Cutter says of Clare's statements here: "Clare's statements emphasize a refusal to blind herself by the same scruples as does Irene, scruples about what is or is not proper conduct...Clare represents such a menace because she refuses to play by the rules that Irene and others believe in so firmly. And a player who refuses to play by the rules calls those rules into question, suggesting that they are not permanent, fixed, and closed but changeable, unstable, and open."

Thus is the purpose of Clare's character. She is an opener to the firmly established and stable world of Irene Redfield. She stirs up Irene's notions of race (and 'passing'), sexuality (through her constant flirtation, relationship with Brian, and cross-gender appeal), and humanity (by challenging Irene's concepts of social rules and common decencey). Cutter mentions that "Clare's name itself may be emblematic of her status in the text as a whole:

 Irene is once again ignorant of the meaning of this conversation. Clare is very probably foreshadowing what is to come, or what is already happening between herself and Brian, and Irene is once more confused by Clare and her words, saying she is speaking nonsense.

 Cutter says of Irene's relationship with Brian: "Irene believes that she has 'a special talent for understanding' Brian, that she 'knew him as well as he knew himself, or better' [58]. [Seven] pages later, however, Irene admits to feeling 'helpless' after Clare has infiltrated their lives [64] ."

The irony in Irene feeling that she understands Brian is that, well, she doesn't. She smothers Brian's deepest desire, and in return he closes himself off from her, and she from him, resulting in conversations and arguments of gestures, distractions, and analogies. Hence, while he is saying one thing about Clare, Irene cannot discern that he very probably means another.

 Larsen uses Irene's sons, Junior and Ted, to mirror loudly the attitude of their parents towards Clare. Junior is said to have Irene's temperment, and he is included in the said "admiration" that verges on "adoration," which Irene clearly has for Clare, even while she is reluctant to admit it, it is seen in her tolerant actions towards her. Ted, however, is said to especially admire and adore Clare. Ted's temperment is that of Brian's, who, it is later suspected, has very strong feelings for Clare. Larsen uses Junior and Ted as miniature and more obvious versions of Irene and Brian, and in so doing complicates and deepens the ambiguity surrounding the ending climax of the novel.

 Here, Irene is falling into the mindset that "passing" is done only to gain privileges and status by assuming that Wentworth would never think of sacrificing his white identity for that of a black man. After acknowleding that race is more than color, she ends the conversation by reducing the notion of passing to color. Also, while Irene cannot articulate any major difference between races earlier in the conversation, she states that it would be more difficult for a white person to pass as black, thus implying a tangible and apparent difference between their races.

 Irene is articulating one of the major themes of the novel here. Echoing what Brian says two chapters previously about the indefinite definition of race, Irene conveys the ambiguity of race to someone outside of her own. The fact that the identification of race is ambiguous and unclear when in conversation with somone of another race speaks volumes to the fact that race is more than color. It isn't so simple that Irene can point to the difference of skin tone between her and Wentworth and say "that's it." Larsen uses one of Irene's few memories of the night to reinforce the concept that the dynamic of race goes deeper than skin.

 Irene is indirectly speaking about Clare here. In the previous chapter, Irene discusses Brian in her thoughts, and says that the main point of Brian's good looks is the richness and darkness of his skin. She identifies beauty as blackness, and Clare challenges that association in Irene's mind. Clare is repugnant to her, in more than just her looks, yet that mystifies and transfixes Irene in an unsettling way.

"'butter and egg' men": expression for wealthy men or big spenders.

Terpsichorean: of or relating to dancing.

1. Larsen, Nella. Passing. New York: Penguin, 2003.

2. Merriam-Webster, "Online Dictionary". Merriam-Webster Incorporated. <http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=terpsichorean>.

Irene's conversation with Wentworth is interesting in that for the first time we see her accurately and intelligently articulating her feelings. When speaking to Brian or Clare she tends to be persuaded to a point she didn't orignally agree with. What complicates this is the issue of race. Why is it that Irene is more comfortable in discussion with a while male,

The nursery rhyme Irene remembers is a traditional English counting game. More verses follow the one Irene recites to Wentworth:

Tinker, tailor,

Soldier, sailor,

Rich man, poor man,

Beggar-man, thief.

Tinker, Tailor,

Soldier, Sailor,

Gentleman, Apothecary,

Plough-boy, Thief.

A laird, a lord,

A richman, a thief,

A tailor, a drummer,

A stealer o' beef.

Lady, lady on the sea-shore,

She has children one to four,

The eldest one is twenty-four,

Then she shall marry a

Tinker, tailor . . . .

1. 27

 Not only is Irene drawing a definite color line here, but by stating that she's glad Clare has the opportunity to discover that some coloured men were superior to some white men, she's acknowledging the stereotype of the time that white men were superior to colored men. Irene claims to be content with her race, and she enjoys socializing with white people, such as Wentworth, but she is clearly prejudice to some extent.