Kate Chopin s The Story Of An Hour - 1309 Words

In the past many decades the definition of what a marriage means changed dramatically in some areas. For the author of both stories, Kate Chopin, she wanted the reader to get something out of the story. She likes to explore all types of themes in her stories such as, racism, the roles of women, and adultery. With these themes and messages she struggled to have most of her stories published. In many of her stories she passed along these messages through the manner of a marriage. In her short stories â€Å"The Story of an Hour† and â€Å"Desiree s Baby† she showed just how different marriages could be as well as how similar they can be. Chopin portrays the lives of the main characters, Louise Mallard from â€Å"The Story of An Hour† and Desiree Aubigny†¦show more content†¦These two were soon wed and had started to grow as a family. Once Desiree had birthed a son for Armand he cherished her even more as she had given him a legacy. As this child began to gr ow into his toddler years Armand regretted his decision to marry Desiree – ultimately leading to her and her child’s assumed death. In the time period that this story was written, a person’s background meant something as a name was a sense of wealth and worth. Since Desiree was adopted, her background was unknown and when Armand decided to marry Desiree he didn’t care because he would give her his name as all he cared about was his affection for her. For a little while all was well in the household. Desiree and Armand were happier than ever, and Armand treated his slaves better. This soon took a drastic turn as everyone noticed that their son had begun to show qualities of a Negro. Once these features were noticed, Armand’s attitude towards his wife and his slaves changed for the worst. In Armand’s eyes Desiree was at fault for giving the child those features since her history was unknown. Even after Desiree gives her husband evidence that s he may not be a carrier, she and her child are still banished from the home and sent on their way. Desiree knew her outcome either way if the word spread, that Armand could either turn her and her child into a slave since he technically owned her or he could have her killed. She then makes the decision to wander into the