Gender Roles In Desiree's Baby And The Storm By Kate Chopin
1248 Words5 Pages
Women’s roles in society were restricted and they did not have the freedom to do as they please. The stories that will be discussed are “The Story of an Hour”, “Desiree’s Baby” and “The Storm” all written by Kate Chopin. The stories were set in the late 1800’s. It was a time where women had few rights at that time. The women in these stories had no say in what they could or could not do. They had to be submissive to their husbands. Some rebelled against the norm; but others were completely brainwashed. The actions and decisions of the women in these stories show how some were desperately looking for a way to express themselves while some were servants to their husbands due to society’s given roles to women.
In the story, “The Story of an…show more content… They had a baby together, but something was odd about the child’s skin color. Her husband Armand noticed and had started to put distance between his child and wife. Desiree was saddened by this, “Desiree was miserable enough to die.”(244) She was so devoted to her husband and to being the good wife that she had no identity of her own. She pleads her husband to tell her and he answered “that the child is not white; it means that you are not white.”(244) She continued to deny, saying, “It is a lie; it is not true, I am white! Look at my hair, it is brown; and my eyes are gray, Armand, you know they are gray. And my skin is fair,” (244). Her husband did not believe her and continued to assure her that she is not white. She asked him if he wanted her to go and he willingly said yes. . He no longer loved her due to the shame she brought to his name and to him, “Moreover he no longer loved her, because of the unconscious injury she had brought upon his home and his name.”(245) His heartless thoughts show how little he actually cared for his wife and only saw her as a servant to him and not as an equal. She died along with her baby while disappearing into the swamp, “She disappeared among the reeds and willows that grew think along the banks of the deep, sluggish bayou; and she did not come back again.”(246) This illustrates how easily she was…show more content… Her husband and son went to the general store and she was left at the house. A storm was coming her way and Alcee, one of Calixta’s previous lovers, was also coming to her house to wait for the storm to blow over. She was quite lively and passionate, even after years of marriage, “but she had lost nothing of her vivacity. Her blue eyes still retained their melting quality;” (926) She was not afraid to be spontaneous and defy society’s gender roles, “He looked down into her eyes and there was nothing for him to do but gather her lips in a kiss. It reminded him of Assumption.”(927) The affair was short-lived but shows how even in a time where women had few choices over their own lives; she gives in to her own sensual desires. Once the affair ended, they went about their lives and were more joyous than ever. It was like that affair destroyed all the problems they had in their marriages and they were finally able to revive what was once lost, “So the storm passed and every one was happy.” (931) The significance with the relationship she had with her husband caused her to put aside her passion and made her ignore her own sensual desires that she