Chopin Qs Desirees Baby The Storm
Chopin questions on “Desiree’s Baby” and “The Storm”
“Desiree’s Baby”
1. A footnote reveals that this story was first titled “The Father of Desiree’s Baby—The Lover of Mentine.” How does the meaning of the story change if you think about the father as the primary focus or the baby as the primary focus?
2. Armand is horrified at the idea that Desiree “is not white” and Desiree is so upset at the possibility that she might not be white that she says “I cannot be so unhappy, and live” (554). Despite their similar thoughts about white superiority, do you sympathize with one more than the other? Why or why not?
3. Chopin ends her story with Armand discovering that HE is half black and half white. What do you think Armand would likely do and feel after that? Desiree?
“The Storm”
Some background on race and class, revealed in “At the ‘Cadian Ball” which precedes the events in “The Storm.” Clarisse and Alcée are Creoles, descendants of French or Spanish settlers in Louisiana. Calixta and Bobinôt are Acadians, descendants of French-American exiles from Acadia, Nova Scotia, who were driven from their homes by the British in 1755. Most of the Creoles in Chopin’s stories are comparatively wealthy, usually landowners or merchants. Most of the Acadians (or ‘Cajuns) in the stories are much poorer, living off the land, farming or fishing or working for the Creoles. Clarisse takes her higher social status as a Creole seriously and thinks Alcée has no business at a ‘Cadian ball. “Nice conduc’ for a Laballière,” she says. She understands, though, that it is common for a Creole man to appear at such get togethers, perhaps in search of a liaison with a ‘Cadian woman. It would be unusual for a Creole woman to attend a ‘Cadian ball.
(At the ball, Alcee and Calixta kiss and kiss and kiss. But Alcee marries Clarisse).
Q: I’ve read an article about “The Storm” that suggests Calixta has some African-American blood. Is that right?
A: No. Her mother is Cuban. Everyone in the
“Desiree’s Baby”
1. A footnote reveals that this story was first titled “The Father of Desiree’s Baby—The Lover of Mentine.” How does the meaning of the story change if you think about the father as the primary focus or the baby as the primary focus?
2. Armand is horrified at the idea that Desiree “is not white” and Desiree is so upset at the possibility that she might not be white that she says “I cannot be so unhappy, and live” (554). Despite their similar thoughts about white superiority, do you sympathize with one more than the other? Why or why not?
3. Chopin ends her story with Armand discovering that HE is half black and half white. What do you think Armand would likely do and feel after that? Desiree?
“The Storm”
Some background on race and class, revealed in “At the ‘Cadian Ball” which precedes the events in “The Storm.” Clarisse and Alcée are Creoles, descendants of French or Spanish settlers in Louisiana. Calixta and Bobinôt are Acadians, descendants of French-American exiles from Acadia, Nova Scotia, who were driven from their homes by the British in 1755. Most of the Creoles in Chopin’s stories are comparatively wealthy, usually landowners or merchants. Most of the Acadians (or ‘Cajuns) in the stories are much poorer, living off the land, farming or fishing or working for the Creoles. Clarisse takes her higher social status as a Creole seriously and thinks Alcée has no business at a ‘Cadian ball. “Nice conduc’ for a Laballière,” she says. She understands, though, that it is common for a Creole man to appear at such get togethers, perhaps in search of a liaison with a ‘Cadian woman. It would be unusual for a Creole woman to attend a ‘Cadian ball.
(At the ball, Alcee and Calixta kiss and kiss and kiss. But Alcee marries Clarisse).
Q: I’ve read an article about “The Storm” that suggests Calixta has some African-American blood. Is that right?
A: No. Her mother is Cuban. Everyone in the