Character Analysis Of Helga In 'Quicksand' By Nella Larsen

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“An observer would have thought her well fitted to that framing of light and shade. […]. In vivid green and gold negligee and glistening brocaded mules, deep sunk in the big high-backed chair, against whose dark tapestry her sharply cut face, with skin like yellow satin, was distinctly outlined, she was—to use a hackneyed word—attractive.” (Larsen 30)
Throughout Nella Larsen’s Quicksand, Helga is portrayed as a woman of impeccable taste. Her luxurious possessions literally frame her in the opening paragraph of the novel. Helga, much like a skilled artist, is seen throughout her Great Migration to be creating a work of monumental proportions – a portrait of her own self. However, it soon becomes apparent that Helga is unsure of her identity, being “a pretty, solitary girl with no family connections” (33). Moreover, as a child of …show more content…

Helga’s identity can be seen slipping in and out of various styles of clothing in each new environment she finds herself in. Conscious of Modern society’s dress codes she adjusts her clothing’s hem lines, fabrics, colours and patterns, and in effect tailors her identity to fit the various roles society expects from her. Both Quicksand and Passing are swathed with the delicate details of aesthetic beauty, but these seemingly unimportant details are laden with symbolism, and resultantly define the characters which traverse the creased pages, revealing much more than gorgeousness. This essay aims to explore the ways in which Larsen alters W.E.D Du Bois’s

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