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Chopin
Kate Chopin's Desiree's Baby explores the intersections between race, gender, and social status. Being adopted, Desiree is deprived of the knowledge of her own ancestry. Not knowing her ancestry is an ironic source of power for Desiree. On the one hand, she can assume whatever identity she chooses. On the other hand, her identity is whatever others project onto her. The central conflict of Chopin's story is in fact between the differences in constructed identities: those that are self-constructed and self-generated through personal power, and those that are constructed via social norms, prejudices, and prevailing values.
Desiree is not the one with an identity conflict in Chopin's story. The real central conflict focuses on Armand, who although begins as a loving companion for the titular Desiree, degenerates into the symbol of patriarchal power and the racial hierarchies of the South. Especially in the unique subculture of Louisiana, being of mixed ancestry presents unique identity crises. The notion of purity, and the value judgments that notion brings out in Armand, are not Desiree's problem. Desiree remains strong and unscathed spiritually; the fact that her adopted parents summon her home underscores the fact that she has...
Creole culture created a social hierarchy based on race, which was fluid as the bayou itself. As a "foundling," Desiree technically escapes the types of judgments that would befall someone of known ancestry. Yet the appearance of her baby marks her as if by a scarlet letter. She cares not for the stigma, but Armand becomes consumed with a type of shame only borne from racism. It is highly likely that Armand is himself of mixed background. His denial of this possibility suggests that his love for Desiree was all a sham anyway, predicated on his presumption of her being white.
The fact that nearly no one in her cultural milieu can claim anything close to racial purity is an important fact for Desiree, and one that keeps her strong throughout the story. There are only continuums of social status, with perceived race being a key feature of status. Because she passes as white, Desiree can float among the elite; because her baby has more of a cappuccino complexion, her…
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Desiree's Baby Kate Chopin In many of Kate Chopin's stories there are women who are repressed by their husbands. In that sense, there are a number of male characters written by the author who are portrayed as villainous. This proclivity of Chopin is certainly evinced within "Desiree's Baby," as her depiction of Armand renders him highly iniquitous. The supreme irony of this fact is that for the duration of the
Desiree calls to him, "in a voice that must have stabbed him, if he was human. But he did not notice." When asked what the baby's dark physical features mean Aubigny pulls Desiree's clutching fingers from his arm "and thrust the hand away from him"; it means "...that the child is not white," Aubigny answers, adding that by implication Desiree herself is not purely white either. Rather than embrace the
Kate Chopin "The Story Hour" 1) what impact story? 2) What? 3) What questions? 4)…. ID Summarize short stories by Kate Chopin "The Story of an Hour" In this story, the protagonist Mrs. Mallard is mistakenly informed that her husband died in a railway accident. Her first impulse, after being stunned by the shock of the event, is to celebrate that she is free. Like so many women of her class during
Desiree's Baby is an 1892 story by Kate Chopin that examines how the Aubigny family falls apart due to assumptions and misunderstandings. In the story, Desiree, an orphan whose parentage is unknown and whom the Valmonde family lovingly raises, marries Armand Aubigny, a man whose father comes from a prominent family. Desiree eventually gets pregnant by and gives birth to Armand's son, who later is the cause for Armand to
Kate Chopin, author of "The Story of an Hour" Kate Chopin was born Kate O'Flaherty in 1850, in St. Louis, Missouri (Clarke 1). Chopin's mother was of French extraction and the young Kate grew up in a bilingual household. Chopin's household was also bicultural, encompassing both the cultures of north and south: both supporters of slavery and anti-slavery advocates lived in Missouri; Chopin's family kept slaves and her half-brother fought on
Kate Chopin’s short story “Desiree’s Baby” overtly and bluntly covers the topic of race relations and identity in America. Even in the pluralistic social milieu of Louisiana, being racially mixed is a taboo. The story also shows how the very concept of racial purity is a joke, a social construct and a manufactured category. Written in third person, the story opens with Madame Valmonde, Desiree’s adopted mother, wistfully reflecting on