...Kate Chopin: Desiree’s Baby Kate Chopin, born Katherine O’Flaherty was an American writer who is best known for her major work The Awakening which was published in 1899. Chopin was born in St. Louis to her father an Irish immigrant, and her mother whom was of French descent. Although Chopin’s father died in a train wreck when she was four years old, she grew up surrounded by “loving, intelligent, and independent women” (Baym and Levine 420). At the young age of nineteen, Kate married Oscar Chopin and moved to New Orleans Louisiana. Less than a decade later, Oscar's cotton business failed and they moved to his family's plantation in the Natchitoches Parish of northwestern Louisiana, where Oscar “opened a general store and managed a family cotton plantation” (Baym and Levine 420). When Oscar passed away in 1882, the widowed Kate was left to raise her six young children on her own. Chopin chose to contribute to the local market and “fashioned a literary career out of her experience of the Creole and Cajun cultures she had come to know” (Baym and Levine 420). Chopin’s stories of Louisiana rural life earned her national recognition as a writer of local color fiction. In Desiree’s baby, Chopin’s ability to foreshadow and build up suspense allows the reader to engage in the doubtfulness and uncertainty which keeps the reader unaware. Desiree’s Baby is a story of love, mystery, and suspense. Published in 1893, Desiree’s Baby, was centered on the controversial subject of...
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...equality and how they are looked upon as inferior. Kate Chopin exhibits her views about women in her stories. The relationship between men and women in Kate Chopin's stories imply the attitudes that men and women portray. In many of Chopin's works, the idea that women's actions are driven by the men in the story reveals that men are oppressive and dominant and women are vulnerable, gullable and sensitive. Chopin also shows that females, like Desiree and Eleanor, undergo a transformation from dependent and weak to stronger women free from their husbands by the end of the story. In the short story 'Desiree's Baby,' Kate Chopin reveals her idea of the relationship between men and women by showing instances of inferiority and superiority throughout the story. In 'A Point at Issue,' there are many instances where the idea of hypocrisy and the attitudes that the main characters display and how their actions affect each other's lives, show the impact that men have on w... As I read "Desiree’s Baby" by Kate Chopin, I couldn’t imagine living in an era where my value as a human being was determined by my skin color. I ask myself if I would have been considered an Afro-Cuban and treated like a slave just because my father is a "Quadroon" (1/4 African)? Would my father’s skin color, heritage and ethnicity make me an "Octaroon" (1/8 African) regardless of the fact that my skin is lighter than most Caucasian’s? "Desiree’s Baby" by K. Chopin is set in the early nineteen hundreds, just before...
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...In the short story, Desiree’s Baby, Kate Chopin there is a sense of karma and consequences that are used in the story wrote that. The story explores the problem of a man’s pride overcoming the love he has for his wife and race. In the short story, Desiree’s baby by Kate Chopin the character Armand Aubigny is racist, in denial and mean. In the story, Armand is a slave owner in Louisiana. In addition, the historical background puts race and heritage into the story as the key points to be seen and understood. The theory that I am applying in my story is that of Cultural Studies. The cultural studies theory concentrates on how and the way a particular subject relates to a social class, ideology, gender, ethnicity, and nationality. Armand Aubigny’s environment and childhood influences his lifestyle and beliefs to accept racial discrimination as common. By owning a family name that represents a boastful heritage “that is the oldest and proudest in Louisiana,” and a place in society as a plantation owner, Aubigny has superiority over the blacks (Chopin, n.a, 2). Therefore, Aubigny, confident that he is a white, a male, and a master in control automatically looks for a black mother Desiree, his wife to blame as soon as he realizes his son resembles a quadroon one quarter black. Because of his regular habit of racial prejudice, Aubigny betrays his loved ones and undergoes the trauma of receiving the news that his family is black. Armand Aubigny is like the other men in his family and...
