The Criticism And Symbolism In Desiree's Baby

Kate Chopin is best known for her ability to express her feelings of the time and is well known feminist of her time. She has wrote many inspiring novels about women having little to no voice in the Antebellum era. Kate hated being a mother and a wife because she felt like she had no power . Thus, she wrote one of her greatest novels Desiree’s Baby. In Kate Chopin’s Desiree's Baby she introduces a theme of male supremacy by her execution of literary devices such as symbolism and irony to prove that it is more important to be male than white in the Antebellum era. During the Antebellum era, any race other than whites were considered to be less than superior than whites. This was a hard time for any race other than the privileged caucasians;

The contradictory term for unconditionally is conditionally. In Desiree's Baby, Armand loved Desiree conditionally because he made her leave once he found out she was of African American descent. In traditional wedding vows, it should be stated that you will love you spouse through anything. Armand broke his wedding vows because he did not love her due to her skin color. Many readers say Desiree loved her baby unconditionally because she knew she would not be accepted in the world as a mixed baby. Therefore, she took her baby’s life in the bayou before taking her own life. It is mournful that Desiree believed that death was their only choice, as she could not fathom the idea of living back at home with her

When Armand thought Desiree was black he kicked her out of the house with no remorse. “Do you want me to go?” “Yes, I want you to go” (3). A father and husband able to commit such a hateful action proves his conditional love for the close people in his life. This story depicts race as a strong enough force to break apart families and cause turmoil. Chopin demonstrates not only how men treat women, but also how important it was to be white in this post-civil war era. When Armand was the head of his house, he would not let Desiree make any changes to his house. He made sure that she knew that he was the alpha male. This is the thing that Kate hated the most as a woman was having no say in any part of the world. Kate as many other woman, even though they were white, still had no say. Black men were over her on an importance level and this furiated Kate. During this time, if you were male you had the power to do anything your heart yearned for. Armand literally had the power to kill his wife and daughter by kicking them