Nella Larsen Passing

1366 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Shakespeare's sonnet 64 summary and analysis

According to Psychology Today, Jealousy is usually regarded as the emotional reaction to a threat to one’s relationship with a real or imagined romantic rival. In the short story Passing by Nella Larsen, the aforementioned description can be attributed to the story’s main protagonist. Within the story, Irene Redfield develops feelings of jealousy towards her friend Clare Kendry. Although the two women are initially close, the relationship between the two is severed when Irene starts to believe Clare is having an affair with her husband. At the conclusion of the novel, we find Clare Kendry dead by what we can assume to be Irene's hands. One can interpret Irene's murder as a personification of the inherent similarities between Irene and Clare. Not only does …show more content…

It's just that I haven't any proper morals or sense of duty, as you have, that makes me act as I do."
"Now you are talking nonsense."
"But it's true, 'Rene. Can't you realize that I'm not like you a bit? Why, to get the things I want badly enough, I'd do anything, hurt anybody, throw anything away. Really,
'Rene, I'm not safe." Her voice as well as the look on her face had a beseeching earnestness that made Irene vaguely uncomfortable. (Larsen 1122)

This excerpt does not only convey the thoughts of resolve regarding Clare but also highlights in actuality the true nature of both characters.
The message of Passing by Nella Larsen can best be expressed with the summary of sonnet 58 written by William Shakespeare. Irene was controlled by the will of Clare. Clare was essentially able to do as she pleased with whom she pleased while Irene idly watched. Seemingly, infatuated with and tortured by her friend. However Irene is able to work up to courage to rid her of her strife through murder Unlike Shakespeare, Nella Larsen brings into play elements of jealousy that ultimately contribute to the definition of both characters and builds suspense onto Irene’s

Show More
Related

  • Pass On Michael Lee Analysis

    2661 Words  | 6 Pages

    “Pass On” written by Michael Lee is a free verse poem informing readers on grief, which is one of the most difficult obstacles to overcome not only when losing a loved one, but also in life itself. “Pass On” successfully developed this topic through the setting of an unknown character who explains his or her experience of grief. Despite Lee never introducing this character, readers are given enough information to know how they are overcoming this difficult obstacle. In fact, this unknown character is most likely the writer himself, indirectly explaining his moments of grief. One important piece of information Lee provides is the fact that he has experienced loss twice, one with his grandfather and the other a friend who was murdered by the

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Claudia Tate's Passing

    979 Words  | 2 Pages

    When I first began reading Passing, I couldn 't help but wonder whom the story was actually about; Irene Redfield, the central character to the story, or Clare Kendry, who propels much of the main plot. The book begins with small details about Clare, from how conspicuous her letter was that she sent to Irene, to the story of her father’s death. In A Problem of Interpretation by Claudia Tate, she points out that as early as the first chapter of the story, much about Clare’s personality is revealed just by the letter and her response to her father’s death. I failed to make the connection between those moments and why it was so important that the story opened with the flashback to Clare’s father’s death.

    Read More

  • Nella Larsen's Passing

    563 Words  | 2 Pages

    Clare further extends her self-reflection as she comments on her terrible nature, confessing to Irene that, in order to satisfy her own desires, she would “do anything, hurt anybody, throw away anything,” portraying her harshly selfish mindset that causes inherent danger to those around her (Larsen 65). This depth in understanding herself characterizes Clare’s rule over her life, as Clare makes all of her decisions based on her own desires and wants, contrasting with Irene, who desires control in her own life and maintains a semblance of it, but cannot truly achieve full authority due to her deference to a need for stability. Additionally, the novel identifies this factor from Irene’s perspective, as she describes Clare’s countenance as one that had “a beseeching earnestness that made Irene vaguely uncomfortable” (Larsen

    Read More

  • Essay on Jealousy in Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, and Winter's Tale

    875 Words  | 2 Pages

    In each of these plays, jealousy is used as a means of producing a conflict and creating trouble in the lives of the characters. The jealousy in each play, although it is introduced in a different way, always involves a man being jealous of his wife (or fiancée, in Hero's case) being unfaithful with another man. Whether he misinterpret something he sees, or believe slanderous lies, the man's jealousy builds until it forces him to do something to punish his unfaithful woman. At the end of each play, the man is made to realize his mistake, but sometimes the damage can not be undone. Jealousy is the main crisis in each type of play - tragedy, trage-comedy, and comedy - but its results lie strictly in the way it is introduced, and the intended severity.

    Read More

  • Nella Larsen Passing

    698 Words  | 2 Pages

    In today’s society one of the occasions where passing is recognized is that of a homosexual person passing for a heterosexual. Amid the Harlem Renaissance racial passing was significantly more prevalent; African Americans with lighter complexions passed for white on the grounds that throughout a period of racial isolation life as a white individual was much simpler than uncovering an African American character. The foundation of passing can be credited to racism and its furtherance is attributed to the prejudice against misogyny, sexism, ethnocentrism etc. A famous literary account of passing is Nella Larsen’s novel Passing; in this novel she reveals that passing is more than just a racial conflict and that it is about social status and identity.

