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Desirée’s Baby

Désirée's Baby" is a short story centering on human relationships in the southern United States before the
Civil War. Kate Chopin wrote it in the fall of 1892 and Vogue magazine published it in January 1893.

Setting

.......The action takes place in the United States in the mid-nineteenth century on two Louisiana
plantations, one called Valmondé, a family name, and the other called L'Abri (French for shelter). The
story begins in the warm-weather months and ends in autumn.

Characters

Désirée: A young woman described by the narrator as "beautiful and gentle, affectionate and sincere."
When she was a very small child—of "toddling age," the narrator says—she was abandoned in front of a
plantation home. Its owners adopted her.

Armand Aubigny: Young man who inherited his father's plantation, L'Abri. After he marries Désirée, they
live at L'Abri.
The Baby: Male child of Armand and Désirée. Désirée notices several months after his birth that his
physical characteristics are those of a person of mixed racial ancestry.
Monsieur and Madame Valmondé: Childless husband and wife who found Désirée when she was a
baby. After adopting her, they lovingly reared her.
La Blanche: Female slave of mixed ancestry.
Zandrine: Female slave who helps Désirée care for her child.
Negrillon: Male slave who pretends to have suffered a leg burn in order to be excused from work.
Deceased Parents of Armand Aubigny: They lived in Paris with Armand until Madame Aubigny died.
Armand was eight years old at the time. His father then brought the boy to Louisiana. Armand inherited
L'Abri after Monsieur Aubigny died.
Neighbors Who Visit L'Abri

Point of View

.......Kate Chopin presents "Désirée's Baby" in omniscient third-person point of view, meaning that the
narrator not only describes events as they unfold but also reveals the thoughts of the characters from time
to time, as in this sentence: "When the baby was about three months old, Desiree awoke one day to the
conviction that there was something in the air menacing her peace."

Themes

Racism and Gender Bias

Like many other American men of the mid-nineteenth century South, Armand Aubigny bases the worth
of a personprimarily on his or her race and gender. Women are subordinate to men, he believes, and
persons with a black in their family tree are little more than subhuman. As master of the L'Abri plantation,
he is a strict taskmaster who treats the slaves harshly—so much so, the narrator says, that the “negroes
had forgotten how to be gay.” As a husband, Armand clearly rules the home. “When he frowned, [Désirée]
trembled,” the narrator observes. “When he smiled, she asked no greater blessing of God.” Although his
manner softens after the child is born, his demeanor remains in question. As Désirée observes, “Armand
is the proudest father in the parish, I believe, chiefly because it is a boy, to bear his name; though he says
not,—that he would have loved a girl as well. But I know it isn't true.” In other words, Armand judges the
worth of the child according to its gender (in addition to its race). A male meant that the proud Aubigny
name and aristocratic heritage would endure, perhaps for many generations. However, when Armand
discovers that the child has Negro blood, he becomes sullen and cruel, and he makes it known that his
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wife and child are no longer welcome at L'Abri. He even tries to erase their memory by burning all their
clothing and household items.

Judging by Appearances

Armand loved Désirée's outer beauty, not her inner beauty. She was a trophy. When the trophy became
tarnished in his eyes, he removed it from its shelf and discarded it. He also rejected his child, for its skin
exhibited a taint of impurity. Finally, like other Old South plantation owners, he viewed the blackness of his
slaves as a defect that colored even their souls. However, conversation between Désirée and Madame
Valmondé indicates that he apparently found time for La Blanche, the slave woman whose name (French
for white) suggests that she was of mixed heritage, with light skin that made her a tolerable sexual object
for Armand. Désirée, speaking of the loudness of her baby's crying, says, “Armand heard him the other
day as far away as La Blanche's cabin.”

Real Love Is Colorblind

The narrator says Armand "no longer loved [Désirée] because of the unconscious injury she had brought
upon his home and his name." Rejecting her because he believes she is of mixed heritage indicates that
he never truly loved her in the first place. Real love is colorblind. On the other hand, after Désirée informs
her mother of developments at L'Abri, Madame Valmondé tells her in a return letter, ""My own Desiree:
Come home to Valmondé; back to your mother who loves you. Come with your child."

