1. “DESIREE’S BABY” Kate Chopin

2. A FAMILY CREATED  Originally published in January 1893 in Vogue; this is 11 years before the author’s death.  Desiree is not the biological child of Madame Valmonde; she was found by Monsieur Valmonde when he returned one morning. It is believed she was abandoned by a party passing through.  Madame Valmonde believes Desiree was “sent to her by a beneficent Providence to be the child of her affection” because she was unable to have any herself (421).

3. ARMAND AND DESIREE  Desiree was beautiful, gentle, affectionate, and sincere; this caused Armand Aubigny to fall in love with her. He claimed to not care that no one knew her origins. (Remember this later.)  Armand’s estate was a “sad looking place” and his “rule was a strict one” in regards to his servants (422). His attitudes made Desiree nervous, though she loved him dearly.  When the baby was born, Armand changed. He was pleased that “it [was] a boy, to bear his name” (422). He became a great deal kinder to everyone following the birth of his son.

4. A CHANGE IN ARMAND  About 3 months after the baby was born, Armand changed. He “avoided her presence and that of her child” and “the very spirit of Satan seemed suddenly to take hold of him in his dealing with the slaves” (423). Desiree is miserable and feels she cannot handle this change in her husband’s behavior.  One day, one of the servants is fanning her child. She comes to a shocking, appalling realization. What does she see? What was your first thought before it told you what the situation was?

5. SENT AWAY  The baby’s coloring supposedly evidences that “the child is not white; it means [Desiree is] not white” (424). This is horrifying to Armand. Why? What does this show about him?  Madame Valmonde tells Desiree to take the baby and come home. When Desiree goes to talk to Armand, he says, “I want you to go” (424). This situation has shown he does not love her as much as he claims. He “no longer loved her, because of the unconscious injury she had brought upon his home and his name” (424). What does this show about society at this time?

6. LEAVING  Desiree collects the baby and leaves. She doesn’t stop to grab any of their belongings. She is in only a thin dress. She doesn’t take the normal road home, but walks “across a deserted field, where the stubble bruised her tender feet, so delicately shod, and tore her thin gown to shreds” (424).  “She disappeared among the reeds and willows that grew thick along the banks of the deep, sluggish bayou; and she did not come back again” (424). What can you infer has happened? Why would she do that?

7. DESTROYING EVERYTHING  Within a few weeks, Armand is burning everything in a bonfire that belonged to Desiree or the baby. He keeps the fire burning high so that everything is destroyed quickly.  He begins burning letters Desiree had sent him over the years. At the back of the drawer where they were, he finds an old letter from his mother to his father. It reads, “I thank the good God for having so arranged our lives that our dear Armand will never know that his mother, who adores him, belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery” (425).

8. FINAL THOUGHTS  Based on the letter, what light does this bring to the situation? What has Armand done?  Was Armand’s behavior justified? How should he have handled this situation?  What are possible themes of this story?  What would be the typical reaction to finding out this information today as compared to 1893?