Desiree's Baby Gender

In the eighteen hundreds the whole world was characterized, good or bad they were classified by their class race and gender. In Kate Chopin's short story “Desiree's Baby”, Desiree and Armand are characterized solely by their class, race, and gender to show the inequality in the eighteen hundreds.

The first form of characterization in Desiree's Baby is class. Desiree was a dedicated creole woman, whose family originated from France. In order to be classified as a creole woman there was a lot expected of her, she was to marry a creole man, have many children, and not have anything to do with work. The more children a creole woman had the more wealth her family was thought to have. On the other hand the life of a creole man such as Armand, was …show more content…
Depending on gender the roles of a man and a woman were distinctly different. Desiree a white, creole woman, had a lot expected of her, she was to serve her husband, take care of the house, and tend to the children. Being a woman in the eighteen hundreds was risky, most of the blame was put on them, no matter the situation, just because of the fact that they were lesser than man. Women did not have as many rights as men, and if they were black they had no rights. Because Desiree was a woman she was blamed for the baby being part black, just because her status was not of a mans. On the other hand men in the eighteen hundreds had a simple life. Armand was the male of the family and because he had a wife he could easily put the blame for the part black baby to be the mother's fault. Because Armand was a male he thought that it was impossible that he could be blamed for the mix up, but it's confirmed at the end of the story that his mother was a black woman and he falsely accused Deseree for the apart black baby. Being a woman was harsh in the eighteen hundreds it was very simple to just blame them and settle things that way rather than thoroughly investigate the