Shared Shame and Affect in Nella Larsen's Passing

Author

Claudia LudwickFollow

Date of Award

8-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

English

Committee Chair/Advisor

Dr. Gabriel Hankins

Committee Member

Dr. William Stockton

Committee Member

Dr. Clare Mullaney

Abstract

This project focuses on the negative affect of shame in Nella Larsen’s 1920s American novel, Passing. While shame is a universal feeling everyone feels, the project argues that Larsen’s two main characters, Irene Redfield and Clare Kendry, feel a specific type of invisible shame that pulls on them differently. For Irene, this shame is reactive and aggressive, but for Clare, this shame is passive and often ignored. The project details where and how the shame manifests for each character, particularly focusing on how shame can be seen visibly and invisibly in and on the body. Because no other character recognizes both characters' pain, the two form a sort of ‘shared shame’, or allyship, in the face of distressing circumstances. However, as the novel progresses, the shame bond weighs more heavily on Irene Redfield, manifesting in extreme bouts of paranoia and self-destructive tendencies. At the novel's end, these distressing emotions are released with Clare’s death, as though Larsen keeps Clare’s murderer ambiguous, the project argues that Irene could be read as the ‘invisible murderer.’ With Clare’s absence, all of the pain and shame is transferred to Irene, who is freed from Clare’s constant presence but reduced to a miserable shell of herself. The project concludes with a larger understanding of the historical context in which Larsen was writing, i.e., why she would be motivated to address the topic of shame given her upbringing. It closes with a broader understanding of shame and how it affects modern readers.

Recommended Citation

Ludwick, Claudia, "Shared Shame and Affect in Nella Larsen's Passing" (2024). All Theses. 4340.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_theses/4340