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...In “The Story of an Hour” published in Vogue in 1894 author Kate Chopin wrote about a woman named Mrs. Mallard who is given bad news that her husband has been killed in a railroad disaster. In a second story by Kate Chopin “The Storm” published in Louisiana State University, in 1969 Chopin writes about a woman named ‘Calixte’ who had an affair on her husband with a past lover during a storm. The last story by Kate Chopin “Desiree Baby’s” is about an orphan who got married and had a baby by a well-known and respected man whose attitude towards her changed due to the skin color of their son. These three stories have many similarities and differences in the type of male dominated oppression and relieve each woman felt in their marriage. For instance,...
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...Ultimately Leading to Death in Kate Chopin’s Stories In Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening and her short story Desiree’s Baby, they are both led by female characters in the nineteenth century. In both works, it creates an interesting setting considering the fact of societal roles and the way women were treated in this time period. Although in different locations, both women: Edna from The Awakening and Desiree from Desiree’s Baby can relate their struggles in their marriage. In both novels, it is evident to the audience that both couples lack a strong connection and at least one partner has a detachment from the other. In The Awakening and in Desiree’s Baby, Edna and Desiree’s relationship with their husbands negatively...
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...Humankind is breaking apart because people are becoming shallow thinkers. Four stories that describe that problems cause the general public to break apart are: Desiree’s Baby, The Flowers, The Lottery, and The Sniper. People being critical and judgmental are a few problems that causes to tear the humanity apart. Do not let others influence your relationship by reason of being different. In the short story, “Desiree’s Baby” by Kate Chopin, it is about a lady who made a family with a handsome man, but when they had a baby, he started to regret having a family and kicked them out. Chopin writes, “Young Aubigny’s rule was a strict one too and under it his negroes had...
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...English III Ms. Stelly Criticism Essay Throughout Kate Chopin's short story, “Desiree's Baby” she shows how one can overlook how much they love another person, because of skin color. Chopin shows how Desiree's husband, Armand, and his actions that parallel to the racism of the time period. Being as the story was written around 100 years ago, racism and discrimination against blacks was very common with white people. Armand vaguely displays his views as he says, “...Negroes had forgotten how to be gay.” (Chopin 1) As he says this he means black people are not happy anymore and have “forgotten” what is like, and Armand is not particularly worried about their happiness. It seems as if he has never taken a look into the mirror and realized he is also black. Obviously “Armand's ruthlessness is more psychologically complicated than it appears on first reading.” (Foy 1) Armand wants to have a rich man's personality, thus meaning he feels he has to be mean or disrespectful to the people that are below him. At one point in the story Desiree says, “...Armand has told me I am not white.” (Chopin 2) This confuses Desiree quite a bit, because now she believes Armand is going to treat her like he treats black people. Desiree's mother begins to get very worried for her, because she also notices the change in the way Armand is treating Desiree. Her mother notices, “...the child has grown, has changed...what does Armand say?” (Chopin 2) Her mom knows Armand's feelings toward blacks and is...
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...Desiree’s Baby – Essay The short story “Desiree’s Baby” is written in year 1892 and published one year later by the writer Kate Chopin. The story mostly focuses on our main character Desiree who is the protagonist, and her relationship with her husband Armand. We’re told about how Desiree is adopted by Monsieur and Madame Valmondé. The Valmondés are wealthy Creoles, and they live in Lousiana. Desiree was found by Monsieur Valmondé in the shadow of a stone pillar near the gateway to their house. The Valmondés of course raised her, and soon enough she was courted to a man called Armand, who also is from a respected and wealthy Creole family. The couple got a child together. But the child didn’t look like a child usually died. Its skin wasn’t white, but more likely the color of a quadroon slave boys. And because of the unknown roots of Desiree’s, Armand quickly assumes that Desiree was the one who was born by a black person. Of course Desiree tries to deny this accusing, but she is suggested by Madame Valmondé to return to them since she was living with Armand at this point. Armand also insist that she leaves. He burns all of Desirees belongings, even their child cradle and the papers Desiree had sent him during their courtship. But between all these papers, was also a letter from his mother to his father. This letter reveals that it actually is Armand who is part black. In this short story, we mostly have to do with flat characters. Our protagonist is at said above Desiree,...
