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Racial And Sexual Boundaries In Passing By Nella Larson

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Passing by Nella Larson focuses on racial and sexual boundaries in the 1920s during the Harlem Renaissance. The novel is about two women with the same origin, yet different life outcomes. Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry are both upper-middle class black women, yet Irene lives a traditional life while Clare has spent her time dangerously passing as a white woman. Although they now live very contrastive lives, they are both light-skinned African American women who are able to pass as white when they please. When these two women come together, however, it is evident that they are even more alike than just these similarities. Clare is a double for Irene because she represents Irene’s desires about race, her feelings regarding her husband, and …show more content…

When reacquainted with Clare, Irene is both attracted and repulsed by her and her lifestyle. Although ostracizing herself from her racial society, Clare “seemed certainly to have succeeded in having a few of the things she wanted” (20). Clare’s confidence in her dangerous situation, where her white husband does not know the race of his wife, intrigues Irene. Irene’s pale complexion would make it easy for her to “pass”; however, she strays from doing so. Yet, Irene admits that “She wished to find out about this hazardous business of “passing,” this breaking away from all that was familiar and friendly to take one’s chances in another environment, not entirely strange, perhaps, but certainly not entirely friendly” (24). Irene has lived a very safe and secure life. However, upon reuniting with Clare, a spark ignites in Irene, lighting up her desire for a life outside of the African American community. Reflecting on a tea party she attended with Clare, Clare’s …show more content…

Irene is married to Brian, a dark skinned doctor, with whom she has two children. They may appear to be happy to their friends, yet their interactions suggest otherwise. Brian talks to Irene in a very demanding way; when asking if Irene will visit Clare, Irene notes that “His words, however were in reality not a question, but… an admonition” (54). The relationship between Irene and Brian requires work from both sides in order to keep the marriage together. And Clare’s appearance in Irene’s life brings out her fears regarding Brian’s loyalty. Irene is nervous that she would “never be free of it, that fear which crouched always, deep down within her, stealing away the sense of security, the feeling of permanence, from the life which she had so admirably for them all” (57). Irene fears that someone like Clare could take away all the security she had made for herself. And, later when Irene concludes that Brian is having an affair with Clare, her psyche takes over. Irene’s reaction suggests that she is paranoid, “She shook her head, unable to speak, for there was a choking in her throat, and the confusion in her mind was like the beating of wings” (90). Irene’s assertion that Brian is cheating on her with Clare emphasizes her insecurity and anxiety over her marriage. Clare’s confidence and demeanor forces Irene to recognize and display her inner feelings. Also, Irene’s

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Clare Kendry lived a dangerous life, passing as a white woman who seems rather unaware of her African American Heritage. Passing has certainly took a huge toll on Clare, beside her apparent death at the end of the book. To start, Clare’s passing gave her a strong sense of insecurity. As Nella Larsen wrote, “I am beginning to believe…, that no one is ever completely happy, or free, or safe”(pg. 67). In this conversation between Clare and Irene, Clare explained that she has no more concerns about being safe ever since she has passed.

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1021 Words | 5 Pages

The novel Passing, by Nella Larsen, is all about relationships; the relationships make it the great book it is. Think Irene and Clare. Irene and her race. Irene and her own self identity. However, one that often seems to be overlooked is her relationship with her husband Brian.

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575 Words | 3 Pages

1920’s society offered a prominent way for blacks that look white to exploit its barrier and pass in society. Visible within Nella Larsen’s Passing, access to the regular world exists only for those who fit the criteria of white skin and white husband. Through internal conflict and characterization, the novella reveals deception slowly devours the deceitful. In Passing, Clare and Irene both deceive people. They both engage in deceit by having the ability to pass when they are not of the proper race to do so.

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I will be taking a postmodern approach to the text and supplementing it with modernism and psychoanalytic theories before stating my final stance that postmodernism may be the most appropriate approach. This approach ensures that different perspectives are present in my analysis and ensures that it is not one-sided. The question that I hope to focus my argument on is “Does the postmodernist approach better emerge the idea of self from racism?” Rottenberg, Catherine. " Passing : Race, Identification, and Desire. " Criticism, vol. 45, no. 4, 2004, pp. 435-452.

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1616 Words | 7 Pages

(Larsen, Passing, 201). With the knowledge of the infidelity in her relationship, Irene questions the love between her and her husband, and the conflict caused by Clare grew. “In conventional works, the passer learns that, regardless of the motivations for passing, such a choice has overwhelming costs. These novels end with the characters' returning to the safe confines of the supportive Black community. Larsen, obviously aware of the traditions before her, chooses not to depict such serene returns for her characters in Passing” (Little 173).

