Kate Chopin Research Paper

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.

Kate Chopin is best known for her novel, The Awakening, published in 1899. After its publication, The Awakening created such uproar that its author was alienated from certain social circles in St. Louis. The novel also contributed to rejections of Chopin's later stories including, "The Story of An Hour" and "The Storm." The heavy criticism that she endured for the novel hindered her writing. The male dominated world was simply not ready for such an honest exploration of female independence, a frank cataloguing of a woman's desires and her search for fulfillment outside of the institution of marriage.

All in all, the insight that can be drawn from reading “Desiree’s Baby” is that Kate Chopin personified some aspects of herself in the character of Desiree and she uses this to express her feministic views. Although Kate Chopin’s feminist views are very well documented, in the case of “Desiree’s Baby”, Chopin uses a character that shares characteristics

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.

Unfortunately, Armand’s over value of race rubs off onto Desiree. Not knowing her true race, Desiree cannot live with the dissatisfaction of herself, her husband’s disgrace, nor that fact that he does not love her or the baby anymore. She cannot awake from the nightmare that her life has turned into. She takes the baby and wanders out into a deserted field where she and the baby perish. Thus Armand is to blame for destroying his family because of his obsession with status and the white race.

There are numerous great authors from the 1800’s but the one who stands out most to me would have to Mrs. Kate Chopin. She was a misinterpreted writer whose works are now respected by many. Kate Chopin, born Catherine (Kate) O’Flaherty, was born in St. Louis, Missouri on February 8, 1850. Kate was mentored by many women during the course of her youth. She had trauma through her young years. Chopin’s father was killed in 1855 in a railroad accident, 1863 her great grandmother died, and later her half-brother died in the war once he was apprehended by Union forces and died of typhoid fever. In 1870 Catherine O’Flaherty came to be Mrs. Kate Chopin when she married Oscar Chopin. They had kept their love a secret until they were meant to marry.

The story Desiree’s Baby is about a young woman who is adopted by a two wealthy french creoles that live in Louisiana. Monsieur and Madame Valmonde adopted Desiree when she was found as a young infant by a pillar near the gate of their estate. The story then follows Desiree as she matures into a young woman and is married to a man named Armand whom which she loves very much. Armand and desiree soon have a child and both are extremely happy about the child but Armand soon pulls away both his compassion and happiness when he see’s something wrong with the child. Armand realises that the child is has some black in it, which happens to be the skin color of slavery. Shamed Armand blames Desiree for his child being part black seeing that Desiree’s

It was not until the very end of the story that she finally came realize who and what she looked like. She never noticed how similar they appeared and was shocked to realize that maybe her husband only loved her because of how similar she looked to the girl. Now she has to keep living with the thought of her husband only being with her because she looked so much like the girl. In the story “Desiree’s Baby”, Desiree was also faced with a troubling problem. Though she was white and her husband had the appearance of being white, their baby is black. It was not through the fault of Desiree that her baby was part black, but through the fault of her husband, Armand. Armand sends them away to Desiree’s mother’s but instead they head into the forest. Desiree and her baby disappear and are never heard of again. Soon after, Armand realizes that it was his fault that the baby is part black. When opening a letter, he reads, “I thank the good God for having so arranged

Analyzing foreshadowing from Desiree's baby Early in the story the reader learns that Armand was not happy about raising a baby with Desiree with the fact that the baby was black. In a way Armand hints at Desiree “when a strange, and awful change in her husband's manner which she dared not to ask him.” when he spoke to her, it was with averted eyes, from which the old love light seemed to have gone out was the first clue of unhappiness with Desiree and the baby. This moment becomes more evident when it says “had absented himself from home; and when there avoided her presence and that of her child,without excuse.

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

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.

Kate Chopin's was very different than the rest of the of her pears; Kate was born February 8, 1850, once she reached age five she attended an academy until 1864 to get her away from the grieve of losing her father at the age of five.

After Desiree and the baby have left, Armand decides to burn all of Desiree’s things. Doing this, he comes across a letter between his own parents where his mother reveals that she is of African-American descent. Desiree was not the reason the baby was mixed, but instead, it was Armand. Armand should not have let his pride for his race get in the way of raising his child and loving his wife. By disowning his child, Armand has now damaged his child’s upbringing which will affect him/her psychologically later in life

Desiree's life is full of indescribable and pitiful events; first, she was lift alone when she was a baby, nameless and no one knows who her family are - this generally refers to the personality of a woman which is, metaphorically, has no presence in the society. Moreover, throughout the story no decision is made by her but

    Kate Chopin was an extraordinary writer of the nineteenth century. Despite failure to receive positive critical response, she became one of the most powerful and controversial writers of her time. She dared to write her thoughts on topics considered radical: the institution of marriage and women's desire for social, economic, and political equality. With a focus on the reality of relationships between men and women, she draws stunning and intelligent characters in a rich and bold writing style that was not accepted because it was so far ahead of its time. She risked her reputation by creating female heroines as independent women who wish to receive sexual and emotional fulfillment,