Character Analysis Of Irene Scheerer In Winter Dreams By F. Scott Fitzgerald

."..it was that, party that has made me want to see other people. It just...changed everything (196)." The tea party event struck Clare and leads her to remind that she was one of the black cultures and so does now. Clare says Irene is "free", "happy" and "safe" (196). Apparently it is Clare envy toward Irene's status but actually it is Clare's belief that Irene's present status guarantees Irene's happiness and safety.

Clare Kendry in Larsen’s Passing, is a very complex character. She is an African American woman, who is “passing” as a white Caucasian. It all started when her Dad died when she was little, and was taken to her white aunts. Her aunts treated her like she was the help, so this made her want to be wealthy when she is older. Irene is her childhood friend, who saw Clare go through her tough times. They grew apart for a while, but met up in Chicago a couple of years ago. Clare has made herself an outsider through her actions. She is an outsider because she tries to pass as a Caucasian, uses her friends for her own benefit, and secretly wants to get back to her cultural roots.

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story, “Winter Dreams,” ambitious, “desirous” Dexter stands at the threshold between admiring “glittering things” and finding out that the “glittering things” he admires fade away sooner or later. Dexter‘s character throughout this short story, changes in many ways, from being unaware of what he really wanted in life to being aware of what he actually became.

The Great Gatsby is a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald about Jay Gatsby, the embodiment of a rags to riches narrative, and his undying love for Daisy Buchanan. Told in the point of view of friend Nick Carraway, we learn about Gatsby and the lengths he would go to for love. “Winter Dreams” is a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald about Dexter Green, another character who went from rags to riches, his love for Judy Jones, and dreams of being rich. “Winter Dreams” is a prototype of The Great Gatsby because the characters in both works are similar in that Dexter resembles Gatsby, they both cover the theme of time, and the topic of unrealistic love in both of the stories is similar.

When Irene finally realizes that this woman is Clare, someone who chooses to “pass” and hide all traces of her black heritage, Irene’s opinion of her changes. She no longer wants to be involved with Clare in any way, and “had no desire or intention of making the slightest effort about Tuesday. Nor any other day for that matter. She was through with Clare Kendry.” (p. 31) Irene is appalled that someone can so easily throw away her background just for the sake of gaining privilege over another race. When Clare asks her if she had ever thought of passing, Irene replies, “No. Why should I? You see, Clare, I’ve everything I want.” (p. 28) She is happy with what she has, not even having to give up anything to get there. Or at least that’s what she convinces herself to believe. Irene is again hypocritical in her beliefs. Even when she opposes Clare’s view of passing, she is still very interested in the idea. “The truth was, she was curious. There were things she wanted to ask Clare Kendry. She wished to find out about this hazardous business of ‘passing’…” (p. 24) She even admitted that she held for her “a fascination, strange and compelling.” (p. 28) Irene doesn’t seem to be able to decide if she accepts passing as reasonable. She forces herself to disagree with passing, allowing her to hate Clare for doing it. This shows us that sexuality and race are two matters that conflict with each other, at least in Irene’s opinion. She uses race to

In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne’s act of adultery with Arthur Dimmesdale (Hawthorne 231) ultimately leads to negative and positive impacts on her life, including being isolated from everyone in town, being mocked and gossiped about, being more mature, and being more compassionate. One of the negative

During her shopping trip with her friend, Felise, Irene accidentaly met Jack Bellew. Irene considered warning Clare that Jack might aware of her racial status and possibly Clare’s too. However, Irene told nothing for she was worried that Clare’s divorce might encourage Irene’s husband, Brian, to leave her for Clare. Irene relationship with her husband was not good at that time, and she noted that Brian might like Clare more than friend. On one night, Clare accompanied Irene and Brian to Felise’s party which was held on a top of a building. Clare husband, Jack, suddenly came and shouted at Clare “You’re a nigger, a damned dirty nigger!, and tragically, the story ended with Clare’s death which she fell from an open window of the top of that

Unplanned, Irene saw Clare in Chicago and was disturbed by her. After dropping Clare out of her mind, she turned her mind to her lovely family, “To home, to the boys, to Brian. Brian, who in the morning would be waiting for her in the great clamorous station. She hoped that he had been comfortable and not too lonely without her and the boys” (Larsen P1 4). It seems that she has found a destination where she can find her own peace and comfort solution for all her troubles she has. This quote reveals the message that the women should be expected to find their love and their solutions to their problems. This also shows the expectations society has for women. Home is where the women should be at. Throughout Passing, Larsen starts to unveil pieces of her complicated mind and thoughts of Irene. For example, when Larsen brought up how women think about their husbands – “That craving for some place strange and different, which at the beginning of her marriage she had had to make such strenuous efforts to repress, and which yet faintly alarmed her, though it now sprang up at gradually lessening intervals” (Larsen P1 4). Even though she made Brian stay in New York for his job, which showed some power over

