​Gender Roles

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Desiree loves Armand more than life itself and would do anything for him—she is the obedient and ideal wife. She even asks Armand if she should leave their plantation and he, without hesitation, says yes. This shows how the level of Armand’s love for Desiree was only surface level and how his pride is more powerful than their so-called love. Desiree does eventually leave Armand and instead of going to her mother’s house where safety is ensured, “Desiree chooses to brave the wilds of the bayou, to risk unknown perils and possible death. She…demonstrates her strength as a woman” (Sarg). This speaks volumes as Desiree as a person but even more so a woman. Women are generally seen as the weaker, or feebler sex, whereas men are seen as strong and proud. In this instance Desiree challenges that idea by taking herself and her nameless child into the wild and never returning again. Most readers may think Desiree as a weak woman since her qualities of being a wife are so devoted. Yet, Desiree makes a stance as an independent woman and “she is willing to confront the possibility of painful truths while her spouse is not” (Sarg).

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When Desiree’s baby was found to be brown-skinned, it was Armand who was the weaker one by ignoring the situation and not bringing it up. Desiree however confronted the issue by asking Armand about it and making her decisions from there. Desiree even states that  “[Armand] absented himself from home; and when there, avoided her presence and that of her child, without excuse” (Chopin 204). This also reflects on how Armand is unwilling to accept the truth since he prides himself on being a White man. Desiree felt that love would help Armand but it was long gone by the time she realized what was happening. Though some may see Desiree’s actions as a cop-out it is through these actions that she is seen more as an individual woman rather than someone who was processed by societal norms. Through this short story, Kate Chopin has displayed how women can go against those social norms and the gender roles that bind them.