Kate Chopin and the Fiction of Limits: "Désirée's Baby" Author(s): Cynthia Griffin Wolff Source: The Southern Literary Journal, Vol. 10, No. 2 (Spring, 1978), pp. 123-133 Published by: University of North Carolina Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20077591 . Accessed: 25/01/2011 21:49 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=uncpress. . 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University of North Carolina Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Southern Literary Journal. http://www.jstor.org Kate and Chopin the Fiction of Limits: ' '' 'D?sir?e 'sBaby By CynthiaGriffinWolff For many tion most that her tance "D?sir?e's years, to be likely second with novel known; has there won, work Chopin's was Baby" even is Rankin Unfortunately, today, despite are still readers to whose this acquain one, widely did not feel the need to Chopin and Her Creole Tales, who . . . one "perhaps of fic Chopin's the wide respect piece left of future the world's a critics best short with terminology to describe the value of this and the other studies in Bayou it had the "freshness which springs from an unexplored which Folk: field ?the dian it judged stories."1 one restricted short story. Rankin, anthologized "D?sir?e's reprint Baby" in Kate nonetheless the quaint folk of 1. Daniel Pennsylvania 2. Ibid., S. Rankin, Press, pp. and Kate 1932), 136-37. life picturesque the Louisiana p. Chopin 133. bayous."2 and among the In short, her Creole Stories Creole it was (Philadelphia: and Aca excellent Univ. of 124 THE work?hence "regional" SOUTHERN to limited LITERARY certain JOURNAL tri circumscribed umphs. Critics' tendency to dismiss Chopin's fiction as little more than local color began to diminish by the late 1950's; nevertheless, old habits died hard. "D?sir?e's Baby" continued to be the most fre of her short fictions, and while the comments quently anthologized on it strained that some was still "tragedy" terms. M. Claude brief on essay draws of after the a reader's from slave short stories, Patrick give Chopin upon the story they Baby."4 Other critics, elements in observes of openness Maupassant's, reverses the of clusion the tale Creole that "Desiree's remarks the notes somewhat though was Baby" story then central depend Thus Larzer stories, while and turn initially presented.."5 an "So, example: on a twist."6 Taking and compression some (with asperity) a bitter, has contrived, in He as events could not have been surpassed by [Maupassant] do which the cites characteristically, a similar view, restrained that Ziff they the easy themselves, as "taut is "Desiree's English or the course, of regional its persistently importance reasons for concern quirk of talent lilt of Creole of R. to touch for daring Chopin's story anthology Walton and the structure. manners, situation and the the cruelties impartial and, the of Mrs. popular some another particular Chopin's acknowledging to discover seek with Chopin Seyersted ing, "the in miscegenation; by examining most the a with that of Current-Garcia full use of the charming make the tale, quality that of illustrate still the compelling does to later, "regional" collection concludes (again as a regionalist) subject select and years Eugene credit forbidden the of definition in exclusively in his tale appreciation Several system.3 American the significance, almost introduces Simpson local color movement the its effect tragic larger formulated con Per of intensity" "the end surprise piercing quality that in the himself."7 Yet, American Short Stories R. Patrick, eds., American and Co., Scott, Foresman 1964). (Chicago: 1890's (New York: The Viking Press, 1968), Ziff, The American Short M. Simpson, ed., The Local Brothers, (New York: Harper 1960). See Eugene Current-Garcia and Walton 3. See Claude Colorists: 1857-1900 4. 1820 Stories, 5. Larzer 6. to the Present p. 297. Ibid. 7. Per State Univ. Kate Chopin: Seyersted, Press, 1969), p. 94. A Critical Biography (Baton Rouge: Louisiana "DESIREE'S BABY" final judgments narrow the more if significant effects grow orist": are these from analysis, that 125 of deft management or "surprise" a to evoke which are dialect "trick" no more seldom and as of Chopin achieved it scenery, merely is also never is almost conclusion than satisfactory definition and col a through case that the a sufficient reaction those "local means from a by reader. poignant an to admire We "D?sir?e's remains Thus still tend Baby" enigma. our admiration to demonstrate it and it to appear in an by selecting the admiration is somewhat yet given thologies; grudgingly?perhaps we cannot because the The story. fully comprehend specifically seem Southern of the story elements the nature however, significant; of their force The reversal is not clear. of the situation that concludes powerful the tale is important no but, surprise), pact patently has been to contrary not derive does to a discerning (although as the this writer's "trick." And im full story's while the it is in work, Chopin's or one of her fictions to unusual the only ways ?being unique re the subject of miscegenation, We for example. upon might to this a accumulation of contradictions that by assuming has been made somewhere the line ?that the tale has along story several touch spond mistake accepted or been misinterpreted Yet such fiction. many of years an readers' understand why critics' presuming such judgments and ticulates in "D?sir?e's incorrect. But of see the explain it would end, but not central resolve the fun perhaps, our expand in which ways to try might so different, been not, we must those Chopin's of those force we Alternatively, the story have precisely are that of representative importantly, themes develops really not insufficient more to of the Baby." judgments to be in order story would response; of damentally sion of the it is not that assumption enigma persistent characteristic itmay well be reader remarks, Seyersted's from the to other of vi it ar Chopin's works. A