In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne decides to be unfaithful to her husband Roger Chillingworth with minister, Arthur Dimmesdale because she is lonely while her husband is gone and she has gotten feelings for Dimmesdale over time. Hester then gets pregnant and has to deal with the consequences for being an adulterous. In Chicago, Roxie Hart cheats on her husband, Amos Hart, with their furniture salesman, Fred Casely because Roxie has always wanted to be a star and Casely told her over and over again, “You’re a star, kid! My little shooting star!” Casely claimed that he knew a guy that would get Roxie into show business, but he lied about that just so he can sleep with her and when Roxie finds that out, she goes insane and shoots him. This contrasts to The Scarlet Letter because after Hester has an affair with Dimmesdale, she does not kill Dimmesdale, instead she keeps her head up, keeps the baby, forgives Dimmesdale, and attempts to get Chillingworth to back off. Chillingworth has made it his goal to ruin the lives of Hester and Dimmesdale because although he expected her to cheat on him, he feels betrayed and he has anger towards Dimmesdale for sleeping with his wife and impregnating her.

Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, the popular, gifted, young clergyman and in which no expected, was Hester Prynne’s secretive lover. The citizens of Boston saw him as the perfect man, who could do no wrong. Little had they known, his sin was just as bad as Hester’s. Just like Black’s quote stated, Reverend Dimmesdale, acted on his light side, and used his sins to preach his best of sermons. Hawthorne stated on page 131, ‘To the high mountain-peaks of faith and sanctity he would have climbed…”. As many can observe, the young clergyman was a tremendous minister. He preached wonderful sermons and truly showed himself to be a man of God. Dimmesdale was a talented young man with a dark side that few people knew of. “…Mr. Dimmesdale was thinking of his grave, he questioned with himself whether the grass would ever grow on it, because an accursed thing must be there” (Hawthorne 131). This shows while he was preaching tremendous sermons, his health started to deteriorate, due to his inner guilt he was holding within himself. Perhaps if his lingering sin had not expended him, he would have been able live a happier, healthier life. However, unfortunately for him, the secret he was keeping was eating at him from the inside out and his darkness was prevailing. Dimmesdale’s sin of keeping the

Although Irene feels that there is "nothing sacrificial in Clare's idea of life, no allegiance beyond her own immediate desire," it is apparent that Clare's desire to return to her African American race is honest, even if the motives seem rather one-sided (Larsen 144). Irene considers Clare to be "selfish, cold and hard" (Larsen 144). Irene also feels that Clare does not have "even in the slightest artistic or sociological interest in the race that some members of other races displayed…[She] cared nothing of the race, she only belonged to it" (Larsen 182). This may be true, but it does not diminish Clare's own pain at having to deny her African American heritage, and her desire to return to it. Irene represents a portion of society who feel that people who pass must have a morally acceptable reason to return to their African American roots such as a desire to rebel against a white society that has forced them into the role of a white person. Just because Clare feels "no permanent allegiance to either the black or white worlds or any of the classic anguish of the tragic mulatto" does not mean that she is not a tragic mulatto (Washington 48). In her own way, "Clare Kendry belongs with that group of tragic mulattos…emerg[ing] as an individual, not as a stereotype" (Davis 98). Because she wants to return to her own race on her own terms illustrates her individuality in the face of the

Later when Clare decides to visit Irene, we see them get emotional over Clare’s situation.

Irene wants to control her relationship with Clare and seems frustrated as she loses control when Clare is around. One occasion, Irene tries hard not to accept Clare’s invitation to meet her but ends up going. Later, Irene’s anger goes away just by the power of Clare’s smile, "And under her potent smile a part of Irene's annoyance with herself fled”. This constant loose of power makes Irene vulnerable and the possible affair between Clare and Brian gives Irene a motive for hating her instead of admitting her lesbianism and losing the life she has worked so hard to build.

F. Scott Fitzgerald was an american author with several breathtaking novels and short stories. Among his most well known pieces of literature is The Great Gatsby which is a about a rich man who is in love with a married woman. “Winter Dreams” is also another piece of literature that Fitzgerald wrote. “Winter Dreams” is about a man's dream of becoming wealthy and dream of marrying the woman he loves. These two pieces of literature are very similar in various aspects that are noticeable as the reader compares the two. The constant mention of the desire of love and the desire for luxury demonstrates that these two things are not always the key to a happy life.

Because Dexter’s life is unintentionally controlled by these dreams, he does not realize that he is being driven toward material success. He is unaware that these dreams are leading him to fall in love with the woman who stands at the core of his materialistic fantasies. His complete focus in life becomes geared toward “gaining the love of a beautiful woman who expresses the glamour and promise of the exclusive world” (Perkins). Dexter begins to strongly believe that Judy Jones is his key to unlocking the world of the rich and wealthy. By illustrating the luxurious lifestyle of Judy Jones, Fitzgerald reveals how she represents, to Dexter, what life is like for the rich and prosperous.