User:Jobananas/Désirée's Baby

(I think this will be a new section after the publication history but before themes and literary classification)

Historical Context- Gender and Race Relations in 19th century Louisiana
“Désirée’s Baby” does not include specific references to any dates within the text, though Chopin’s clearly takes place in the Antebellum South and was published in Postbellum Louisiana. Thus, Chopin included references to race and gender relations that allowed her to market the story to a large and socially diverse audience. Her messaging includes many layers depending on how the story is read in relation to the motivations of each character that turns this piece into a confirmation of racial bias against black Americans or a progressive piece of literature revealing the trappings of the Southern caste system.

If the story is read from the beginning with the reader assuming that Armand has knowledge of his racial heritage, then it becomes a tragedy of the cruelty he faces from his position as a white-passing plantation owner. This view can be taken on by relying on the clues presented by Chopin that Armand fell in love immediately after realizing he could marry someone whose heritage was unknown and yet who presented very white- allowing Armand a strong chance of fathering a white child and having the security of being able to blame Désirée if the baby does not appear white once born. Once the baby is born, Armand’s return to the harsh treatment of both his wife and slaves seems to suggest that he never loved Désirée at all and is once again taking his anger out on his slaves for belonging to the same category as himself. Armand’s anger present throughout the text also relates to the larger issue of the treatment of black Americans at the time, since the total oppression of even free men ensured that Armand would have been completely cut off from the privileges he enjoyed as a white passing man if the truth were revealed (he would have been considered just a step above property).

The realities of the treatment of black Americans in Louisiana both before and after the Civil War lend themselves to a more nuanced understanding of what prompted Armand’s drastic actions against Désirée once their child was born. Though Louisiana during the 19th century was demographically made up of many peoples of mixed heritage, the law remained strictly against miscegenation and strictly divided between those considered white and those not. Especially after 1850, Louisiana outwardly positioned itself as one of the strictest caste societies in the United States, adopting the “one-drop rule” and relegating anyone who was even suspected of having mixed heritage to the lower caste.