Desiree's Baby

Kate Chopin's brief but mesmerizing story opens in medias res, with Madame Valmonde preparing to visit her adopted daughter, Desiree, recently married to the wealthy Louisiana plantation owner Armand d'Aubigny and even more recently delivered of a baby girl. Then, in a series of flashbacks, the narrator reveals Desiree's uncertain origins as a foundling, her beauty as she grew to womanhood, and Armand's passionate proposal of marriage. The narrator then returns to the present and, using briefly effective images, sketches the hierarchical plantation system of whites, quadroons, and blacks. Using Mme. Valmonde's perspective, the narrator reveals that the baby does ...