Passing by Nella Larsen - 1292 Words

Another issue that Nella Larsen brings up in her story, Passing, is the aspect of lesbianism. Before the Harlem Renaissance began, people back then were not very open about being a gay or lesbian person. As the years progressed, people became more open about their sexuality if they happened to be different. The Harlem Renaissance was a time period that is known for the blossoming culture of African Americans. The Harlem Renaissance took place in the vicinity of Harlem, New York. This event was a cultural movement for the African American community. It opened the gates for many people to express themselves through visual art, literature, music and other creative activities that gave them the freedom to express their feelings as they†¦show more content†¦The first glimpse of homosexuality that Larsen incorporates into her novel is, â€Å"An attractive-looking woman†¦with those dark, almost black, eyes and that wide mouth like a scarlet flower against the ivory of her ski n† (15-16). Before Irene even recognized that the woman was Clare, she was instantly attracted to her. When one really looks into Larsen’s story, Passing, the reader can assume that Irene and her husband, Brian, do not have many sexual encounters with each other because Larsen states that Irene and Brian sleep in different beds and they go even further by sleeping in separate bedrooms. In the literary analysis, Passing – Nella Larsen written by Kinna, she mentions that Brian wants to quit his job in American and he wants to move to Brazil. If sleeping in different bedrooms is not enough to put Brian and Irene’s marriage on the line, then Brian wanting to settle down and move to Brazil will do the trick. As if Irene and Brian’s marriage is not on the rocks already, Irene goes and makes it worse because she just goes on ahead and assumes that her husband, Brian, and Clare are having an affair behind her back. Nella Larsen makes it sort of easy for Ire ne to make this assumption because Clare and Brian got awfully close to one another and Clare’s husband is a successful businessman, which most likely means that he travels almost all of the time. In the novel, both women are severely lacking sexual encountersShow MoreRelatedPassing, By Nella Larsen950 Words   |  4 PagesKangyl Ko English 63-10 October 6, 2015 Midterm Essay - â€Å"Passing,† by Nella Larsen â€Å"Passing,† by Nella Larsen is a novel all about pretending to be something that you are not. It is about giving everyone the impression that everything is in order when in reality everything is falling apart. Passing in this novel refers to the ability of a person to be classified as one thing, normally a social group, while belonging to a different group. Passing is usually done to gain class or acceptance by groupsRead MoreAnalysis Of Passing By Nella Larsen1065 Words   |  5 PagesIrene’s repressed sexuality According to the Introduction of Passing Penguin Edition the term passing can be defined as â€Å"the movement of a person who is legally or socially designated black into a white racial category or white social identity† (viii). In the novel Passing by Nella Larsen, readers can see passing not only as a racial activity but also as one related to sexuality. The main character Irene Redfield is passing as straight woman that ends up killing Clare Kendry, the woman she seemsRead MoreAnalysis Of Nella Larsen s Passing1731 Words   |  7 PagesNella Larsen’s novella Passing, set in Harlem, New York City in the 1920s, tells the story of the reunion of two childhood friends, Clare Kendry and Irene Redfield, and the resulting exploration of race and finding of one’s identity. The novel is titled for the central theme of racial â€Å"passing,† enacted by Clare Kendry, who passes as white with her husband, John Bellew, serving as the catalyst to the tragic events that propel the plot. Passing is defined as â€Å"the ability of a person to be regardedRead MoreAnalysis Of Nella Larsen s Passing 880 Words   |  4 Pages Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel, Passing, is the story of two African American women, Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry, living in New York in the 1920’s. However, the two women are African American by ancestry rather than outward appearance because both possess light enough skin to be able to pass for white. African Americans passing as white was a common occurrence in post-Civil War America. Passing concerns itself with themes of identity, race, belonging, and oppression, yet Larsen muddles the conventionalRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem Passing By Nella Larsen1351 Words   |  6 Pagesargue about how this poem quoted at the very beginning of this novel implies the how the author express her sympathy and feeling towards their race and how she reveals the female’s inequality in the marriage. At the very beginn ing of book Passing, Nella Larsen quotes a poem from Countee Cullen to start her story. The poem is very short, which has only four lines. However, this short poem reveals the motif of this novel and the purpose of this writing—what is Africa to me? This question is not onlyRead MoreAnalysis Of Nella Larsen s Passing2113 Words   |  9 PagesEarly reviewers of Nella Larsen’s Passing focused on Clare as the protagonist. Readers reacted to her passing as white and her innate desire to return to her roots and the problems that came with it. Contemporary critics such as Mary Mabel Yeoman focus on Irene as the protagonist and her racial passing. They see her as a character that is living and behaving in an anti-black way. The change in opinion is because our society’s view of race has evolved over time, but this alone does not explain theRead MoreAnalysis Of Nella Larsen Made The Term Passing Essay2217 Words   |  9 Pages In 1929, Nella Larsen made the term â⠂¬Ëœpassing’ a tangible phenomenon through her seminal novel Passing. Larsen, an African American woman living in Harlem, details the societal pressure and perhaps even necessity for minorities to ‘pass’ as a member of the majority. The genesis of this social pressure is rooted in the history of the lighter-skinned African American population, but it is a force that almost all minorities have encountered in some form. Passing, while tempting, is ultimately detrimentalRead More`` Imitation Of Life `` By Nella Larsen s, Quicksand And Passing, The Issue Of Passing985 Words   |  4 Pagesand in Nella Larsen’s novellas, Quicksand and Passing, the issue of passing is presented and developed. In Passing, regarding Irene, â€Å"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† (Larsen 157). Both versions of the film and both novellas portray black women who come face to face with the act of passing. In theRead MoreAnalysis Of Nella Larsen s Passing, Issues Of Race, Identity, And Privilege1626 Words   |  7 PagesIn Nella Larsen’s Passing, issues of race, identity, and privilege are explored. Irene Redfield, the African American wife of a doctor, is herself â€Å"passing† in the Drayton Hotel’s rooftop garden when she comes across Clare Kendry, a childhood friend. Clare is passing as white in her daily life with her husband believing that she is a white woman. Although Irene does not approve of Clare’s passing, and tension exists among the characters, Irene grows to feel sympathetic for Clare and becomes closerRead MoreComparing Nella Larsen s Passing And F. Scott Fitzgerald s The Great Gatsby1413 Words   |  6 PagesThe similarities between Nella Larsen’s Passing and F. Scott Fitzgeraldà ¢â‚¬â„¢s The Great Gatsby are fascinating because, among other things, they both portray characters whose hope and progression are cut short by racism, sexual anxiety and nativism. Both novels illustrate conflicts between the past and present that highlight the paradox of what should be the traditional American dream: growth, prosperity and love. These characters embody a restlessness, self-inventiveness and movement that aggravate