1865-1914: Short Answer Quiz

Kate Chopin, “Désirée’s Baby”* (*Shorter Edition only)


  1. Consider the influence of the settings of “Désirée’s Baby” on its plot. A great deal depends, for example, on Désirée’s move from the Valmondé estate to L’Abri, the Aubigny mansion, and the story hints that Armand’s first desire for Désirée depended on how she looked with the Valmondé’s stone pillar for a backdrop: “It was no wonder, when she stood one day against the stone pillar in whose shadow she had lain asleep, that Armand Aubigny riding by and seeing her there, had fallen in love with her. That was the way all the Aubignys fell in love, as if struck by a pistol shot. The wonder was that he had not loved her before; for he had known her since his father  brought him home from Paris, a boy of eight, after his mother died there” (1615 [shorter ed.]). How would you describe the way setting and plot interact in this story?

  1. “When the baby was about three months old, Désirée awoke one day to the conviction that there was something in the air menacing her peace. It was at first too subtle to grasp. It had only been a disquieting suggestion; an air of mystery among the blacks; unexpected visits from far-off neighbors who could hardly account for their coming” (1617 [shorter ed.]). The threat of miscegenation (the mixing of races) can account for the odd behavior of her visitors as they inspect the baby’s skin color, but the story never explicitly says what they suspect (she leaves it to Armand to state with brutal terseness). Why do you think the narrator suggests the answer rather than providing it?

  1. Here is the account of Désirée’s suicide: “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” (1618 [shorter ed.]). Chopin’s narration is restrained; it neglects, for example, to describe Désirée’s last moments in gruesome detail. It also fails to mention the death of the baby Désirée had been holding in her arms as she waded into the bayou. Describe the effect of Chopin’s restraint on how the reader learns about the deaths of Désirée and her baby.

  1. In the final paragraph of the story, Armand burns the letter that informs the reader that he was the probable source of the baby’s black heritage for which he blamed Désirée so cruelly. How does this final revelation make you reconsider his actions from the beginning of the story? How does his mother’s decision to remain in Paris and never risk living in America appear in light of his actions toward Désirée?

  1. When Désirée writes her mother to ask for her help in persuading Armand to accept Désirée and the baby as white, she responds: “My own Désirée: Come home to Valmondé; back to your mother who loves you. Come with your child” (1618 [shorter ed.]). Once Désirée marries, her choices narrow to two named sheltering houses, each of which speaks of her in terms of the claims they have on her. Describe the picture of marriage that Chopin creates in this story, and the way it seems to trap Désirée within a hopeless path of despair.



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