Kate Chopin's Desiree's Baby - The Formalistic Approach Essay

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 Baby" is Kate Chopin's most well-known short story and most anthologized piece of work. The story takes place in southern Louisiana and her writing reflects her Creole-French descent. Chopin begins the story with a descriptive quote, "when she reached L'Abri she shuddered at the first sight of it, as she always did. It was a sad looking place...Big solemn oaks grew close to it and their thick leaved, far-reaching branches shadowed it like a pall" (185). The preceding quote gives the reader an eerie feeling and foreshadows an unpleasant ending to the story. Throughout "Desiree's Baby," Kate Chopin uses symbolism to convey her themes of racial prejudice, unequal gender roles, and

Upon entering L’Abri, Madame Valmond sees Desiree is resting on a couch with her baby boy asleep on her arm. As she bends to greet her daughter with a hug and kiss, she sees how much the child has grown and exclaims, “This is not

In the story “Desiree’s Baby” it shows how Armand is impulsive when he fell in love with Desiree instantaneously. It was at the same pillar where Monsieur Valmonde, her adopted father, found her and her new life begun and ironically it is the same place Armand fell in love with her, signifying another

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.

In the short story called “Desiree’s Baby” written by Kate Chopin, the author used many different literary elements to describe and build up many characters. But two of the one that stands out the most was the foreshadowing and symbolism. These elements helped to build up Desiree Valmonde, one of the main character in the short story.

In “Desiree’s Baby” by Kate Chopin, Chopin describes a story of an older woman, Madame Valmondé, coming to see her daughter, Desiree, who is married Armand Aubigny, and her baby. Mme. Valmondé, at first, is astonished at the appearance of the baby. Later, the baby herself shocks because of its dark appearance. Desiree later asks Armand why the baby is black. Then, Armand gets very angry, because Armand, a person who perceives he is of European race, has realized that he is the father to a black baby. Armand goes on to accuse Desiree of being black and being the cause of this perceived imperfection. A very distressed Desiree asks for Mme. Valmondé for help. Mme.

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.

In the short story Désirée’s Baby, by Kate Chopin, surprise plays a very important role. Although the story has a surprise ending it can still have a second look with interest. While rereading the story I look for the details, which foreshadow the ending, that were missed the first time reading the story. But when I started to look for hints of foreshadowing I found that Chopin is doing more than tell us a story about a couple. She is trying to convey a message to the reader. Désirée’s Baby is like an intricate Aesop’s fable, or a fable for adults. Also an analysis of the characters helps us understand the story and it’s meaning. The main character, which presents the conflict in the story, is Armand Aubigny. To fully understand the story

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

The writer ends the first phase of the tale with Desiree’s expression of her feelings at that point: “Oh mamma, I’m so happy; it frightens me” (32). This comment is both a conclusion of the first phase of the story and a prediction of what’s to come next.

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

"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.

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.