Désirée--study guide.docx

Désirées Baby By Kate Chopin (1851-1904) A Study GuideType of Work .......Désirées Baby is a short story centering on human relationships in the southern United States before the Civil War. Kate Chopin wrote it in the fall of 1892 and?Vogue magazine published it in January 1893. Désirées Baby was first published on January 14, 1893, in /wiki/Vogue_(magazine)Vogue./wiki/D%C3%A9sir%C3%A9e%E2%80%99s_Baby[1] It first appeared under the title The Father of Désirées Baby in a section called Character Studies./wiki/D%C3%A9sir%C3%A9e%E2%80%99s_Baby[2] The same issue included Chopins story A Visit to Avoyelles; both marked Chopins first contributions to the magazine which would eventually publish 18 of her works before the end of the century./wiki/D%C3%A9sir%C3%A9e%E2%80%99s_Baby[3] Désirée’s Baby was included in Chopins collection Bayou Folk in 1894.Setting .......The action takes place in the United States in the mid-nineteenth century on two Louisiana plantations, one called Valmondé, a family name, and the other called LAbri (French for shelter). The story begins in the warm-weather months and ends in autumn.? Characters Désirée: A young woman described by the narrator as beautiful and gentle, affectionate and sincere. When she was a very small child—of toddling age, the narrator says—she was abandoned in front of a plantation home. Its owners adopted her.? Armand Aubigny: Young man who inherited his fathers plantation, LAbri. After he marries Désirée, they live at LAbri. The Baby: Male child of Armand and Désirée. Désirée notices several months after his birth that his physical characteristics are those of a person of mixed racial ancestry. Monsieur and Madame Valmondé: Childless husband and wife who found Désirée when she was a baby. After adopting her, they lovingly reared her.? La Blanche: Female slave of mixed ancestry. Zandrine: Female slave who helps Désirée care for her child. Negrillon: Male slave who pretends to have suffered a leg burn in order to be excused f