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...In the short story, Desiree's Baby, written by Kate Chopin, there is a sense of karma and consequences. The story explores the problem of a man's pride overcoming the love he has for his wife and race. In the short story, it show out that Armand's pride was bigger and more than the love for his wife, Desiree, and how race changed everything. The story starts off with Madame Valmonde recalling her memories about Desiree, where she found Desiree on the way and take her as her own child. Eighteen years later, a man, name Armand Aubigny saw Desiree standing next to a gateway, and he immediately fell in love with her. Monsieur Valmonde told Armand that Desiree's origin was unknown, but Armand did not care, because he was in love with her. He decided that if she did not have a family name, then he would give her his own, and soon they were married. After that, Desiree had given birth. Madame Valmonde came to see Desiree and the baby, when she saw the baby she was startled by the baby's appearance. When the baby is three months old, Desiree began panicking by the strange change in her husband's behavior. He begins to avoid her and treat his slaves badly. One afternoon, while she watches her own child and a mix raced child, she finally notice what is wrong with her own child. She was frightened. She ask Armand about the child, and what it meant. Armand responds coldly that id the child is not white, then she must not be white. She responds that she is white, she had brown hair, gray...
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...Desiree’s Baby Why does race matter in a relationship? Great figures in history have noted that race should never play a role in any relationship. Allowing race to impact a relationship could easily cause it to fall apart, leading to both sides being hurt in the end. In Kate Chopin’s short story “Desiree’s Baby”, the race of Desiree and Armand’s child cause Armand to turn a cold shoulder to his wife and his child, eventually driving Desire to suicide. By analyzing the racism in the story, it becomes clear that heritage, setting, and social norms play a major role in the motives of the story. Armand’s family was old and wealthy and was very important to the Louisiana plantation. He was light skin and handsome. His mother died when he was eight years old, so he does not remember the skin tone of his mother. He just assumed she was Caucasian. Armand states his name was “One of the oldest and proudest in Louisiana” (Chopin, 650) Therefore, Armand was born into wealth. On the other hand, Desiree was abandoned and was taken in by the Valmonde’s family. The Valmonde’s had not been blessed with any children, so they took in Desiree and raised her as their own child. The Valmonde's taking in this child as their own, is two blessing in one. Desiree gets the love and support that she needs from parents, and the Valmonde's get a child that they are now able to give love and support to. Growing up to become a beautiful woman, she attracted the attention of Armand Aubigny. Armand...
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...Tony Dass Prof Shaw Egl 2219 March 2nd 2016 Kate Chopin who had an Irish father and a French-creole mother, she was born on February 8, 1850 in St. Louis, Missouri. The O'Flahertys were members of the Creole social elite and were fairly well-off. When Kate was very young, her father Thomas O'Flaherty died in a work-related accident. He left behind a family of four generations of women all living in the same house. Kate was very close to her maternal great-grandmother, Madame Charleville, who first introduced her to the world of storytelling. Madame Charleville spoke only French to Kate and told her elaborate, somewhat risqué stories. Family tragedy surrounded the young Kate. When she was eleven, Madame Charleville died, and her half-brother George was killed while fighting in the Civil War for the Confederate side. Yet, Kate seems not to have completely despaired; she earned a reputation as the "Littlest Rebel" when she tore down a Union flag that had been tied to her front porch by Yankee soldiers. Had Kate not been a young girl at the time, the incident might have resulted in serious consequences, but since she was, her act became famous as local legend. While attending a Catholic high school, Kate studied both French and English literature and became an accomplished pianist. She attended numerous social events and became very popular in St. Louis high society. She also became interested in the movement for women's suffrage although she never became very politically active...
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...Kate Chopin Catherine (Kate) O'Flaherty was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on February 8, 1850, the second child of Thomas O'Flaherty of County Galway, Ireland, and Eliza Faris of St. Louis. Kate's family on her mother's side was of French extraction, and Kate grew up speaking both French and English. She was bilingual and bicultural--feeling at home in different communities with quite different values--and the influence of French life and literature on her thinking is noticeable throughout her fiction. From 1855 to 1868 Kate attended the St. Louis Academy of the Sacred Heart, with one year at the Academy of the Visitation. As a girl, she was mentored by woman--by her mother, her grandmother, and her great grandmother, as well as by the Sacred Heart nuns. Kate formed deep bonds with her family members, with the sisters who taught her at school, and with her life-long friend Kitty Garasché. Much of the fiction Kate wrote as an adult draws on the nurturing she received from women as she was growing up. Her early life had a great deal of trauma. In 1855, her father was killed in a railroad accident. In 1863 her beloved French-speaking great grandmother died. Kate spent the Civil War in St. Louis, a city where residents supported both the Union and the Confederacy and where her family had slaves in the house. Her half brother enlisted in the Confederate army, was captured by Union forces, and died of typhoid fever. From 1867 to 1870 Kate kept a commonplace book in which she recorded...
