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Désirée is a foundling who does not know her parentage, and this lack of knowledge lays the trap that destroys her. Sweet, loving, adored by her family, she is named Désirée because she is the desired one—the child given by fate to a childless couple. Having known love, Désirée finds it easy to love her husband, son, and mother. In this she is a model of 19th-century womanhood and receives its reward of motherhood—but only because she is white, safely married, and financially secure. As soon as she slips out of one of these categories, Désirée is at risk of ruin. She has not changed, but no one around her sees her as a virtuous woman. The moment Armand decides that she has brought disgrace to his home and reputation, he removes the shield of his protection. Servants whisper, neighbors gawk, and Armand abandons her to her sorrows.
Désirée fails to meet the demands her patriarchal culture makes of women. As soon as her suitability as wife and mistress of the plantation is found wanting, she is expelled from her home. Yet as she leaves the house in the disgrace of her husband’s and society’s eyes, the story depicts her as a victim. Her gown is white, a color associated with innocence, and the sun creates a halo-like “golden gleam” on her unbound hair. The contrast with Armand’s angry expression and cold eyes casts him as the story’s villain as he sacrifices her on the altar of his pride. Even so, readers see that, in her despair, Désirée does not appear to consider that her plight is the plight of La Blanche and every enslaved person at L’Abri, all of whom suffer under a system that has, until now, benefitted her.
