Desiree 's Baby : Irony

In the short story, “Desiree’s Baby,” Kate Chopin exposes the harsh realities of racial divide, male dominance, and slavery in Antebellum Louisiana. Although written in 1894, Chopin revisits the deep-south during a period of white privilege and slavery. Told through third-person narration, the reader is introduced to characters whose individual morals and values become the key elements leading to the ironic downfall of this antebellum romance. As Chopin takes the reader through the unfortunate circumstances and unexpected twists of Desiree’s life, a Southern Gothic tale emerges. While Armonde is Chopin’s obvious villain, one should not assume that the other characters are not antagonists themselves, as

Although irony may be associated with negative events or actions, it can also be a sign of good for characters within stories. According to Dictionary.com, irony in literature is defined as “a technique of indicating, as through character or plot development, an intention or attitude opposite to that which is actually or ostensibly stated.” The use of irony is found within the novel The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini. Hosseini uses irony to portray and develop the main dynamic character in this story, Amir. Most of the major events Amir is faced with at a younger age seemingly come full circle when he reaches adulthood. Irony plays a role as Amir lives through tragic events that ultimately teach him how to become a better person.

Irony, a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result. Throughout Night there is use of situational and verbal irony. This use of irony keeps the reader interested. The use of irony causes the reader to know things that the characters often are not aware of.

Irony is most commonly used in dialogue to express sarcasm and humor, however it can also be applied to add depth to literature. Mary Shelley employs irony in Frankenstein to emphasize the truth and prompt her readers to question pivotal concepts. Her use of irony does not intended for humor, but instead, she utilizes ironic devices to enhance her overall themes and convey the unpredictable consequences of actions.

The title itself can be considered an example of irony as the child that Desiree and Armand loved so much will be the cause of her disappearance and probable death. An example of irony can be observed in Desiree’s inability to notice that her son is not purely white, even though most of those who surround her seem to have noticed. The failure to recognise the physical appearance of the child will be the main reason of the feud that begins between Desiree and Armand. Not only the baby’s appearance is ironic, but the physical descriptions of Desiree and Armand are also examples of irony. Desiree, who is constantly associated with whiteness and godly providence will be accused of being of mixed race and seen by her husband as a punishment for

Irony is usually termed as a technique or way or presenting a topic with one meaning, not disclosing to the reader that a totally different thing has happened. For instance, one might say it is ironic to save up the money to buy your dream car and it sells minutes before you get there. In the mind of someone like Edgar Allan Poe, irony can take one a far deeper meaning. One piece of irony is the name of the victim, Fortunato. This is an Italian word suggesting good fortune. (Cummings, 2005) However, we know from the beginning of the story that his fortune is not good. The more one looks for it, sometimes the more minute the irony can be. Take the description of Fortunato:

     In Kate Chopin’s short story, “Desiree’s Baby”, she demonstrates how racism played a major part in people’s lives in the 1800’s. Kate Chopin is extremely successful in getting her readers to feel disturbed by the events in the story. Through words and images, the reader feels touched by the story, either by relating to it at some points or when confronted with things we frequently decide to ignore in the world: the evil some human beings are capable of possessing.

In "Desiree's Baby", irony is a huge part in the story. Desiree's husband, Armand, believes that Desiree had an affair and made the family impure, cursed them with the brand of slavery, and messed up the families white bloodline. It was at the moment when the little quadroon boy was fanning Desiree's baby that she realized that her baby depicted similarities of the quadroon boy. When Armand walked into the room she cried, "Look at our child.

In Kate Chopin’s short story, “Desiree’s Baby,” Armand Aubigny experienced the happiest marriage one could ever hope for with Desiree. They even have a romantic “love at first sight” experience. But then all of this is thrown away because of Armand. “Desiree’s Baby” has a significant impact on its readers because of the irony of Armand’s actions. Chopin describes this through his complex characterization which may explain why racism is able to thrive for centuries.

She uses Armand, Desiree, and LeBlanche to explain the issue that race and gender present throughout the Antebellum era. Kate Chopin uses many different literary devices throughout her writing, but two of the most prominent devices in this story include irony and symbolism. She used the slaves as a way to exhibit the harsh treatment of people due to their race. Armand was very harsh in the matter of racism and gender bias. Race not only attributes to social class as gender stands a big part also; Kate Chopin makes this evident by using symbolism and irony in her short story “Desiree’s Baby” exhibiting several messages such as both racial and gender identities on social judgement. In the end Chopin presents that Armand was wrong about his prejudices about Desiree’s lineage and he had no right to treat her poorly or unjustly based on his own

Kate Chopin is a renowned author of the twentieth century. She is famous for her short stories that were written in the late 1800’s. Most of her works were published in magazines at the time but were a posthumous success because of societal dissent. The beliefs and values exhibited in her works of literature are far ahead of their time by representing women’s desire for independence from being a homemaker. One of her most popular short stories, “Desiree’s Baby,” shows how women had no choice over their own fate and were bound by the will of their husbands during Chopin’s lifetime. It was not well received by the public until years after Chopin’s death because the story draws sympathetic feelings towards the situation in which the main character Desiree finds herself in. In “Desiree’s Baby,” Chopin uses symbolism and irony to present the message of how the innocent suffer unjustly as a result of judgmental attitudes; she does this through the main characters of Armand and Desiree.

Kate Chopin’s “Désirée 's Baby” was set in the days before the abolition of slavery, at a time when the ownership of another person was not only acceptable, but also economically impactful in the south. It was normal to see big plantations owned by whites and tendered by black slaves. We see all of this and more in “Désirée’s Baby”. One of the characters, Monsieur Valmonde finds an abandoned baby one day while out riding. His wife, Madam Valmonde, does not have a child of her own so she takes the baby in and names her Désirée. Madam Valmonde and her husband, Monsieur Valmonde raises the child, until she is old enough to become married. Her attractiveness and especially white skin attract Monsieur Armand Aubigny, a plantation owner, and they immediately become married and have a child. Désirée and Armand both originally associate themselves with the white class, but once the plot unveils their black heritage they are faced with uncertainty, and ultimately their lives become meaningless and not worth living. Throughout the story, Kate Chopin uses symbolism to convey her themes of racial biasness and social ladder in a society. The characters and the setting in this short story help provide the readers with more understanding of how racially charged our society was at that time.

"Desiree's Baby" is not a mere tragic short story by which a reader may be entertained by its ironic and catastrophic ending. It is a story of a crime and brutality against women of all generations to come, depicting vividly how a woman may suffer and conceal her anguish for the sake of others. It is a story of innocence slain mercilessly by the unscrupulous power of harshness that directly governs human societies.

“Desiree’s Baby” is a short story written by Kate Chopin. This story is about a mysterious woman named Desiree who fell in love and married Armand. Together, they had a child which grew to be part African American. As the baby grew older, Armand accused Desiree of being African American and demanded her to leave with the baby. Armand began to remove and burn all of Desiree’s belongings until he found a letter from his mother showing that he is the one with African American blood (enotes 1). In “Desiree’s Baby,” Kate Chopin uses characterization, irony, and symbolism to develop the short story.

In Desiree’s Baby by Kate Chopin, racism and irony is the main focus of the story. The beginning describe Desiree, a woman who was adopted by Monsieur and Madame Valmonde. It is unknown to where she had come from, and the story does not include her past, but it does say that she was abandoned and left on a stone pillar as a baby, and that is where Monsieur and Madame Valmonde found and adopted her. She eventually grows up and marries a wealthy Louisiana plantation owner, named Armand, and he makes it clear that Desiree’s unknown heritage did not matter to him, he loved her, but that began to change when they have a baby together.