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924 Words | 4 Pages

Nella Larsen impacted the writing world with her fresh and unique approach on themes such as gender and sexuality. Having written Quicksand and Passing Larsen was awarded the Charmon Foundation Bronze Medal for literature as well as being named the first African‐ American women to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship Award, Larsen was celebrated as one of the bright intellectuals of the Harlem Renaissance. At a very young age Larson’s West Indie father Peter Walker walked out of her life and soon after her mother remarried a white man named Peter Larsen that was thought to be the same person possibly trying to “pass” as white like her characters. Larsen’s novel Passing is about two light skinned African‐American women that are trying

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The novel Passing by Nella Larsen takes place in the 1920’s. The Passing consists of two characters, childhood friends; Clare and Irene. Both females are both mixed-race and portrait different lives, Clare lives her life as a white woman. Meanwhile, Irene lives her life as an African-American, true to herself.

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409 Words | 2 Pages

Nella Larson’s novel Passing, tells the story of two African American women Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry who embark on a journey to “reconnect” with one another. Although, similar in appearance, these two women were very different in the way they determined race. For women like Irene and Clare who were physically able to “pass” as white women, despite having African American heritage the typical connotation that race was distinguished by the color of one’s skin did not apply to them. As a result, many women like Irene and Clare would cross the racial lines. The character Clare Kendry was the perfect example of “passing.”

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1484 Words | 6 Pages

It is often said that a new definition of a woman arose in the 1920s. But is that true? While most women experienced many newfound freedoms in the 1920s, black women could not explore these freedoms as easily as white women. In the novel Passing by Nella Larsen, Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry grew up in Chicago together and are now both two wives and mothers in New York City during the 1920s, but there is a big difference between them. The novel’s title refers to light-skinned black women masquerading as white women for social benefits.

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694 Words | 3 Pages

Understanding one another through good, and bad, but allowing the other to get hurt causes greater problems. This quotation relates to the novel Passing because it shows the friendship between two childhood friends who rekindle their friendship as grown adults. The novel Passing, written by Nella Larsen talks about two African American woman with different experiences. The relationship between the two African American woman who share two different lifestyles, but similar in different ways. Both characters have many similarities and differences.

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150 Words | 1 Pages

To start off, Irene’s loyalty is first put into question in the novel, by her childhood friend Clare Kendry. Clare Kendry excited, confused, and surprised Irene. Irene came to learn that Clare had been ‘passing’, or in other words, was pretending to be white in front of her white husband and daughter. Clare’s husband, Jack, did not know that Clare was an African American. When Irene was invited over to Clare’s home, Jack said right in front of Clare and Irene, “No niggers in my family.

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1551 Words | 7 Pages

Passing, a novel by Nella Larsen, addresses the issue of race by telling the story of two African American women - Clare Kendry and Irene Redfield - who represent different aspects of passing1. In the novel, passing refers to the process of crossing the color line, where a light skinned person who belongs to the black racial community enjoys white privilege2. However, people who pass struggle with double consciousness as they long to honor their race without necessarily being associated with it3. The novel is highly invested in ambiguity to show the fluidity and complexity of race, and how it paves the way for passing4. Passing illustrates the struggle African Americans face with their unchosen race and their attempt to control their identity

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What does the practice—“passing”—mean? Being historically discriminated in United Stated, African Americans who have light skin often pretend to be white in order to take advantages and obtain opportunities to survive in the white society. Therefore, this practice is known as “passing” or “passing for white.” To completely pass to be whites, individuals have to leave their hometowns and family because they need to ensure other people who never know their true racial origins. Even though some African Americans have successfully passed to white, they feel the anguish caused by the six conditions of slavery when living in the white community.

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The Effects of Racial Oppression on an Ethical Man In life, there are many scenarios where normal daily activities can ultimately wear down a person to the point of an out-of-character reaction. Whether this reaction be full of anger, sadness, or even happiness, it may not depend if the subject is a morally upright human in the first place. These experiences can be seen in multiple stories in literature. In the story, “Like a Winding Sheet” by Ann Petry, the author uses point of view, characterization, and symbolism to express the effects of racial oppression on an ethical man.

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Finally, these women proved to be fairly similar in their particular role in life to achieve happiness. Myrtle desired to live the same life that Daisy did: she wanted a life full of money. Myrtle lived her dreams in the small apartment that Tom kept for them in New York. When Myrtle changed her dresses, at the same time she was also changing her ‘fake’ characters. In some way, she achieved her goal, she ‘reached her dream’ for an afternoon, a better lifestyle, a life like Daisy 's. There was a big difference between Daisy and Myrtle but one thing was common, their unhappiness.

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