ipl-logo

The Role Of Mental Health In The Yellow Wallpaper By Kate Chopin

1497 Words6 Pages

Throughout the last few centuries, women have been viewed in the role of being weak and not being able to take care of themselves politically or financially. During these times, specifically in the 1800s, there have been novels written by powerful authors such as Kate Chopin and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. They used literary elements to advance readers' ideas about women's roles in society and how it was discriminatory. Through their novels they used these literary devices to highlight women's struggles with mental illness, marrying for survival, and having to only depend on the powerful male figures in their lives. Written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper, uses symbolism to show the struggles of women's mental health in …show more content…

In the story, Desiree, an orphan, and Armand, a slave owner, married each other, with Armand having promised Desiree that he loved her even if he didn’t know where she came from. After the marriage, they had a baby, who was very loved at the beginning by both of their parents, yet just a few short months later, Armand treated them as if they never existed. When confronted, Armand revealed the reason was that the baby was black, which by default meant that Desiree was black, and he didn’t want the embarrassment of being with someone black and having a black. Not being able to live with this news, “ 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”( Chopin 1). Due to the lack of knowledge about Desiree's past, Chopin was able to make us think that the only possible solution was that Desiree was black. Like us readers, Armand made the conclusion that Desiree had to have been of black descent. And yet in the end we find out that Armand had been the one who was black and he ruined his entire life and family. Women were chosen during this time period due to a man's taste so they could mold their own families and after were isolated from the world to the point they felt they could only live on with their lives if their husbands were in it. Even if some had a family they become so dependent on their husbands because they were the ones providing for them and giving them the love and attention a human needs which turned their love into an obsession. An obsession that we concluded led to Desiree killing both herself and their baby. She felt she only had an identity with her husband and she didn’t want to lose

Show More
Related

Comparing Désirée's Baby 'And The Birth-Mark'

1367 Words | 6 Pages

There could have been multiple possibilities of why the baby was not “White,” but due to Armand’s first intuition that Désirée was not white, he is showing that he has authority of the situation and that what he says goes. Because the husband and wife in both stories allow this particular type of destructive relationship, where the wife is submissive and the husband treats his wife like his own property, both stories progressively deteriorate by the

Read More

Comparison Of Loving V. Virginia And Desiree's Baby

784 Words | 4 Pages

Signifying that Armand had calmed and settled down once he meet her, he was so in love with Desiree. After a while and 3 months had passed y of the baby’s birth Armand’s attitude had changed she didn’t want to ask but it made her unhappy. Armand didn’t want his family legacy to be ruined because the baby wasn’t white which he believes Desiree wasn’t white either which isn’t the women he fell in love with. This can conclude the fact that people weren’t supportive of interracial relationships and how because of the baby’s skin color Armand’s attitude changed just cause he didn’t want his reputation to be ruined.

Read More

Desiree's Baby Argumentative Essay

570 Words | 3 Pages

In the short story “Desiree’s Baby” by Kate Chopin, A woman named Desiree supposedly takes the life of herself and her child after “discovering” that she is biracial, and that her child is also of mixed race. Although, in the end of the story, we discover that the baby’s father, Armand, is really the biracial parent, it still seems logical to remember the story as if Desiree were biracial, since that is what both she and Armand believed, up until the very end. Many believe that Desiree’s decision to kill herself and her child was justified, because of the shame and ridicule that would come to the child, and the fact that she herself believed that neither her nor the child would have a happy future. Many believe that Desiree’s actions were justified because of the few options she seemed to have at the time, and the fact that all she could think about was how shameful she felt for being biracial, and

Read More

Racial Prejudice In 'Desiree's Baby'

1573 Words | 7 Pages

Desiree writes to Madame Valmondé and tells her about the situation and she begs her to come home, after Armand loses his wife and baby he finds out that it was not Desiree that was not white but him that came from a white father and black mother who died.(Chopin, Kate, et al. “Desiree 's Baby Summary.” GradeSaver: Getting you the grade). So, in “Desiree’s Baby”, Kate Chopin uses literary devices such as characterization, conflicts and

Read More

Epiphany In Desiree's Baby

1433 Words | 6 Pages

At the end of the story as he is divesting himself of Desiree’s belongings, he comes across a letter from his own deceased mother which reads,” night and day, I than good God for having 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” (Chopin), which brings him to his epiphany. The fact that he did not know could be because of his parents’ choice to raise him abroad where the stigma of slavery did not exist. Maybe she was light skinned enough that she could pass for a white woman. We may never know how this accomplishment was carried out, but it is evident that Armand now knew, that although his son was bi-racial, it was his lineage, not Desiree’s, at fault.

Read More

Desiree's Baby Theme

778 Words | 4 Pages

In “Désirée’s Baby” we see racism as an over-arching theme in the short story. “Désirée’s Baby” takes place in Louisiana during the mid-nineteenth century on a plantation owned by a white man. Désirée herself is a white woman, who was abandoned as a child and raised by someone other than her biological mother. Désirée was asleep on a stone pillar, and when Armand rode by he was immediately over taken with her beauty. It was love at first sight, and the pair marry not long after.

