Desirees Baby Analysis Essay - 1415 Words

Abstract 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. Literary Analysis on Kate Chopins Desirees Baby â€Å"Tell me what it means!† she cried despairingly.† It means,† he answered lightly, â€Å"that the child is not white; it means that you are not white† (Chopin, p. 192). Kate Chopins Desirees Baby is a well-known short story. â€Å"In her life, Kate Chopin†¦show more content†¦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. Early in the story the narrator describes the scenery of the plantation, LAbri, which was owned by the Aubigny and says, young Aubignys rule was a strict one, too, and under it his Negroes had forgotten how to be gay, as they had been during the old masters easy-going and indulgent lifetime (Chopin, p. 190). This shows Aubignys egotism and indifference toward his slaves. His treatment of the slaves as possessions rather than human beings reveals that Aubigny has no consideration when dealing with blacks. The way Madame Valmonde described the LAbri as â€Å"a sad looking place, which for many years had not known the gentle presence of a mistress† (Chopin, p. 190), may have been a hint at Armand’s evil nature in the story. He was raised without a mother. His motherShow MoreRelatedDesirees Baby Literary Analysis1989 Words   |  8 Pagesstories Desirees Baby, The Story of an Hour, At the Cadian Ball, and A Pair of Silk Stockings, were w ritten in the 19th century in times when women had no rights, and had to portray an image of a loving wife. They were considered selfish if they thought otherwise, and their job was to make their husbands happy at all times. This was the century of a turning point for women, in which they had desires test their limits imposed on their sex. Critics of her stories list the analysis of assumptionsRead More Kate Chopins Desirees Baby Essays1394 Words   |  6 PagesKate Chopins Desirees Baby 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 criticallyRead MoreDà ©sirà ©es Baby Character Analysis1087 Words   |  5 PagesSocial Class, Gender, and Racial Value in Chopin’s Dà ©sirà ©e’s Baby Taking place in antebellum Louisiana, Kate Chopin’s Dà ©sirà ©e’s Baby places a strong focus on social class, gender, and racial value. Two characters that are limited by their acceptance of these are Dà ©sirà ©e and Armand, husband and wife with a newborn boy. Dà ©sirà ©e grew up at the Valmondà © residence where she was abandoned at a young age and Armand is a part of the elite planter class. Dà ©sirà ©e’s unknown ancestry along with being raised in aRead MoreDesirees Baby Analysis Essay1333 Words   |  6 PagesKeah Graul Sister Lizzie Jones English 314 Section 7 28 October 2017 TITLE In Kate Chopin’s story, â€Å"Desiree’s Baby† she tells of a story set in Louisiana in the mid-nineteenth century on a white plantation some time before the Civil War when slavery was still legal. Readers will see the unraveling of a marriage because of assumptions and hatred that will lead to heartbreak. In this story, the readers will explore the impacts of racism and racial inequality and how the racial tension of the timeRead MoreLiterary Analysis Of Desirees Baby1022 Words   |  5 PagesIn Kate Chopin’s short story, â€Å"Desiree’s Baby,† Armand Aubigny experienced the happiest marriage one could ever hope for with Desiree. They even have a romantic â€Å"love at first sight† experience. But then all of this is thrown away because of Armand. â€Å"Desiree’s Baby† has a significant impact on its readers because of the irony of Armand’s actions. Chopin describes this through his complex characterization whic h may explain why racism is able to thrive for centuries. One charming feature of Armand’sRead MoreLiterary Analysis Of Desirees Baby854 Words   |  4 Pages Desiree’s Baby by Kate Chopin Kate Chopin was a strong intellectual woman, but was she a racist? From my knowledge of reading â€Å"Desiree’s Baby† I believe that she is not a racist, but the story is and it contains a big factor of prejudice, but there is so much more to the story than just prejudice. This story contains motherhood, genetic inheritance, and of course racism. A true mother doesn’t see their child’s imperfections or their short comings. Madame Valmonde takes in this little girl inRead MoreAnalysis of Desiree’s Baby by Kate Chopin1328 Words   |  6 PagesDesiree’s Baby and Southern Social Structure The short story Desiree’s Baby by Kate Chopin provides a sobering depiction of how the dark forces of prejudice and social hierarchy tore apart a plantation owning family in the state of Louisiana. Desiree’s character is that of a lady who carries the burden of being submissive to a domineering husband, a role she keeps until the very end of the narrative. Desiree is portrayed as an agent of light so to speak throughout the plotline but is seriously blindedRead MoreEssay on Formalistic Analysis of Kate Chopins Desirees Baby946 Words   |  4 PagesFormalistic Analysis of Dà ©sirà ©e’s Baby  Ã‚   The short story â€Å"Dà ©sirà ©e’s Baby† is told by a third person omniscient point of view. The narrator, whose character or relationship to the story never receives any discussion, is a seemingly all-knowing observer of the situation. Although the narrator does not take sides towards issues that arise during the course of the text, her general view does shape the overall characterization of the white Southern society. The text exhibits interesting cluesRead MoreAn Analysis Of Armand Aubigny s Desiree s Baby 1538 Words   |  7 PagesArmand Aubigny’s Pride in â€Å"Desiree’s Baby† by Kate Chopin Through history, we have always yearned independence and equality as human beings. Undoubtedly, Kate Chopin is an extraordinary example She has landed a commendable place among American writers worthy of recognition. Born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1850, Kate was raised by strong women who taught her the value of an education. Her family gave her a revolutionary vision and a feminist personality, but it was her talented and passionate skillsRead MoreThemes And Summary In Desirees Baby, By Kate Chopin1242 Words   |  5 PagesSummary: The story of â€Å"Desirees Baby† by Kate Chopin opens up with Madame Valmondà © going to visit Desiree and her infant. On her journey to L’Abri, a plantation owned by Armand Aubigny, she reminisces about Desiree’s youth. Desiree was an abandoned baby found by Monsieur Valmondà ©. Madame Valmondà © trusted Desiree was sent to her by God as she was not able to have her own children. Eight years has passed and Armand Aubigny, the son of a wealthy cruel master, suddenly falls in love with Desiree