Tag: Passing

Monstrous, Angelic, Abject: Clare Kendry and the Collapse of Boundaries in Passing

di Sophie Rossi

This article analyses the character of Clare Kendry in Nella Larsen’s Passing (1929) through the lens of Julia Kristeva’s abjection theory and the image of the Gothic femme fatale. By embodying contradictory archetypes – from the Angel in the House to the Tragic Mulatta – Clare ends by destabilizing rigid boundaries of race and gender. The analysis also aims to show how Clare’s fluid identity exposes the fragility of Irene Redfield’s constructed selfhood, revealing how precarious the nature of identity can be in a segregated society.

Parole chiave: Abjection, Passing, Nella Larsen, Female Gothic, Racial Identity