Irene Redfield AO5

Question 1

Sigmund Freud

Answer 1

**(1917) concept of the “narcissism of small differences,”
**

From the Lacanian perspective, the “narcissism of small differences” operates within the realm of the Imaginary, where envy and rivalry thrive
**
Link to Film production, when camerawork obfuscated Irene’s vision of Clare & Brian as much closer than they actually were**

Relation to Passing
-Internal Conflict and Jealousy

-Racial Identity and Moral Ambiguity

Question 2

Alice Dunbar-Nelson : (Contemporaneous)

Answer 2

(1929)

“Irene, the ordinary woman, afraid of life, wrapped in home, child, husband, gone Berserker when these latter are threatened.”

Question 3

Claudia Tate: Nella Larsen’s Passing: A Problem of Interpretation

Answer 3

1980

“The real impetus for the story is Irene’s emotional turbulence, which is entirely responsible for the course that the story takes and ultimately accountable for the narrative ambiguity.”

“In fact, Larsen seems to have deliberately avoided narrative clarity by weaving ambiguity into Irene’s every thought and expression.”

Question 4

Richard Bernstein, “Books of the Times; Anguish Behind the Harlem Renaissance” (More Modern)

Answer 4

2001

“**Irene’s strength is in her security in identity **and Clare’s in her defiance and recklessness, both of which are a source of some anguish to the other.”

Link to Narcissism of Small Differences