Climax

The climax occurs when Désirée realizes that her baby is of mixed racial heritage. This moment
precipitates the tragic events that follow.

Foreshadowings

Désirée's "Obscure Origin"

The following passage—describing Armand's attitude regarding the lack of information about Désirée's
family history—foreshadows his assumption that Désirée's ancestry included a black African.

Monsieur Valmonde grew practical and wanted things well considered: that is, the girl's obscure origin.
Armand looked into her eyes and did not care. He was reminded that she was nameless. What did it
matter about a name when he could give her one of the oldest and proudest in Louisiana?
After he discovered that his child was a mixed ancestry, it was easy for him to conclude that his wife was
the one with Désirée was the one with mixed blood in her veins.
L'Abri's Appearance

The foreboding appearance of the exterior of Armand's home reflects his inner world and foreshadows the
malevolence that possesses him after Désirée questions him about their child. Here is the description of
L'Abri, presented when Madame Valmondé visits the plantation house. "It was a sad looking place. . . .
The roof came down steep and black like a cowl, reaching out beyond the wide galleries that encircled the
yellow stuccoed house. Big, solemn oaks grew close to it, and their thick-leaved, far-reaching branches
shadowed it like a pall."

"Something in the Air"

Désirée detects a change for the worse in the atmosphere at L'Abri when her child is three months old,
although she cannot fully explain what she feels. Her presentiment, along with a change in the demeanor
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of her husband, foreshadows the unhappy events that result in the destruction of her marriage. Here is the
passage describing her feelings and the change in Armand's behavior.

When the baby was about three months old, Désirée awoke one day to the conviction that there was
something in the air menacing her peace. It was at first too subtle to grasp. It had only been a disquieting
suggestion; an air of mystery among the blacks; unexpected visits from far-off neighbors who could hardly
account for their coming. 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, without excuse. And the very spirit of Satan seemed suddenly to take hold of him in his dealings with
the slaves. Désirée was miserable enough to die.
Armand's Complexion

The following passage foreshadows the ending, when Armand reads the letter about his own background.
The key sentence is underlined.

A quick conception of all that this accusation meant for her nerved her with unwonted courage to deny it.
"It is a lie; it is not true, I am white! Look at my hair, it is brown; and my eyes are gray, Armand, you know
they are gray. And my skin is fair," seizing his wrist. "Look at my hand; whiter than yours, Armand," she
laughed hysterically.
Désirée's Reaction to Her Supposed Racial Origin

.......When Armand tells Désirée that she is not white, her reaction suggests that she feels disgraced. She
tells him, "It is a lie; it is not true, I am white! Look at my hair, it is brown; and my eyes are gray, Armand,
you know they are gray. And my skin is fair. Look at my hand; whiter than yours, Armand." Then, when
composing a letter to Madame Valmondé, she writes, "My mother, they tell me I am not white. Armand has
told me I am not white. For God's sake tell them it is not true. You must know it is not true. I shall die. I
must die. I cannot be so unhappy, and live."
.......However, it is likely that what distresses Désirée is not her and her baby's racial heritage per se.
Rather, it is a fear that Armand will reject them because he views them as racially impure. Her fear, of
course, is well founded.

Armand's Irreverence

.......One passage in the story is particularly revealing in regard to the depth of Armand's malevolence. It
occurs after he tells Désirée that he wants her to leave L'Abri. The narrator says, "He thought Almighty
God had dealt cruelly and unjustly with him; and felt, somehow, that he was paying Him back in kind when
he stabbed thus into his wife's soul."

Symbols

.......The following can be interpreted as symbols in "Désirée's Baby."

pillar in front of the Valmondé home: Strength and protection. Monsieur Valmondé found Désirée sleeping
next to the pillar when she was a baby. As a young woman, she leans against it when Armand notices
her.
L'Abri: The foreboding appearance of this plantation home symbolizes Armand's dark moods.
bonfire: The destruction of the memory of Désirée and the baby.
October sunset: The ending of Désirée's marriage to Armand.