Desiree's Baby by Kate Chopin

“Love is a force more formidable than any other. It is invisible – it cannot be seen or measured, yet it is powerful enough to transform you in a moment, and offer you more joy than any material possession could” are words deeply moving and thoughtful to love and life. In Kate Chopin’s Desiree’s Baby, it seemed Armand Aubigny’s love for his baby and wife had done exactly that, transformed him into a happier plantation owner. His wife, Desiree Aubigny, thrived in the love he was pouring out because “she loved him desperately.” Their love was immediate as was his parent’s love when they lived in Paris. It seemed Armand and Desiree’s life was to be a fairytale from their “pistol shot” love and marriage to their newborn boy that would carry – on the Aubigny’s family name. This fairytale was tragically short – lived, the newborn baby carried African American characteristics. Armand quickly turned on Desiree and proceeded to kick her off the plantation. The last time he saw her was when “she disappeared among the reeds and willows . . . and she did not come back.” He blamed her due to her questionable heritage of being an orphan before she was welcomed into the Valmonde’s home. When in truth, he held the African American trait in his blood on his mother’s side. Chopin shows one that in true love there is colorblindness; but in others, it relies completely on the blood beneath the skin.

Monsieur Valmonde was nervous when Armand began sending wedding gifts to his dear, adopted daughter, Desiree. Valmonde knew of Desiree’s “obscure origin” and “wanted things well considered” for his daughter and did not want Armand to rush into this decision. Armand did not care to notice his haste to wed Desiree because “what did it matter . . . wh...

... middle of paper ...

... skin. Armand could see only color in his world and in so doing, never experienced the true meaning of colorblind love.

Works Cited

Angelis, B. d. (2001). Retrieved January 28, 2014, from Brainy Quote: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/b/barbaradea165137.html

Barnet, S., Burto, W., & Cain, W. E. (2006). An Introduction to Literature. In K. Chopin, Desiree's Baby (pp. 82-86). New York: Pearson Longman.

Duvall, M. J., & Nerad, J. C. (2007). "Suddenly and Shockingly Black": The Atavistic Child in Turn-into-the-Twentieth-Century American Fiction. African American Review , 51-66.

Mayer, G. H. (2010). A Matter of Behavior: A Semantic Analysis of Five Kate Chopin Stories. et Cetera , 94-100.

Pegues, D. (2010). Fear and Desire: Regional Aesthetics and Colonial Desire in Kate Chopin's Portrayals of the Tragic Mulatta Stereotype. Southern Literary Journal , 1-22, 168.