Desiree's Baby

Since the beginning of time, women have been treated as second class citizens. Therefore, women were forced to face many problems. Because of this women were repressed. At that time, the Napoleonic Code stated that women were controlled by their husbands and cannot freely do their own will without the authority of their husband. This paper shows how this is evident in the "Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin and " A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner. In both stories, the use of literary elements such as foreshadowing, symbolism, and significant meaning of the titles are essential in bringing the reader to an unexpected and ironic conclusion.

Desiree is dependent upon Armand like a slave to a master.  Her unconditional love for Armand despite her subordinate position in the relationship illustrates how truly dependent she is upon him.

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

When the notorious topic of women’s role in society comes to mind writers like Kate Chopin and Mary Wilkins Freeman break the norms of how women in America were imagined to be through different cultures and regions. In both Kate Chopin’s and Mary Wilkins Freeman’s time period women are portrayed as an ample servant to their husbands. Together the texts show how the controlled understanding of the nineteenth century society, had on women. At that time of these writers, people were restrictive about the viewpoint of women’s place in society. Women could not really do much without their Husband or another male figure in their life , they really didn’t have a voice of their own. In the stories A New England Nun , Desiree’s Baby, The Story of an Hour, and The Storm, Mary and Kate have represented how this situation of the society affected women and their viewpoints about life and marriage.

Chopin has Armand display affection toward Desiree and he offers her his family name: “What did it matter about a name when he could give her one of the oldest and proudest in Louisiana?” This contrasts Armand’s later behavior in the story but also underscores his pride towards his family name. Desiree also expresses doubt upon Armand’s love for their child. When talking to her mother Desiree says, “Oh, Armand is the proudest father in the parish […] chiefly because it is a boy, to bear his name; though he says not, —that he would have loved a girl as well. But I know it isn’t true I know he says that to please me” (Chopin). Armand would not care for the child if it does not carry on the family name, bringing to light his true colors. By showing these character’s prideful behavior, Poe and Chopin lead us into to showing how their behavior affects their fates.

Desiree's Baby: Irony In the beginning of Desiree's Baby, Armand and Desiree were living in pure bliss. " Oh, Armand is the proudest father in the parish, I believe chiefly because it is a boy, to bear his name, though he says not—that he would have loved a girl as well." Since the day he fell in love with her, there were very few frowns seen upon his face.

In the very beginning Desiree was left on a stone pillar at the Valmonde estate; it is also here that Armand Aubigny sees her and falls instantly in love with her. The stone pillar is a symbol of firm, forced male dominance in a patriarchal society. It is how men were of superior to anybody else. Desiree grew into a beautiful and gentle-hearted young woman and soon found a wealthy suitor asking for her hand. This young suitor was Armand Aubigny. He had known of Desiree’s past but was in love and did not care. Armand Aubigny’s character in this story was racist and despicable but the young bride was in love and looked past his faulty character.

The names in “Desiree’s Baby” are ironic in themselves. Desiree, for instance, means to be desired. However, Desiree was undesired by her birth parents and is later undesired by her beloved husband. L’Abri means “shelter,” and is anything except a shelter for Desiree as it is the place of her degradation and demise. Armand chooses his pride over his love for Desiree and sends her away only to realize that he is at fault. Desiree’s life, along with the life of her child, comes to a sorrowful end when she has done nothing wrong. Chopin uses these ironies to carry her theme throughout the story and allow the reader to understand her message of the innocent having to suffer because of the actions of the

“Désirée’s Baby” is a story of love, prejudice and rejection, a story with noble beginnings that

The story by Kate Chopin called Desiree’s Baby (1894) focuses on the slavery days of America. It takes place during Antebellum in Creole Louisiana. Kate Chopin’s purpose in this story is to show how too much emphasis on skin and racial heritage could destroy a loving family. Lying is never an okay thing to do, especially during the days when race could make or break you. Armand’s parents did wrong by lying to Armand, making him believe he was white. This caused the self-destruction of his family, owning with harsh treatment of slaves and lived a life as someone he never was to begin with.

In the very beginning Desiree was left on a stone pillar at the Valmonde estate; it is also here that Armand Aubigny sees her and falls instantly in love with her. The stone pillar is a symbol of firm, forced male dominance in a patriarchal society. It is how men were of superior to anybody else. Desiree grew into a beautiful and gentle-hearted young woman and soon found a wealthy suitor asking for her hand. This young suitor was Armand Aubigny. He had known of Desiree’s past but was in love and did not care. Armand Aubigny’s character in this story was racist and despicable but the young bride was in love and looked past his faulty character.

Desiree?s words show that her life depends on the race, notions, and social class of her husband and consequently, she feels obligated to obey his every desire. Desiree is presented as vulnerable to whatever Armand wants and tells her to do when she says, ?Do you want me to go?? (177). Desiree displays through her actions that in many ways, her happiness only comes from pleasing her husband. Therefore, Desiree must decide whether to live completely separate from Armand, or to live with him in constant fear and unpleasantness. Desiree achieves personal freedom and independence from Armand when ?she disappeared among the reeds and willows that grew thing along the banks of the deep, sluggish bayou; she did not come back again? (177). It is not even an option and is unheard of that Armand, being a male holding a respectable background, could possibly be black. Consequently, Desiree feels compelled to leave because she wants to please him. When Desiree decides to kill herself and her child, she shows that she is sensitive and vulnerable to her husband?s thoughts and actions.

First, Desiree’s identity changes constantly throughout her life. In the story, Desiree goes from being abandoned and having no identity, to being taken in by a loving family, to taking the identity of Armand’s wife, and then back to having no identity. Having taken on so many identities clearly affects her at the end of the story when she decides to kill herself because of her inability to try to find a new identity and see life outside of Armand. One quote that shows an identity change is, "Desiree, truly belongs nowhere. Found abandoned in front of the gates to the valmonde plantation," (Essays 3). As a child Desiree was abandoned and had no identity, but when she was taken if by that

These two were soon wed and had started to grow as a family. Once Desiree had birthed a son for Armand he cherished her even more as she had given him a legacy. As this child began to grow into his toddler years Armand regretted his decision to marry Desiree – ultimately leading to her and her child’s assumed death.

Desiree’s decision to take the life of her child and her own is motivated by a desire to protect her son from the situation he has been born into and her own somewhat selfish inability to envision a new life. Desiree had an outlet from the hellish atmosphere on the plantation in the form of her loving mother, Madame Valmonde, who offered asylum and support in a letter that instructs Desiree to return home with her son (Chopin 418). She chose to ignore this olive branch because it simply did not compute with her that a life existed outside of her marriage with Armand and thus she chose death for both herself and her child (Korb). Desiree’s demise is rooted in the fact that her unknown familial ties made her completely helpless and unable to provide proof that she was indeed not a part of the African American race further illustrating the power of familial status that existed at the time and its ruthlessness towards those who were considered lowly people.