The Influence of the Times on Desirees Baby - Literature review Example

The Influence of the Times on Desiree’s Baby ” Desiree’s Baby” a short story written by Kate Chopin, has earned critical acclaim ever since it was published in 1893. Set in the Louisiana of the nineteenth century before the Civil War, “Desiree’s Baby” examines the whole gamut of relationships that existed during the time, from the relationship between mother and daughter, husband and wife to those of slave and master .The story echoes the customs of the time and place, with its hordes of slaves and large plantations. It is only recently that Chopin is being recognized for her true worth as a chronicler of her times. When it was first published, “Desiree’s Baby” did become famous, but it was only for the ability of the author to picturize the Bayou Louisiana so vividly, not for the tremendous social impact her writings had. Chopin’s writings were influenced by her personal life experiences, which were quite extraordinary. Monsieur Valmonde, a Creole gentleman, finds the infant Desiree abandoned by unknown persons near his home .He and his wife bring up the child as their own. Desiree grows up into a beautiful young woman, with whom their young aristocratic neighbor, Armand Aubigny falls in love. They get married, and Desiree is very happy at first. Soon she has a baby son and Armand is proud and happy. He becomes gentle even towards the slaves. Soon it becomes apparent to everybody around her that the baby is of mixed blood .Armand becomes cold towards her and when she asks him what was the meaning of it, Armand tells her bluntly that neither baby nor she is white. In despair, Desiree writes to her adopted mother who tells her to come home with the baby. She asks her husband whether she should go, and he tells her brutally to go. Desiree takes her baby and disappears into the bayou and is never seen again. Some time later, Armand puts everything that belonged to Desiree and her baby into the flames. During that time he comes across an old letter written by his mother to his father which reveals the secret that his own mother was not white. Written in a simple style, the story centers about the complex subject of miscegenation. The protagonist Desiree, is a woman of unknown parentage, who was found “lying asleep in the shadow of the big stone pillar”(Chopin) by Monsiur Valmonde, has been brought up as their own daughter by the childless Creole couple, Monsieur and Madame Valmonde. ”The prevailing belief was that she had been purposely left by a party of Texans, whose canvas covered wagons, later in the day, had crossed the ferry that Cotton Mais kept, just below the plantation.”(Chopin) The allusion to the “canvas covered wagons” gives us a hint of the time of the story- before the advent of the railway line in the nineteenth century. Kate Chopin has set her story some time before, when canvas covered wagons were the preferred mode of travel. Desiree grows up to be a beautiful young woman, the typical Creole maiden. “For the girl grew to be beautiful and gentle, affectionate and sincere – the idol of Valmonde”.( Chopin) Carl A. Brasseaux, in his book, “French, Cajun, Creole, Huma” writes that women from Creole families were good –looking, polite and vivacious. The Creoles of Louisiana, who were the white descendants of Spanish and French ancestors, considered themselves superior to others. According to Brasseaux, the word Creole came to mean high born The Valmondes’ aristocratic Creole neighbor, Armand Aubigny falls in love with Desiree and marries her in spite of cautions by Monsieur Volmonde about Desiree’s unknown ancestry.. Kate Chopin lived in a time when America was at acrucial stage in its history. Having become independent some time ago, America had plunged into a Civil War when Kate Chopin was in her formative years. Coming out of the Civil War, America had become one of the most prosperous nations in the world People were optimistic.. People had started questioning the old beliefs. This is reflected in Chopin’s works. In “Desiree’s Baby”, she questions the old colonial ideas of the superiority of one race over another. This is shown by irony when Armand discovers his true identity. The Creoles were a part of this time in the history of America. In Louisiana, the Creoles were the French speaking people of Spanish or French descent. They were mainly the upper class white plantation owners and aristocrats, whose forefathers had come from France and Spain. They were Catholic, and they were proud of their cultural heritage. During