Sexism And Classism In Desiree's Baby By Kate Chopin

Kate Chopin, a renowned 17th century writer, gained posthumous fame for her unorthodox literary techniques and her controversial themes. Her work often broached the topics of gender roles, women’s sexuality, and white privilege, yet, it remains relevant today. “Désirée’s Baby” contains many of the same features that characterize other works by Chopin, including the use of surprise endings. Through deep analysis of “Désirée’s Baby,” the reader better grasps Kate Chopin’s foreshadowing the story’s O. Henry ending, otherwise known as a surprise ending, of Armand’s racial heritage and Desiree’s death, through the use of symbolism, characterization, figurative language, and elements of surprise, and ultimately provides the reader with a relatively

In her short story named “Désirée’s Baby”, Kate Chopin gives readers an inside view of the concept of race in the pre-Civil War era of Louisiana. Chopin’s protagonist, Désirée, clashes with societal standards because of her mixed-race child and unknown racial origins. Race becomes a major conflict throughout the story and drives Désirée’s husband to blame her for the child. The ironic ending of the story not only gives a surprising twist but also makes a stand against the concept of biological race. While the racial issues of “Désirée’s Baby” were set in the past, these social concepts still occur today in the modern era.

In the story Chopin expresses symbolism within the social class distinction by placing one race in a higher social ranking than the other and, by the abandonment of one race.

The article criticizes Armand’s behavior in the story “Desiree’s Baby.” Armand is describe as a cruel master of slaves. Due to the importance of his tittle, Armand has a reputation to maintain. The article emphasizes the pressure that Armand had for upholding his position. Even though, Chopin gives clues about his past, the end of the story is a complete surprise for the reader. Also, the article questions the possibility of Armand knowing about his heritage due to the fact that he was eight years old when his mother died. The author justifies his actions by stating that they were a result of the “nineteenth century racism.” In the following article a better

The story “Desiree’s Baby” by Kate Chopin’s involves romance that gets crumpled up and burned with racism. It all begins when Madame Valmonde went to go visit Desiree (her adopted daughter) and her baby. Realizing after taking the baby to a window that was the lightest and scanning the baby while looking at Zandrine (an African American slave), the baby shares similar features to Zandrine. It was that moment where everything began to go down hill. This story was not just about one small, happy family, but instead, it was about prejudice, love, and racism. Racism does not come from within, it is manmade or taught.

In Desiree’s Baby, Kate Chopin shows how over valuing of white race and status can destroy a relationship and a family. Race and status are intangible ideas humans make up to segregate one another and should not be valued higher than a human life, but this is not the case in "Desiree’s Baby.”

Chopin Shows that back then race was everything. It meant so much that people would consider you subhuman or worthless if u had any in your blood line, it also ruined relationships and caused the feeling of disgrace. Armand took this serious he was the typical stereotype. Armand was the master of the L'Abri plantation; he was a strict master who treated the slaves cruel. So much that, the narrator says, “The negroes had forgotten how to be gay.” So you can imagine the thought of him finding out his child was of color. When he found out all hell broke loose. He wanted no parts of Desiree or the baby after finding out. He even said it was Desiree’s fault because she has some Negro blood in her. Desiree’s reaction was priceless instead of fighting for her baby and herself; she just felt disgrace and couldn’t believe she would have some Negro blood in her. She even says it’s a lie, gives her whole

The short story, "Desiree's Baby", written by Kate Chopin, set in Louisiana's 1892 slave era, was influenced by the irony of love and prejudices. In the story, Chopin depicts how racial bias overthrows the love a man had for his wife and child. An analysis of the story proves the irony by illustrating judgment on appearances, through racism, and self-destruction.

Such thoughts are a making of people alone as opposed to existing freely as realities of life and the universe. The shade of our skin just has as much value and significance as we give it. This is the social message that this story presents us with. The message Chopin relays through the story is that in a patriarchal society, women are feeble regardless of the possibility that they are justified, and are at the entire leniency of their husband's impulses, convictions, and wants. When one individual has control over and access to another's body, life ends up plainly restricted and subordinated. While "The Storm" recounts the account of a minority lady's ability for sexual liberation, "Desiree's Baby" discusses the all inclusive mistreatment of

Throughout this story, Chopin makes the reader aware of how mean, rude, and nasty Armand is. For example Chopin states that, ”Young Aubigny’s rule was a strict one, too, and under it his negroes had forgotten how to be gay, as they had been during the old master’s easy going and indulgent lifetime.” From that statement, the reader can predict that Armand’s father was nothing like him. Even though his heart softened after Desiree had the baby, he still allowed his pride and prejudices rule him after the baby got older. At this time in the story Desiree’s life began to change and her world was turned upside down.

     In the next segment of the account, Chopin breaks the enchantment and the readers’ hearts when she turns a fairy tale into a horror show. Armand’s behavior towards Desiree changes drastically, as for “when he spoke to her, it was with averted eyes, from which the old love-light seemed to have gone out.” “He absented himself from home; and when there, avoided her presence and that of her child, without excuse” (32). Armand’s attitude did not only change towards his wife, but also towards the slaves as if “the spirit of Satan seemed suddenly to take hold of him” (32). Desiree then finds out the reason for her husband’s change of conduct is the fact that their child is not white. The considerable change of mood in the story intensifies the already shocking events. As people are always looking for the “soul mate” and the “happy ever after” ending, it’s both disappointing and disturbing to see a beautiful dream turn into a nightmare.

From this, the reader understands that Armand is attempting to assume a persona of the powerful aristocratic slave-owner. However, in this attempt, Armand demonstrates his very weakness: he is insecure and so must prove his strength. Another example of Armand’s weakness lies in his attempt to destroy all evidence relating to his relationship with Desiree. Armand feels that a marriage to a potentially black woman could be damaging to his to his place in society so he burns all of the evidence of her presence in his life: “In the centre of the smoothly swept back yard was a great bonfire, “ (Chopin 13). Although it is true that during the setting of the story, such a marriage could have been damaging, if he truly were a strong character, he would have defended his own beliefs and maintained his marriage. A final example of Armand’s weakness is in his discovery of a letter from his mother to his father and the reactions implied by the author. The letter carries details about Armand’s own race and how he is actually black. Armand’s implied reactions are that he will in fact take no action: despite the fact that Desiree was not of African descent, she will live her life in the belief that she is. This is the ultimate example of Armand’s weakness as he is too fearful of establishing his own identity to truly do so. Armand has been shown to be a weak, socially malleable character because of his internal

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.

This essay will focus on the short story by Kate Chopin and its use of symbols, setting and characters. Desiree’s baby was perhaps one of the best stories I’ve ever read. Analyzing it was not easy at all. Its use of symbols was very hard to comprehend. At first, it doesn’t make sense. But as you think critically, all the symbols, and setting and the characters in this literature plunge together in one amazing story.

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.