The closest literary approach that can be used to study Nella Larson's novel Passing, within the parameters of social class and marital status, would be gender studies.
Here is why.
Even though Passing is summarized as
the tragic story of a beautiful light-skinned mulatto passing for white in high society
there is a lot more to the plot, particularly when it comes to the women of the novel, Clare and Irene. This includes their feelings for one another, their roles within their respective relationships, and how each of them responds to their own views on womanhood in a time period when expectations and paradigms of behavior were bestowed, passive-aggressively, upon females. To bypass an opportunity to conduct a closer reading of Passing under the theoretical approach of gender studies would be missing out on a great opportunity to explore a diverse dimension of life for females in the 1920s.
Gender studies
Gender studies analyze sexuality, culture, and marginalized populations, among other factors. At the root of these factors are also found issues that stem from sexuality, culture, and marginalization, namely, marriage, social dynamics, and the interaction among the sexually and emotionally-linked dyads that are solidified through interaction.
This being said, gender studies are essential in Passing. While it is tough enough to be a racial minority in the 1920s, which the main character is, it is even tougher being also woman, particularly in a time when the mere acknowledgement of women's basic rights was frowned upon.
Passing takes place in a time period where the Victorian ideal of the nurturing crux is still very much alive even years after the Victorian period had officially ended. In not so many words, being a woman makes everything all the more difficult in a story about trying to pass for something that you are not. To be black AND female means fighting two different battles.
Clare and Irene
The two lead female characters, Clare and Irene, epitomize a variety of women's issues. The first thing that Irene and Clare have in common, aside from being old friends, is the fact that both of their marriages are crumbling apart. None of the women can really move away from what is obviously a lost cause. Instead, they remain true to the role that they are supposed to fulfill: that, of nurturers and occasional lovers. Regardless of their internal emotions, they know that their only choice is to remain in a loveless binary that, at least, keeps them relevant in a social level. What else could a woman do? The outside world was a black hole that was merely starting to awake to a new generation. Clare and Irene were pretty much trapped in their circumstances. They, and their circumstances, are the reason why gender studies are so important to the novel.
Argument for Gender Studies
Gender studies aim to dissect the women/men binary by analyzing each gender in complete isolation and without the influence of the other. It is as if a scientist were to see a plant growing on its own, and exhibiting its own traits, prior to it making contact with the elements. The important thing is to be careful as to the way that the binaries are correlated. For example, it is never good to assume that man/woman equals strong/feeble.
Clare and Irene are two passionate women with inner turmoils that may very well be caused by the lack of fulfillment that both feel in life. While the two share a connection related to their mutual interest in the society of Harlem, Larson could afford to write an entirely different book dealing only with the inner thoughts, desires, and frustrations of these two women. The tragic ending that ensues never explains in full whether Clare's death is caused directly by Irene. It also fails to explain what exactly ran through the heart of the woman at the time: jealousy? Rancor? Love? Lust? Lesbian frustration?
Gender studies also deal with the "in-betweens", or characters that cannot entirely fill the concept of the "male" or "female" mold. Thus, they cannot be categorized entirely within one gender or classification. This being said, it is hard to place Clare and Irene in a definite "female" position because both women defy their socially-imposed behaviors by clearly rebelling against them the only way that they know how.
Another argument for Gender Studies
An additional argument that supports the use of Gender Studies as literary theory is the way that the problematics of identity are presented in the novel. For example, fitting within the "normative" woman role is an issue in itself. Fitting within the role of the "wife" is an issue, as well. Moreover, rationalizing or even understanding the role of wife, when lies and infidelity permeate the entire relationship, is yet another issue. The identify of the mulatto, while is not a gender study, is also an identity issue that affects the gender issues and deepen their already complex nature.
In all, to apply the theoretical foundation of the study of gender to a novel like Passing greatly helps to realize what could really be going on in the minds and hearts of the female characters who are undergoing so many struggles.
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