Desiree's Baby Critical Analysis

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Recommended: Interpretation of "The Story of an Hour, by Kate Chopin

“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin is a story that portrays women’s lack of freedom in the1800s. Women had no rights, and had to cater to all of their husband’s needs. Most men thought women were so fragile that they could not run their own lives. The story is certainly a direct example of the prominent presence of oppression of the current time period. The main character in “The Story of an Hour” is a woman named Mrs. Mallard, who suffers from heart trouble. Woman who learns of her husband 's untimely death, seeks solitude in which she proceeds to reflect upon this incident and its implications. She has a life-altering/-giving epiphany, and proceeds to have all of the fresh hope and elation that had accompanied this experience ruined when It illustrates man’s domination over woman. Since Desiree meekly accepts being ruled by Armand, and Armand regards Desiree as his possession, the master/slave relationship that exists between Armand and Desiree is undeniable. The protagonist is a white woman named Desiree who is of unknown origin and birth as she was found abandoned as an infant at an aristocrat’s doorstep. Eighteen years after her discovery, she and a fellow aristocrat, Armand Aubigny, fall in love and get married. They soon have a child, yet conflict arises when the child is discovered to be black. The young family is destroyed when the baby’s father, Armand, refuses to accept the child. In “Desiree’s Baby”, Chopin demonstrates through Armand’s conflicts how weak humans conform to environmental norms. Through the ironic ending in which Armand discovers that he is the donor of the black gene, Chopin teaches the danger of being a weak individual: Armand is punished for his weakness by Desiree, a woman he once loved, leaving while at the same time bearing the knowledge that he is of a race that he himself hates. Chopin presents the challenge to all humans to strive for individuality and self-esteem, lest they too fall victim to their own weaknesses. Throughout the story, Kate Chopin uses symbolism to convey her themes of race and

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