the nineteenth century, they formed a separate class of aristocrats in the Louisiana society . Chopin, who was born Kate O’Flaherty , herself had Creole relatives. Her mother was French American. Her grandmother and great-grandmother who were greatly loved by Kate spoke French. One of the greatest influences in Chopin’s life was Madame Charleville, her great grandmother.. Under the seventy year old great grandmother’s guidance, Kate learned perfect French, and to play the piano well. But above all, Madame Charleville told Kate stories about her family and friends. According to Emily Toth, Kate Chopin’s great grandmother instilled an interest in the lives of the people around her in her great granddaughter. This predilection for gossip among the neighbors is seen in “Desiree’s Baby” , where Desiree has “unexpected visits from far off neighbors who could hardly account for their coming”.(Chopin) Although she herself had not noticed it, Desiree’s child was colored, which was a social stigma in those days. American households of the time, especially Creole households were patriarchal in nature. According to Carl A. Brasseaux ,in his book “French, Cajun, Creole, Houma”, the men were arrogant and overbearing., good looking, and impulsive , besides being proud and reckless. (Brasseaux 92) Although her own life was controlled by the women in her family, Chopin had a fair idea of what the life in patriarchal households were like. Thus she has portrayed Armand Abigny as a typical Creole gentleman. When he wants to marry Desiree,” Monseur Valmonde grew practical and wanted things considered: that is the girl’s obscure origin”. But Armand disregards his advice .He remarks arrogantly “what did it matter about a name when he could give her one of the oldest and proudest in Louisiana?”.(Chopin) Armand orders a corbeille from Paris, “and contained himself with what patience he could until it arrived.”( Chopin) They were married when the corbeille arrived. This refers to the custom of the Creoles, in which the young man gave his intended bride a basket containing such fineries as lace, cashmere shawls and jewelry In his biography of Kate Chopin, Neil Wyatt says that the death of her father on All Saints Day, the death of her brother George due to typhoid fever in the war on Mardi Gras and finally the death of her grandmother three days before Christmas made a strong impression on her and left her with a cynicism about religion We do not see any trust in religion in Desiree, who does not run to the priest for solace and advice when she is in trouble. Chopin had a troubled childhood when she lost her father at a very young age. Thomas O’Flaherty , Kate Chopin’s father was on the maiden run of the train across the new Gascombe Bridge to Jefferson City when the bridge collapsed , in which thirty people were killed. O’Flaherty was one of those who were killed. Kate was only five then. We see shades of the fatherless Kate in Desiree who when found by Monsieur Valmonde, “awoke in his arms and began to cry for ‘Dada’” (Chopin) Chopin had one friend at the Sacred Heart Academy, named Kitty Garesche. During the Civil War, Kitty’s parents were forced to move from St.Louis as they were slave holders and supported the South. Kitty returned after the war and the girls’ friendship resumed. According to Wyatt, Chopin does not seem to have had any other close female friend except Kitty Garesche. In Desiree too we see a lonely young woman who does not have many friends. Those that do come to call on her when her baby is born, do so out of curiosity . According to Emily Toth, unlike other American girls of the same age, Kate Chopin and Kitty Garesche were brought up in a literary atmosphere, where they were encouraged to read extensively. Having been raised in a liberal household surrounded by women of spirit, Chopin was broad- minded and spirited She writes about the slaves in the Aubigny estate .”Young Aubigny’s rule was a strict one too, and under it his negroes had forgotten how to be gay” (Chopin) When Madame Valmonde sees the baby, she is startled by its appearance. “She lifted it and walked with it over to the window that was lightest. She scanned the baby narrowly”(Chopin) Although Madame realizes that the baby is colored, she does not say anything to Desiree. Later, when Desiree writes her a despairing letter, she writes back simply, “My own Desiree: Come home to Valmonde; back to your mother who loves you. Come with your child” (Chopin) This shows the love Madame had for Desiree, as well as her ability to disregard the implication