payment page
Arrogance can blind people to truth.
In the pre-Civil War Louisiana parish that is Armand Aubigny’s home, he has status, privilege, and respect. He has inherited his family’s plantation, with all its wealth. His birthright even gives him power over human lives, and not only do they labor for his benefit, but they have no recourse when he decides to punish them. As the story begins, he has a beautiful young wife and a son to be his heir and carry on the family name. It is not surprising, given Armand’s advantages, that he is “imperious and exacting,” hard to please and beyond correction. Armand is arrogant, and he has reason to believe that his pride is justified. People who assume that they know best and deserve to command, however, may deprive themselves of self-knowledge and knowledge of others. Armand makes assumptions about his son, and therefore about his wife, that destroy his marriage and his family; at no point does he consider the possibility that the “fault,” as he sees it, lies anywhere but with his wife, and certainly not with him. As far as readers know, he never attempts to learn more about the situation and does not discuss it with Désirée beyond reproaching her. He seems determined to think himself better off alone, but in the deeply Catholic culture of the story, he will likely never be able to marry again, to have an heir to carry on his name. He may realize, despite his prideful sense, that in his treatment of Désirée he has struck a blow at God or fate. The ritualistic burning of the expensive layette and of Désirée’s clothes suggests that he feels compelled to exorcise any vestige of their presence from his life, but he cannot burn away his memories.
Relationships with power imbalances allow exploitation.
Two relationships are on display in “Désirée’s Baby,” one openly, the other covertly. Armand holds all the power in his relationship with Désirée, and all the power in his implied relationship with the enslaved women, La Blanche, whose cabin he appears to frequent. The two relationships are of course quite different because Désirée has personhood and La Blanche, under the dehumanizing institution of slavery, does not. Yet both women lack autonomy, allowing Armand to exploit them.
When Armand falls in love with Désirée, he claims not to care about her unknown background. His desire to marry her rages “like a prairie fire,” though what looks like impatient passion may be possessiveness. At the time, a wife was essentially the husband’s property, without legal standing. Désirée has no choice but to trust Armand and is blindsided when he suddenly turns on her, thinking that she has “stained” his family lineage. At the time she most needs his protection, he feels entirely justified in sending her away in disgrace and ruin.
When readers infer the reason for Armand’s coldness, they see his hypocrisy. It is not Désirée’s appearance that Armand despises; she looks no different now than she did before he thought she might have Black ancestry. Further, Armand points out that La Blanche is as fair-skinned as Désirée, and Désirée’s realization that her son has some African ancestry is triggered by how alike the baby and La Blanche’s son look. These details strongly suggest that Armand has exploited La Blanche sexually and that he is the father of at least one of her sons. Instead, his visceral disgust over Désirée’s perceived mixed heritage suggests that he thinks of both women in terms of how they serve him—La Blanche he uses to satisfy his sexual needs, with no regard to consequences such as offspring, and Désirée he marries to provide heirs for the proud Aubigny line. Both women are things to use and, as in Désirée’s case, discard when they no longer serve his needs.
Power perpetuates and protects itself.
“Désirée’s Baby” is set at a time and place in which patriarchal authority dominated social and economic structures. The separate roles that men and women were expected to perform created a kind of cultural bargain. The people in power (fathers, husbands, employers) would exercise their authority ostensibly to benefit and protect those who had no power (children, wives, employees). People who were white, both men and women, would control the lives of those with darker skin with no concern for their benefit except to keep them working and productive. As Chopin explores in many stories, including in “Désirée’s Baby,” those in power often seek to expand their authority and use force to maintain it, and those out of power are left unprotected, exploited, or otherwise harmed, as in the case of Désirée and her son. When she marries Armand, Désirée passes from her father’s protection into her husband’s. Her part of the bargain is to be a dutiful wife, manage his household, and provide heirs. In Armand’s eyes, however, Désirée fails to uphold the bargain. She gives him an heir, one that ultimately, rather than increasing his reputation and authority, makes him the subject of neighbors’ gossip and of whispering among his enslaved workers.
To restore and secure his power, Armand must set his house right again. He renounces his love for Désirée; refers to his son as her child, not theirs; and orders her back to her parents’ house and her father’s protection. Internalizing his rejection and hatred, Désirée erases herself and her child by walking into the bayou. Simultaneously, Armand tightens his control of La Blanche and of every enslaved person who cannot flee L’Abri. Armand uses his power to rid himself of threats to his authority and to perpetuate the oppression and exploitation of those who are perceived to be his inferiors.
