Clare and Irene's Relationship

          Clare and Irene have a toxic relationship, yet they seem fascinated with each other and sometimes yearn for what the other has or lacks. For Irene, Clare reminds her of the benefits of passing as a white woman full time and living a more carefree, lavish lifestyle. In contrast, for Clare, Irene reminds her of what life would look like as an open black woman without the worries associated with passing full time. As the text progresses, Clare and Irene gradually stir up more anger and discontent in each other: “Irene Redfield found it hard to sympathize with this new tenderness, this avowed yearning of Clare’s for ‘my own people’” (51).  They envy each other but do not want the other to remind them of what they gave up or must deal with in return. While the emotions and frustrations continue to bottle up throughout the text, they continue to come back to each other. Perhaps Larsen wants to highlight the two-sided struggle associated with deciding whether to pass and the “no win” circumstances. Either way Clare and Irene feel the constraints put upon them based on their identities, and they struggle to grapple with their own decisions.
          The concept of “passing” applies to more than passing as white women like Irene and Clare do but also other identity factors such as sexuality. The introduction to Passing highlights the prevalence of passing in society for multiple forms of identity: “... ‘to pass’ has come into common usage as a general descriptive verb indicative of masking or disguising an aspect of identity, such as class, ethnicity, religion, or sexuality…” (Larsen and Bernard xxx). People like Clare and Irene “pass” to try to escape the difficulties that arise based on their identities. While passing gives Clare a chance to break away from some of her struggles, she must confront others as she tries to hide her race from her husband and daughter. Regardless of their decision, both Clare and Irene face frustration and discontentment with their lives.