Désirée's Baby

Désirée's Baby

Désirée's Baby

Outline

The outline of the paper is as follows:

Introduction

This part of the essay introduces the "Desiree's Baby" that the "Desiree's Baby" is a story about a relationship that is filled with love and prejudice.

Discussion

This section discusses more details of the story.

Themes and Meanings

This part discusses the Themes and Meanings of the story.

Style and Technique

This part discusses the Style and Technique of the story. And describes Chopin as he has been described as a local colorist, and certainly most of her stories are set in a particular geographical area that she examines socially and physically.

Conclusion

This part concludes the paper and states that Kate Chopin puts very much twist on the conventional sad mulatto idea by incorporating a surprising and unexpected twist in the plot.

Introduction

"Desiree's Baby" is a story about a relationship that is filled with love and prejudice. Desiree, adopted by Madame and Monsieur Valmonde, has no known bloodlines in other words no trace of any family. Beliefs were she was left at the gateway by a party of Texans. Years later, the grown Desiree marries a wealthy Armand Aubigny which is the owner of several slaves. They had seemed very happy together at first. Armand was not worried about her unknown origin. But three months after the birth of their first child, tragedy introduces itself . The baby turned out to have mixed blood and Armand refused to have anything to do with the baby and Desiree. Being from a rich family that owned slaves, Armand could not let the adulteration of his own wife ruin his family name. Desiree denies his accusations. Armand, see my hands are whiter than your hands,. This point in the story is where Chopin uses very much irony in the story. The reader automatically believes that Desiree is of a mixed background. After all, she was abandoned and had no proof of her background. Armand surely had no mixed blood considering his family background. Desiree is forced to depart with their child , she has never been seen again. The irony the Chopin uses in the story is that later on, Armand finds a letter written by his mother that reveals that he is the one of mixed race and not Desiree. The reader can sense the pandemonium that Armando must have felt after learning this secret.

Discussion

As the story startss, Madame Valmonde is on her way to visit Désirée and her new baby. As she makes the short trip to the nearby plantation, Madame Valmonde thinks back to the time when Désirée was herself an infant.

Désirée nurtures into a gorgeous woman. When she is 18 years old, Armand Aubigny falls in love with Désirée. When he proposes, Monsieur Valmonde reminds Armand that her parentage and ancestry are unknown, but Armand dismisses all objections. After all, he can give her one of the brightest family and names in Louisiana. (Beer 1997)

They soon marry, and at first their life together is ...