Desiree's Baby By Kate Chopin Essay

In “Desiree Baby”, author, Chopin emphasizes racism by selecting certain words to symbolize the association between light and darkness, and the slaves on the plantation.

Imagine finding out that your entire life was a lie, and that every single thing you knew about your identity and your family was completely false! Armand Aubigny, one of the main characters in Desiree’s Baby by Kate Chopin, experiences this exact dilemma throughout this short story. Desiree’s Baby is a story about a young man and woman, who fall in love, but Desiree, who does not know her birth parents, is considered nameless. When she and Armand have a child, they are both very surprised because the child’s skin color is not white as expected. It is obvious that the child is biracial, and immediately, Desiree is blamed for the color of the child’s skin because of her uncertain background. The truth, however, is that it is Armand who has

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

What sets Desirée apart in terms of her subjugation by Armand? It is not race, but the lack thereof. Desirée is unable to hide anything about herself because her origins are unknown (Chopin 401). She is a willing captive to Armand as a result of her love and her marriage, but she is not an unwilling captive to race; she is an unwilling captive to her otherness. She does not have doubts about her race, but must live with the reality that “Armand has told me I am not white” (Chopin 404). Because her origins are unknown and she does not have a name, she must acquiesce to the whims of Armand, who had at first decided to be unconcerned about “the girl’s obscure origins” (Chopin 401). Armand is the power here. He makes all of the decisions regarding the lives of those within his circle of power, and he does so because he is allowed to do so. Madam

The short story Desiree’s Baby by Kate Chopin provides a sobering depiction of how the dark forces of prejudice and social hierarchy tore apart a plantation owning family in the state of Louisiana. Desiree’s character is that of a lady who carries the burden of being submissive to a domineering husband, a role she keeps until the very end of the narrative. Desiree is portrayed as an agent of light so to speak throughout the plotline but is seriously blinded by her doglike allegiance to her husband Armand, who is in essence her master and her livelihood. The struggle for female independence is a signature theme in a number of Chopin’s works and was a struggle for women in the South during this

Yet it is not until Armand believes that Desiree is black that he fully dominates her simply by thinking that he is superior.  At this point, “when he spoke to her, it was with averted eyes, from which the old love-light seemed to have gone out” (317).  Armand feels that he is too superior to Desiree to devote his full attention to her.  Since he no longer expresses his love for Desiree, she feels further pushed into a slave-like position in the relationship, and, “was miserable enough to die” (318).

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.

The environment is a reflection of our thoughts and attitudes. Desiree lives in a society of racism and stereotypes; so she finds it hard to define who she is. The composer connotes loneliness in the imagery of the ‘stone pillar… she had lain asleep’. The alluding uncertainty portrays how she is questioning herself. The personification of ‘air menacing her peace’ suggests a threatening feeling. Society is sceptical because of her unknown race. Desiree is unwelcomed because of derogatory terms like ‘negroes’ and ‘quadroon’. The disparity in the story is ironic, since Armand was the one who was half black. It is paradoxical when he realises that he ‘belongs to the race…with the brand of slavery’ but is no use as his arrogance already got in the way. It was the environment of bigotry which made her revaluate her

The sense that Armand is so proud of himself is like a hint of how the end will turn out because when we realize that the child is black the reader automatically knows that he is going to blame his wife. Never would he consider himself black. The thought of Armand being black never crosses the reader’s mind either. Kate Chopin also deceived the reader into thinking that Désirée is in fault by

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

Throughout time, humans struggled with issues of conformity and individuality. In the modern world, individuality is idealized, as it is associated with strength. Weak individuals are usually portrayed as conforming to society and having almost no personal ideas. In “Desiree’s Baby”, a short story, the author Kate Chopin deals with the struggles of African descendants in the French colonies during the time of slave labor. The protagonist is a white woman named Desiree who is of unknown origin and birth as she was found abandoned as an infant at an aristocrat’s doorstep. Eighteen years after her discovery, she and a fellow aristocrat, Armand Aubigny, fall in love and get married. They soon have a child, yet conflict arises when the child

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.

Armand a wealthy man perceived as white, having countless slaves however harsh. He fell in infatuated with Desiree, who he had known since he was eight. When he was just riding through town and like a pistol shot he fell in love. At the beginning, Armand was respected by the readers when he fell in love with a girl with no origins. However, by the end of the story he became disliked by the readers. After telling Desiree to depart with their son when he assumed they were part black. Afterwards, finding out that it was not Desiree but him the whole time.

Desiree is betrayed by Armand because he has too much pride. I believe pride is what keeps Armand from loving Desiree the way she wants to be loved. The betrayal endured from her husband causes her to be depressed and feel hopeless. Desiree told her mother, “I cannot be so unhappy, and live” (541). She has a happy life and a family she adores and cannot live with anything less. I disagree with the hopelessness portrayed by Desiree but understand the depth of her pain. Desiree’s husband is a prideful man who chooses name over love and family.

Kate Chopin’s Desiree’s Baby is a short story about a girl named Desiree who is abandoned, then adopted into a wealthy family. Young Desiree soon grows up and falls in love with a slave owner, Armand,with whom she conceives a son with only to discover that her child's appearance consists of African descent characteristics. Chopin narrates the issues of oppression and loss of identity during a historical period of time through Desiree’s character. Derek Foster and Kris LeJeune's critique, focusing on the feminist standpoint of Desiree’s Baby, attempts to demonstrates how Desiree’s act to flee into the bayou is her first accomplishment of independence.