Passing

A detailed Summary of Passing

In Nella Larsen's Passing, Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry show us a great deal about race and sexuality in the 1920s. Both are extremely light-skinned women of African-American descent. However similar they appear to be, their views on race, a very controversial issue at the time, differ significantly. Clare chooses to use her physical appearance as an advantage in America's racist and sexist society, leaving behind everything that connects her to her African-American identity. She presents herself as an object of sexual desire, flaunting herself to gain attention. Irene is practically the opposite, deciding that she wants to remain with the label of being black. She is subtle with her sexuality, never attempting to use her beauty to gain advantages. Linking these two women is a strange relationship, in which Clare and Irene both view each other in a sexually desirable way. Nevertheless, even with that desire for Clare, Irene obviously holds some contempt for her through jealousy, to the extent of wishing that she were dead. This jealousy is also based on social status. Irene is jealous of Clare's ability to succeed, even though she may not know it. The root of Irene's jealousy of Clare is in the

se three ideas of race, sexuality, and class, making Irene despise someone who she obviously also loves.

Nella Larsen's novel presents us with a good view of women's issues of the early 20th century. We see in the two characters seemingly different interpretations of what race, sexuality, and class can and should be used for. For Clare, passing takes her into a whole new world of advantages that she would not have had if she had remained a part of the African-American community. She gains social status and can be seen as an object of sexual desire for many people, not only the black community. Irene leads herself to think that passing is unnecessary, and that she can live a totally happy life remaining who she is. What she fails to realize is that she is jealous of Clare's status and sometimes passes herself subconsciously. Larsen presents to us the main point of the book - that the root of the love, hate, desire, and rejection that Irene holds for Clare is a result of social standing, not only passing and sexuality.

However much race and passing seem to be the main reasons why Irene hates Clare, there is another. The book seems also to be a novel about women's jealousy, involving not only race and sexuality, but also success. It is a view on socioeconomic issues. With another approach of analysis of the book, we see that Irene's jealousy and contempt for Clare does not only originate with passing, but also class. Irene's oppression as an African-American is not blatantly displayed, and she makes herself believe that she is above it. Still, we are able to see this f

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Category: English