of Desiree having African ancestry. She had drawn her own conclusions after seeing the child, and the only feeling she had was of love for her daughter. . According to Brasseaux, in “French, Cajun, Creole, Houma”, there were a number of servants and field slaves in a Creole aristocrat’s house. Desiree’s household too had many domestic servants and slaves to run the household There was Zandrine, there was La Blanche and her quadroon boy. The Merriam – Webster dictionary defines a quadroon as” a person of one quarter black ancestry” Chopin was quote familiar with the slave owning households with their quadroons and octoroons because their own household had slaves. Chopin started writing after her husband died suddenly of swamp fever. She came back to her mother’s house in St.Louis with her children. Unfortunately her mother died soon after, and Chopin took to writing to support herself and her family. According to Joyce Hackett who writes in the Harper’s Magazine, Kate Chopin started writing late, only when she was thirty nine years old and had already lost her husband, because she had to support her large family. But when she started writing, her passion for reading helped her to write very fast “Desiree’s Baby” was published in the Vogue Magazine in 1893. Although “Desiree’s Baby” is written by a woman in her forties, it has all the freshness of a story written by a youthful writer. Kate Chopin did not expect the treatment meted out to her novel “Awakening” published in 1899. Dealing with the sexual desire in woman, which was a subject viewed as vulgar in those days, thee novel received bad criticism. According to Russ Sprinkle, after “Awakening” was published, critics gave bad reviews against it. Even Kate Chopin was criticized personally. Most critics considered the novel to be not having good taste, not polite and not fit for reading Her book caused social problems for her too, with the St.Louis library removing the offending book from its shelves. The terrible disappointment of her book’s reception made her desist from further writing. She died five years later from cerebral hemorrhage. We can see the forewarning of this incident in “Desiree’s Baby”, where the terrible scorn of her husband drives Desiree to death. When her husband scornfully tells her that she is not white, Desiree is devastated. She shows him the letter from her mother inviting her home, and asks him what she should do. Armand tells her cruelly to go. Desiree is unable to bear the scorn of her husband whom she adored, and she disappears into the bayou with her baby. The final irony of the story also has a parallel to Chopin’s life story. According to Rena Korb in her criticism, who qoutes the end of the story, the irony comes to light when both Armand and the reader come to know that it is Armand who has the inheritance of mixed racial origin Kate Chopin shows that the double-edged sword of racism can turn against anyone who is intolerant. According to Korb, in the whole story, it is only Armand who is cruel and he finally finds out about his Black ancestry.. Kate Chopin’s novel, “The Awakening”, which caused such a furore when it was published and such anguish to its author, was rediscovered in 1969, as a feminist novel. It is now regarded as one of the greatest American novels. While the incidents in her life and times influenced Kate Chopin’s “Desiree’s Baby”, it also mirrors Chopin’s life. While dealing with the topics of Creole society of the time the story opens up the prevailing prejudice due to color. As Robert D.Arner writes in “Pride and Prejudice: Kate Chopin”, the theme reiterates that there can be no separation based on color made between slaves and their masters Woks cited Arner, Robert. D. “Pride and Prejudice: Kate Chopin” Short Story Criticisms: Excerpts of the Works of Short Fiction Writers Vol.8. London. Gale Research Inc. 1972 Brasseaux , Carl. A. French, Cajun, Creole, Houma: A Primer on Francophone Louisiana LSU Press. 2005. Hackett, Joyce. The Reawakening: Kate Chopin and the Wages of Liberation. Harper’s Magazine. 1 October 2003. http://www.harpers.org/archive/2003/10 Korb, Rena. Critical Essay on “Desiree’s Baby,” in Short Stories for Students, The Gale Group, 2001. . ... Sprinkle, Russ. Kate Chopin’s The Awakening: A Critical Reception. http://www.womenwriters.net/domesticgoddess/sprinkle.htm Toth, Emily. Unveiling Kate Chopin: The Centennial Story University Press of Mississippi. 1999. Wyatt, Neal. Biography of Kate Chopin. http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/eng384/katebio.htm Read More