Read More

Desiree's Baby Literary Analysis

1283 Words | 6 Pages

The irony of this short story was that it was Armand who was of mixed raced and not his wife. He was the one who tainted the baby, he found out after fining a letter from his beloved mother that was written to his father (Chopin). Irony is a surprising interesting twist at the end on a story. I am sure that after he read this letter that he soon figured out why his father was so kind to the slaves and how it was wrong of him to treat his wife the way he did and immediately regretted his choices. Thus, she was no longer there and he could not get her back, he thought she went back to live with her stepmother, and if he goes to look for her or the stepmother went to look for her and the child they would both find that Desiree never went to her original destination.

Read More

Prejudice And Racism In Kate Chopin's The Awakening

295 Words | 2 Pages

With the denial of his past and of his race, comes hatred and racism into Armand’s heart and actions. This goes hand and hand with the denial aspect with the usage of characterization from Chopin’s part. Racism ran high in most people’s characteristics of this time because Chopin put this story’s in pre-Civil War times. With the treatment of his slaves, you can really see how Armand feels about others from the race that he sees as less than, even though he is really one of them. The substandard treatment of Armand’s slaves only stops once Desiree gives birth to the baby, but when there was a chance of Desiree being of an African descent, Armand sent her and their child away without thought, saying “Yes, I want to go” with no emotion showing in his voice or actions (3).

Read More

Internal Conflict In Desiree's Baby

1128 Words | 5 Pages

Society, especially within the deep, Antebellum south, plays a major role in the actions of characters Armand Aubigny and Desiree within the short story “Desiree’s Baby”. The importance of high social status and reputation put pressure on both characters to maintain a socially acceptable image. This emphasizes the racial prejudice seen within the time period while also creating the main external conflict within the story. Kate Chopin creates tension through Armand and Desiree´s internal and external conflicts. They both struggle internally because of their family backgrounds, while their external conflict stems from prejudicial views and expectations within their society.

Read More

Desiree's Baby Essay

1472 Words | 6 Pages

Armand accuses Desiree of being part African American, which causes her to commit suicide, taking their child with her. Afterward, Armand finds a letter to his father from his mother, who died when he was a child, revealing that she was part African American. Kate Chopin used a variety of strategies to create a theme about

Read More

Theme Of Irony In Desiree's Baby

1210 Words | 5 Pages

Desiree’s Baby is a short story by Kate Chopin. “Desiree’s Baby” takes place before the Civil War in a time when black people were neglected and mistreated by the whites. Desiree was abandoned and left behind by her parents when she was a toddler by a big stone pillar. She was found and declared adopted by Madame and Monsieur Valmonde. Armand a man that was really harsh to blacks falls in love with Desiree and gets married with her without knowing anything about her ancestry.

Read More

Unconditional Love In Desiree's Baby

1012 Words | 5 Pages

During the era in which this short story was written, southern authors had a major influence on the way the culture was going to grow with racism, and also the way people loved each other. Kate Chopin, a traditional author who believed in southern ways, exemplifies how race and the characteristics of conditional love played a role in her story. In “Desiree’s Baby,” the author, Kate Chopin, provides an illustration of conditional love exemplified by the character, Armand, towards his wife and child; furthermore, Chopin provides instances of irony, elements of surprise, foreshadowing, and symbolism to prove that Armand’s love for both of them was not the unconditional love typically felt and portrayed by women, such as Desiree, during this era. Throughout the story, the readers notice different times where Chopin uses elements of surprise. One major surprise is when Armand opens the letter from his mother and finds out that he has African American in his bloodline.

Read More

Desiree's Baby Essay

1218 Words | 5 Pages

As the child was growing he became darker and Armand blamed Desiree. “It means” he answered lightly, “that the child is not white; it means that you are not white” (Chopin 3). In the end, as he is burning and getting rid of his family’s belongings he uncovers a huge secret about his mother. “Dear Armand will never know that his mother who adores him, belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery” (Chopin 5). Chopin is able to show the irony in Armand’s racism because he ends up being the very thing he rejected his wife and child for.

Read More

Desiree's Baby Literary Analysis

1076 Words | 5 Pages

During this time period, “—any person with one drop of black blood was deemed black” (Shen 5). This explains why Armand was so quick to turn away the mother of his child. Another example is in the essay, “ Semiotic Subversion in “Désirée’s Baby”” Ellen Peel writes, “ institutions based on apparently clear dualities: master over slave, white over black” (Peel 2). “Désirée’s Baby” shows us that Désirée husband, Armand, is a plantation owner this is supported through the text, “ his negroes had forgotten how to be gay” (Chopin 1) the text from the story is showing the readers that under Armand’s ruling they forgot how to be happy.

Read More

Theme Of Racism In Desiree's Baby

1280 Words | 6 Pages

As a reader, you will notice the impact racism has in the everyday life .Many decisions were impacted do to thought of blacks being inferior to whites. When reading Kate Chopin’s “ Desiree’s Baby” the reader will be introduced racism and the use of local color all throughout the story. In Kate Chopin’s “

Read More

More about The Role Of Mental Health In The Yellow Wallpaper By Kate Chopin

Related Topics

Open Document