you as a person who ignores others,a person who avoids them,a person who doesnt like talking to them etc.Now does that sound like a shy person. No! (even though you truly are shy).if anything, it appears rude
This is just an example of how the true personality looks in the skewed eyes of people.
I have a used this example specifically because it has relevance to the movie.
"With great power comes great responsibility" and "with great looks comes the great responsibility of a great personality"
So what am trying to say is that if you have good looks you have to have some qualities and personality traits to balance it out.
for example in that good-looking-and-shy is equal to rude situation.You have to show humility. You have to risk approaching new people and also embrace other peoples' effort in trying to talk and mingle with you.
So yeah if she had great PR skills she wouldnt be seen as snobbish and superior. instead she'll be the beautiful woman with a beautiful personality.
I know i havent touched on the 'woman hating other beautiful woman' or the 'envy' part.
Thats because this is a general issue and not just limited to hating or being envious of beautiful people. i gave a broader perspective of the underlying issue which covers the 'envy/hate' part.