Throughout this text I noticed a lot of times in which Irene was drawn into doing things that she did not really want to do. This was through the physical pressence that Claire emitted. In the beginning of the text, Irene starts with talking about Claire in such a derogatory manner. When she meets up with her at the restaurant and is in her physical presence, she is completely spellbound. She changes her portrayal and actually seems happy to see her. When they are physically apart she goes back the feeling of not liking Claire.
When she is subdued into going and meeting up with her later on in the week, Irene is upset. Again, when she is in Claire’s presence, Irene is "...even a little glad that she had come (p. 44)." I find this strange. How could the presence of someone be so enticing that simply being around them causes such a change.
It seems that Irene is overcome with so many mixed emotions through the first part of this book. At first she shows resentment and hatred for her. A little further on she is happy that they met up. She doesn’t want to see her again, but is happy to be around her when she meets her at Claire’s house. Irene than shows anger towards Claire when she is put in the position of having to "pass" in front of her husband. It seems that Irene has some type of physical or emotional attraction towards Claire, which I hope is better portrayed at the end of the text.
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I have been picking up on that as well. There seems to be something about Clare that draws Irene in even though she doesn't want to. Its like a drug and in these sections of the book when Irene starts to give in it talks about Clares beauty in detail. There might be some kind of phyisical attraction between them.
I completely agree with your post. I also have noticed that Irene has both an emotional and a physical attraction toward Clare. However, I hope that further in the novel the reason for Irene's attraction is better described and explained more thouroughly.
Shawn you made some very interesting points, all in which I agree. It's almost as if Clare hold's Irene captive with her good looks. A good example of this is on page 96 in the text. It states "Looking at the woman before her, Irene Redfield had a sudden inexplicable onrush of affection feeling. Reaching out she grasped Clare's two hands in her own and cried with something like awe in her voice: "Dear God! But aren't you lovely, Clare!" It's a very different style of writing in which a Larsen is implying. This is possibly a novel written well before it's time.
I have picked up on that as well and after the discussion in class, it only made this more clear. As I've stated many times, Clare has a way of manipulating Irene into doing many things that Irene just doesn't seem to want to do. It's odd though how Irene talks so down about Clare yet as soon as Clare is around she completely changes her view. We've talked about Clare being jealous of Irene for being able to be truthful and stick to her roots, but is Irene jealous of Clare?! It's just interesting to see how different Irene acts with Clare around as well as without her.
I've noticed the same thing that you have. Irene's feelings about Clare are almost entirely dependent on Clare's presence. Clare exibits some kind of pull on Irene whenever she is present. I wish we had gotten a more thorough explanation of why this is somewhere in the novel
Irene giving in really becomes a theme in the first part of the novel. Maybe this is why she (may) have gotten angry enough to push Clare out the window. It certainly seems as if Irene blames Clare for intervening in her life, and by the end I believe she is angry about more than just the possible affair with Brian.
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