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...However, women held the least power of the family and believed that they only had a purpose of being housewives. The ideal images of gender roles between men and women, and the identities of women can lead to stereotypes that are associated with Kate Chopin’s short story “Desiree’s Baby.” In “Desiree’s Baby” by Kate Chopin, gender played a big role in the life Desiree as well as Armand Aubigny. Desiree was described as “beautiful and gentle, affectionate and sincere— the idol of Valmonde” (1). Desiree was illustrated as if she was down to earth and had a very warm personality. At first she was nameless, like most women when they are first named by their primary families and renamed when they get married. Desiree nameless when she was first found by the Valmonde family, and then they took her in as their own and she adopted their family name. Desiree undergoes another name change when she later marries a wealthy man by the name of Armand and inherited the family name of Aubigny. Armand was most likely the “breadwinner.” He was the masculine type, a very strict slave owner, arrogant but still had a soft side. Armand fell in love with Desiree by “love at first sight”; he felt “as if struck by a pistol” (1). Armand described Desiree’s beauty in a violent illustration to express how beautiful she was; “… swept along like an avalanche, or like a...
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...abroad - in Paris, New York, Barcelona and Mexico - in a more or less compulsory exile. Besides his large output of fiction he has written screenplays and has continued to work as a journalist. Kate Chopin, born Katherine O'Flaherty (February 8, 1850 – August 22, 1904), was an American author of short stories and novels. She is now considered by some to have been a forerunner of feminist authors of the 20th century. From 1892 to 1895, she wrote short stories for both children and adults which were published in such magazines as Atlantic Monthly, Vogue, The Century Magazine, and The Youth's Companion. Her major works were two short story collections, Bayou Folk (1894) and A Night in Acadie (1897). Her important short stories included "Desiree's Baby", a tale of miscegenation in antebellum Louisiana (published in 1893),"The Story of an Hour" (1894),[2] and "The Storm "(1898). "The Storm" is a sequel to "The 'Cadian Ball," which appeared in her first collection of short stories, Bayou Folk. Chopin also wrote two novels: At Fault(1890) and The Awakening (1899), which are set in New Orleans and Grand Isle, respectively. The people in her stories are usually inhabitants of Louisiana. Many of her works are set in Natchitoches in north central Louisiana. Within a decade of her death, Chopin was widely recognized as one of the leading writers of her time. In...
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...Analysis of “The Story of an Hour” written by Kate Chopin The story under analysis is written by Kate Chopin. Kate Chopin was an American author of short stories and novels. She wrote for both children and adults. She is considered as a forerunner of feminist author. Unlike many of the feminist writers of her time who were mainly interested in improving the social conditions of women, she looked for an understanding of personal freedom. She put much concentration on women’s lives and their continual struggles to create an identity of their own personality. Her stories were not accepted by the public of that period. Through her stories Kate wrote her own autobiography and documented her surroundings. She is the author of such works as “The Awakening”, “A Night in Arcadie”, “Désirée’s Baby”, “At Fault” and “The story of an Hour”. The action of the “The story of an Hour” takes place in the house of Mr. and Mrs. Mallard, in the middle of 19 century. In a bourgeois family. I’d like to remark that at that time the situation was different from the current state of things in modern world. Women were supposed to obey their husbands, devoting themselves fully to raising a baby and taking care of their house. No time for their personal needs, hobbies, interests and work. Women lived all their lives in the shadow of their husbands. “The story of an Hour” begins with sad news. Mrs. Mallard’s sister Josephine and her husband’s friend Richards try to inform her husband’s death. During the...
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