    Read More

  • Compare & Contrast 6 Poems

    1499 Words  | 3 Pages

    I will discuss the similarities by which these poems explore themes of death and violence through the language, structure and imagery used. In some of the poems I will explore the characters’ motivation for targeting their anger and need to kill towards individuals they know personally whereas others take out their frustration on innocent strangers. On the other hand, the remaining poems I will consider view death in a completely different way by exploring the raw emotions that come with losing a loved one.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Othello

    1432 Words  | 3 Pages

    The three characters are consumed in jealousy for different reason. And the reasons for the jealousy of the characters contrast. But the jealousy of the three in the end of the tragedy compare because the jealousy becomes a means to the characters demise.

    Read More

  • Death in A Streetcar Named Desire

    1094 Words  | 3 Pages

    This statement also emphasises much of Blanche’s own views on sorrow and explains how it has affected her life since she has made the comment from personal experience. To conclude, Tennessee Williams’ dramatic use of death and dying is an overarching theme in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire,’ from which everything about Blanche’s character has formed from. Without the death of Allan, Blanche would not have resorted to prostitution and the brief affairs with strangers, also the deaths of her family have driven Blanche to Stella’s where she is “not wanted” and “ashamed to be”. Therefore these dramatic deaths have lead to the past which comes back to haunt

    Read More

  • One Art, by Elizabeth Bishop

    1153 Words  | 3 Pages

    The concept of loss is a notable theme in poetry, whether its about love, beauty or even life, many poets tend to render it. Such a theme is illuminated upon by Elizabeth Bishop, a. distinguished 20th century American poet, who, unlike other poets of her time, usually did not write about personal details of her life in her poems. However the poem One Art can arguably be a contradiction to this fact; for Bishop expressed emotions of losing her dear friend in the voice. of the speaker throughout the poem. One Art is a poem about inevitable loss and the incognizant of the difficulty in acceptance.

    Read More

  • Kenneth Fearing’s Dirge

    1633 Words  | 4 Pages

    As a prelude to an inquiry into thematic elements of the poem, it is first necessary to draw out the importance of Fearing’s use of experimental form. Fearing “adheres” to the conventional use of strophic poetic construction, making use of epigrammatic style, where the seven stanzas separate the lament into isolated combinations and experiments on language and the content suggests each might stand alone as organic entities. Putting these highly-varied units into a single poem reflects on the incoherence of broader theme of death and the response to death, the dirge, as well as the notion that such a broad topic as death contains many sma...

    Read More

  • A Parent’s Elegy

    1078 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the early seventeenth century, poets were able to mourn the loss of a child publicly by writing elegies, or poems to lament the deceased. Katherine Philips and Ben Jonson were two poets who wrote the popular poems “On the Death of My Dearest Child, Hector Philips”, “On My First Son”, and “On My First Daughter” respectively. Although Philips and Jonson’s elegies contain obvious similarities, the differences between “On the Death of My Dearest Child” and “On My First Son” specifically are pronounced. The emotions displayed in the elegies are very distinct when considering the sex of the poet. The grief shown by a mother and father is a major theme when comparing the approach of mourning in the two elegies.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Imagery In Sonnet 73

    992 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Sonnet 73,” published by William Shakespeare in 1609, reveals through symbolic imagery and metaphors mans promised fate, death. The theme of “Sonnet 73” is that, as life draws to an end, it becomes more valued. In a melancholy mood, the narrator concedes that many years have passed by and that the end of his life draws ever near. He reflects through imagery, and with a sense of self-pity, the loss of his youth and passion to the ravages of time. In this essay I will detail the use of symbolic imagery and metaphors in “Sonnet 73” and how it portrays the author’s experience of aging.

    Read More

  • An Annotation of Anne Bradstreet's In Memory of My Dear Grandchild Elizabeth Bradstreet

    712 Words  | 2 Pages

    However, the poem shifts focus from what Elizabeth meant to her grandmother to how Bradstreet sees this death. The repetition of "farewell" emphasizes the tragedy of the situation and solidifies the fact that she is gone. She continues to say goodbye as though this little girl died before she should have.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Shampoo

    1385 Words  | 3 Pages

    At a glance, the poem seems simplistic – a detailed observance of nature followed by an invitation to wash a “dear friend’s” hair. Yet this short poem highlights Bishop’s best poetic qualities, including her deliberate choice in diction, and her emotional restraint. Bishop progresses along with the reader to unfold the feelings of both sadness and joy involved in loving a person that will eventually age and pass away. The poem focuses on the intersection of love and death, an intersection that goes beyond gender and sexuality to make a far-reaching statement about the nature of being

    Read More

  • The Last Night That She Lived

    956 Words  | 2 Pages

    The speaker started the poem by desiring the privilege of death through the use of similes, metaphors, and several other forms of language. As the events progress, the speaker gradually changes their mind because of the many complications that death evokes. The speaker is discontent because of human nature; the searching for something better, although there is none. The use of language throughout this poem emphasized these emotions, and allowed the reader the opportunity to understand what the speaker felt.

    Read More

More about Nella Larsen Passing

Open Document