Feminism In Desiree's Baby

“Desiree’s Baby” is a short story that touches on the subject of racism. Desiree’s Baby was written by Kate Chopin. Kate Chopin is an American author from St. Louis, Missouri. Kate Chopin’s works often involved women’s issues, racial differences, and social inequalities. Desiree’s Baby is a short story about a woman who had a child that was of a mixed race. Desiree’s Baby touched on many subject, such as racism and social inequalities. Kate Chopin, in her work “Desiree’s Baby,” demonstrates prejudice through foreshadowing, dramatic irony, and situational irony.

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

Within Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, he addresses eight white clergymen who fill his desk with disagreements and criticism of his acts of attempting to abolish segregation. To give a better understanding to his audience he correlates his speech with religion, signifying himself to be similar to the Apostle Paul, while speaking up about the injustice being done in Birmingham. Martin Luther King Jr. speaks strongly about being unable to stand back and watch the disputes in Birmingham unravel. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly,” famously said by Martin Luther King Jr. bonds his idea during this speech that we are all affected by any type of injustice, small or large. Martin Luther King Jr. uses metaphors as a light of logic, first person point of view to add ethics with trustworthiness, and a tone of passion for the emotional aspect while addressing the clergymen.

Kate Chopin, the author of "Desiree's Baby" developed many themes throughout this story. In each theme, there is a representation of something during the time period. The setting of Chopin's story builds up the topics and the characters. The historical background of this short story is slavery. However, this story was composed in 1892, which was twenty-seven years after slavery was abrogated, but it took place during the era of slavery. In the story, Armand is a slave owner in Louisiana. Likewise, the background puts race and legacy into the story as the key focuses to be seen and caught on. The hypothesis that is applied in the story is that of Cultural Studies. The social examinations focuses on how and the way a specific subject identifies with social class, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, and race. The Valmondés, who are depicted as plantation owners, are set up as well off and white. Their appropriation of Desiree stresses their benevolence, in spite of their financial flourishing. Her adoptive father discovers Desiree in the shadow of the stone pillar. This shadow symbolizes the mystery of her origin and the column is likewise a sign of the riches and property of the Valmondés. Desiree's appearance there brings her into a universe of benefit.

"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

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 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.

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.

Kate Chopin portrays realism in her book, “Desiree’s Baby.” This story takes place in the South during the time of slavery. Here, a wealthy man named Armand is homed to one of the South’s plantations. This man does the unexpected, by falling in love with a much lower class

In conclusion, Desiree's Baby provides a fascinating look at the subjects of the times so rarely touched upon in 19th century literature. It explores these subjects in a captivating yet brutally honest manner, leaving many things for the reader to reflect upon. Kate Chopin has written a beautiful and intriguing story, with much to say about the issues and struggles of her

Falling and not changing or trying to make you a better person only leads to death or destruction; and in the process of you changing, one must endure the pressure that life can dish out. One who demonstrates ignorance, hatefulness, and a unfaithfulness are all acts of a mischievous person who has no guidance. If Armand would have had someone to encourage him in this story, it might have changed his mind about keeping his secret and losing his family. Chopin’s main concern was psychological realism. She took real life stories, and transferred them into fictional stories that which the reader could relate to or become familiar with. In Desiree’s Baby Chopin also wanted to reveal female subjugation, which was very popular back in the days and it is still happening in today’s society. Men always feel like they have the upper hand over women and women must be submissive to them at all times. However as Desiree’s slowly walked away in despair and said Goodbye to Armand, Chopin tells the reader that it was one of the hardest and highest hurdles Desiree had to jump in her whole entire life, by portraying her to be an angel dressed in all white with slippers, walking across a deserted field as the sun rays brought a golden gleam from the sky; in which she disappeared and never returned

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.

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 Kate Chopin’s short story, “Desiree’s Baby”, she demonstrates how racism played a major part in people’s lives in the 1800’s. Kate Chopin is extremely successful in getting her readers to feel disturbed by the events in the story. Through words and images, the reader feels touched by the story, either by relating to it at some points or when confronted with things we frequently decide to ignore in the world: the evil some human beings are capable of possessing.

The story “Désirée's Baby” by Kate Chopin, takes place in Creole Louisiana during the antebellum period in 1892. The antebellum period was a time of slavery, and a time when woman’s rights were limited. According to “LitCharts” by Nikola Champlin, “Désirée emphasizes their kindness, despite their economic prosperity.” Therefore, leading us to believe Désirée is a strong, and static character in the story.