The Theme Of Women In 'Desiree Baby' By Kate Chopin

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Back in the old days, women were practically enslaved in marriages. Meaning they really did not have no rights and their masters were their own husbands. Kate Chopin author of many different short stories, wrote a few stories where the female character shows signs of her being in enslaved marriage. Kate Chopin stories have a common theme of, women suffering from enslaved in a marriage and denial of any type of freedom. To prove this, in Kate Chopin stories it shows, One women cheating and dishonoring her current husband with one of her old lover 's “The storm”. Second another character was happy when she found her husband was supposedly reported dead. “Story of an hour”. And lastly “Desiree’s Baby” about a woman who was mistreated by her husband
This story is more on the racist side other than being enslaved in marriages. Even though is more on the racist side you can connect it with Kate Chopin Common theme. The story is mainly about a married white couple who haves a black child. Again at this time period there is still a lot of slavery going on, so the husband blames the wife, Desiree, for being black since she was originally adopted. After the husband finds out that there’s a possibility that his wife have black heritage in her. “Then a strange, an awful change in her husband’s manner, which she dared not ask him to explain. When he spoke to her, it was with averted eyes, from which the old love-light seemed to have gone out. He absented himself from home; and when there, avoided her presence and that of her child” (Chopin). Here in this part of the story Chopin shows how was Desiree being mistreated once the husband found out she might be black. Not only does it proves the rights of women and was it disobeyed but also proves how the time period the story takes place. What I’m trying to prove is that Kate Chopin common theme is women rights and their role in marriages at her time era, it shows all her stories are taken place around the same generation. “Desiree was happy when she had the baby and Armand was as happy and nice to the slaves then before but after he saw his child growing to be mixed it changed his whole attitude” (Griffin). This shows how the story takes place during slavery time, since the husband had

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