What do you think Chopin is saying about marriage in "Desiree's Baby"? Do you think Chopin is commenting on how a child affects/changes marriage? Why or why not?
I feel that Chopin’s purpose behind “Desiree’s Baby” was to illustrate the idea that the birth of a child is one of the most telling struggles that a couple will experience. Desiree and Armand are thought to share a passionate love that burned from the moment Armand first saw Desiree; he did not care that she was of “obscure origin” and relished in the thought that instead of being nameless, he would be able to give her his name. When Desiree gives birth to a boy, Armand is “the proudest father in the parish” – his spirits are too high to even bother with reprimanding his slaves. However, a devastating change in his attitude towards Desiree and their baby occurs the second their child’s skin tone begins to darken more than his liking. The blame for the “unconscious injury she had brought upon his home and his name” is immediately placed on Desiree due to her unknown origin – he decidedly no longer loves her, and bids that she and the infant leave their home. Armand’s strong reaction proved that his love for Desiree was more of an infatuation, and that the birth of their child not only revealed the temporary nature of his and Desiree’s relationship, but also Armand’s true heritage. Chopin uses the story of Desiree and Armand to convey the idea that the birth of a child influences a marriage because it is an element of stress and uncertainty that tests the strength of the bond between the couple.
Week 2 question 3
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think Chopin is saying about marriage in "Desiree's Baby"? Do you think Chopin is commenting on how a child affects/changes marriage? Why or why not?
Marriage is an everlasting bond between two people which also is a building block for a family and a healthy relationship. Marriage is based on love; it goes past the physical attraction and can overcome any instability in a relationship. In “Desiree’s Baby” the author starts off by describing Armand Aubigny’s attraction towards Desiree’s beauty, mesmerized with her charm he falls in love and marries her. Chopin illustrates how their marriage is based on a romantic love because Armand fell in love with Desiree’s superficial characteristics. Race playing a greater toll in the setting described in the short story, Chopin conveys that bloodlines and social status are more important than the bond that the couple holds. He easily discards the love for his wife and child over the need to have “blood purity”. In “Desiree’s Baby” marriage is portrayed more as an identity for Armand and his wife and baby as reflections upon himself. He married for a status in the community rather than the love of his family.
According to Chopin the child does affect their marriage because due to the child’s African decent, Armand compromised his love for his wife for the sake of his beliefs and social status. Blinded by the society’s negativity towards dark skin and a woman’s lower social standing, Desiree is automatically blamed for the child’s African decent. If he truly loved his wife for the person she was, he would not have put her in such disparity causing her to leave. The child affects marriage in a sense that he was proud to have a son because he had someone to carry his name after his death. Desiree exclaims “Armand is the proudest father in the parish, I believe, chiefly because it is a boy, to bear his name”(663) He cared for the child merely because it benefitted his standing in society. The child represents the parents; any negativity upon the child communicates a fault on the parents’ behalf. Learning that his child was bi-racial was a mark on his status which he couldn’t accept and therefore was easily able to detach himself from his wife and child.