Irene Redfield

E203742

Irene Redfield is the conflicted, upper-middle-class Black woman at the center of Nella Larsen’s novel "Passing," whose controlled life is unsettled by the reappearance of her racially passing childhood friend.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Irene Redfield canonical 4

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (43)

Predicate Object
instanceOf African American woman
fictional character
literary character
protagonist
upper-middle-class woman
appearsIn Passing
associatedMovement Harlem Renaissance literature
childhoodFriend Clare Kendry
closeFriend Clare Kendry
concern her children’s racial awareness
respectability
social status
conflictType internal conflict about race and identity
conflictWith Clare Kendry
createdBy Nella Larsen
ethnicity Black Americans
surface form: African American
firstAppearance Passing
gender female
hasChild Junior Redfield
Theodore Redfield
literarySignificance embodies tensions around racial passing and authenticity
explores complexities of Black middle-class womanhood
maritalStatus married
narrativePerspective third-person limited
narrativeRole focalizer
nationality American
occupation housewife
personalityTrait cautious
conflicted
controlled
socially conservative
publicationYearOfFirstAppearance 1929
race Black
residence Harlem
surface form: Harlem, New York City
settingTimePeriod 1920s
socialClass upper middle class
spouse Brian Redfield
themeAssociated Harlem Renaissance
colorism
marital conflict
racial identity
racial passing
respectability politics

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Tessa Thompson portrayed Irene Redfield
Passing mainCharacter Irene Redfield
subject surface form: Passing (2021 film)
Passing (1929) hasProtagonist Irene Redfield
Passing (1929) narratorFocalCharacter Irene Redfield