majority permanence the time. vulnerable; turn More as istence his state: impassive individual governable of fictions of vagaries are set in worlds where of Chopin's is a precarious passions, we generally, attention by the to artist those who change the or merely might uncertain. necessarily and fate, By would intimate say is always assaults threatened?by of that capture timeless then, to essence moments passage ex construes Chopin the un potentially by the inexorable definition, and stability or live of is to be life will when the 126 THE illusion comforting may and disrupt we might [her] own being to than tell vision Chopin's ominous even that dary?always into some this dissimilar our most is, to as look be her "out avowed upon that to emulate said life literary through sees "in a direct and to for simple what is Nor way."9 she sees is the Maupassant's, fact of the margin: the inescapable on the boun must moments be experienced us into to from else, something slip away of The careful exploration contingency.10 for much of her the true sense, then, subject presence vital threatening dark, bourne best she strives by those forces can Chopin alone JOURNAL [her] own eyes"; that she desires no more and with insistent and virtually she that us what as Insofar stands say LITERARY is unbalanced of certainty destroy.8 who Maupassant, model, SOUTHERN undefined in some fiction. 8. The list of stories that might fit this description is too long to give. A few major ones might be: "C?line," "The Story of an Hour," "At the 'Cadian Ball'," "Lilacs," "The Storm," "Ath?naise," "A Vocation and a Voice." It is worth remarking that slip as state is often portrayed hitherto ping over the edge into another, unexplored, so? it is not always a necessarily disastrous ? or at least potentially negative movement. an awaken in "Ath?na?se" is jolted into womanhood Thus the heroine ?experiencing ing to her full sensual and gratifying. hilarating 9. Kate Chopin, The (Baton Rouge: Louisiana cited as Works. self as a result of pregnancy?and Works Complete of Kate State Univ. Press, 1969), finds the adventure ex 2 vols. ed. Per Seyersted, Chopin, this work will be II, 701. Hereafter of the first effective intimations of this theme may be found in an early short story, "Beyond the Bayou." The tale is concerned with a madwoman, "La in Folle," who, in her youth, was jarred out of sanity by a severe shock. The narrators "The bayou like a crescent troduction is immensely curved around the suggestive: the stream and the hut lay a point of land on which La Folle's cabin stood. Between the bayou supplied them with field, where cattle were pastured when big abandoned 10. One (1891) the woods that spread back into unknown enough. Through regions the woman had drawn an imaginary line, and past this circle she never stepped This was the form are of interest here. Initially, of of her only mania" (Works, I, 1975). Several elements water course, madness?a entity, use of the "line" between is the quite self-conscious sanity and that assumes quite palpable dimensions here as a geographical boundary even more ar that bourne between Second, bayou and civilization. perhaps is that utterance: "This was the form of her only mania." It is a way of constru there resting, ing the situation, a way of delimiting of the fictional world, that suggests the possibility and offers a splendid "manias," perhaps? many dangers ?many insight into the direc tion that Chopin's interest will take with confidence. The theme is ar increasing we shall presently in A tFault?as ticulated even earlier? with see, and it is developed virtuoso finesse in The Awakening. 127 "DESIREE'S BABY' center work is almost experience, of Chopin's necessary strues tions that tions of "value" as we fiction, are natural in a this story of her if we consequence?one say might life as to position is no mere "twist" ?of the typically that also The In demarcating is so "representative" What is more, conclusion. that story economy. the subject intuition concommitant of one one's damning con Chopin problem many to stories can the of implications the "negro" comprise Chopin ever treat we be our focuses she determination: more are distinc carry defini emphatic those many upon to use quite or directly ?this hues of Yet population.11 not the about that this is the noted miscegenation attention chooses there that implications race is managed of in this tale: we have already probe to beginning inescapable she tion; Baby," of pigment more The "identity." however, deemed even and of Chopin's to differences coloration, caste social in "Desiree's level superficial attend explicitly; even story very is the of study this correct. this its inevitable idiosyncratically were ruthless it. the most At only of of it rather, and Baby" with fundamentally focus success the comprehend writer's trick; as ?a "D?sir?e's continuing to stand selection true the understand the attention?our appropriate seen be quite must of subject and uncertainty a paradigmatic and?since ambiguity tale of human limits is a of the deed, core is the it Certainly treats layers this is the only skin that from element the with conversa dialect to a the description of architecture and reduces vegetation ? minimum elements. The the necessary thematically only leaving re result is a tale where between "black" and "white" the differences ? as the events to main locate the its aspects, only only way "regional" we cannot to them. if you will ?and avoid attending Yet for all this artistic direction, Chopin is clearly not primarily in in dissecting the social problem of slavery (as Cable might she limits herself almost entirely to the personal and the be); rather, terested interior.12 Thus the dilemma of "color" must ultimately be construed to this state 11. One might that "La Belle ZoraTde" proved an exception suppose a close reading of that tale will suggest that although Zora?de is light however, and favored because of her "white" ap of miscegenation) skinned (clearly thcproduct ment; pearance, Zora?de's favor the theme plight would of "Madame." of inter-racial be unchanged sexual congress if she were deep is simply not at issue here. so long as she enjoyed the black, 128 THE with emblematically, can never tions the as be In the antebellum the public barrier were boundaries this tions an us reminds been left whose uncertain of "by slave lesser and clear to prove inevitable a party and The situa upon that a that of truth, them from these territorial its very en ?pioneers that infrac the story to have territory annexed it was when contested of beginning, is presumed to the route D?sir?e the was course, to a multitude ahead: bitterly human security depended a safe compound, separated susceptible unstable. At so that JOURNAL white." existence, change of Texans"13 were policies and inviolable. margin, destined and fact unstated "black proportions some of horrors was as insurmountable unknown and ironic clear LITERARY South, much private that whites lived within illusion of SOUTHERN that they proved to be a significant precursor to the Civil War that followed. Chopin's touch is light: the implications of this detail may be lost to amodern audience, but they would have loomed mockingly to a reader Even dant in 1892, within the evidence of remarks proudly day as far we Blanche, cabin? away "One a Southern especially supposedly violation. of her as La " lusty child; Blanche's Blanche's reader. social the vokes a half-brother, of this in fact) infant's mixed " D?sir?e (241). was Armand's eventually, his that uttered" she could not (242). None help; which of the "blacks" to clue pro presence 'Ah!' a cry double visual baby?a over. It was fanning a kind of nightmare for D?sir?e's is La in her errand the shock of recognition for D?sir?e. "She looked to the boy who stood beside him, and back again; of having the other color . . . stood boys quadroon blood; What child conscious is abun there cried,' 'Armand heard him the child slowly" (242), and he becomes (perhaps the secret he " what little system way cabin' and wonder, might of La segregated " 'And from her over and she was not is referred to deny the suitability an 12. Chopin made explicit effort in her few critical essays the She excoriates Hardy's of "social issues" as subjects for fiction. attempts infude even and social criticisms Obscure to marry fiction (see "As You Like It, IV"), and after "local for striving too particularly Garland and his followers criticizes Hamlin " Idols' by Hamlin and of Writers" Association color" (see "The Western 'Crumbling in its subtle, Her own true subject was always clear: "It is human existence Garland"). stan true meaning, complex, stripped of the veil with which ethical and conventional it" (Works, dards have draped II, 691). from "D?sir?e's Baby" will be cited in the 13. Works, I, 240. All other quotations to the first volume of the Complete Works. text, giving page number "DESIREE'S BABY" to as In the end, is a caretaker baby's Armand's only "yellow between been has crossed towards posture was "rule questionable?his a strict demonic and hand in his one as effective shadowy, one the slaves the more that on kindness and "dark, it would seem, by gives a literal clue it is even mystery, story's Armand mercy His other. always the of to character. index boundary on the colored?a (242) momentarily brightened, of marriage. And if this description denouement the is genuinely skin face" the happiness to the (241). handsome an even dark-skinned; actually nurse" 129 cruelty has possession . . . and under it his negroes had forgotten how to be gay, as they had been during the old master's easygoing and indulgent lifetime" (241). Little wonder, when then, that Satan seemed his wife's child D?sir?e journey into some benighted he reads that than the fateful last, wonderingly, Armand' yours, parentage more alike region; of each; as reliably Underlying skin 'my " a to the context this insistent preoccupation with of the human labyrinth lost in the wilderness to tyranny of and soul, we his own in the tale. The stems from his by agery salvation underlies white" as A world our most she of damnation defines the it?is Southern not slave system mundane activities, but at a of into has only who absolute Armand sinks for potential the of horror per im that "black the the become (as the leit motif to of "yellows" level social and ar all. that lies along it is not figures master mystery limited really of evil is one sort of wilderness and the Thus ultimate the quality who by from suggests). the tenuous into which but to it behavior. impulses?a Satan, lesser existence tale ?and Chopin's rangements of and story, the literal question the sonal evil that he shares with all fellow creatures of the a man discover parentage, Negroid the whiter hand; relevant "quadroons" from this overt "blackest" is possessed darkness not will sign be humane of then, reverts of of is Chopin's ironic perception to call such distinctions: it is simplistic "blacks" and And if we move "negroes." color, at my may boundaries guide the . . .Look comment within however, light of in his soul. Thus when D?sir?e is fair. her (243), irreversible by whose a visible than of spirit inhumanity an bespeaks is no more letter, very (242). His and the bonfire, of those powers of darkness " triumph exclaims and servants towards "the him, displeases to take hold of him" suddenly the only the margins horror that lies 130 THE in wait. moments Our form of sions that we can Thus Chopin's an insistent joyful to open neither nor forsee is to be rendering of compression ourselves D?sir?e Armand opposites. to vulnerable protect fully of the love between us with threaten too, passion, love JOURNAL as love, if struck by when day, a pistol her saw he . . .The shot. at the gate, against. that like along and eye. something no more than ?is cruel ? force other an avalanche, be of emotional the reckless separated has an of fluttering at all. entanglement it is even more if anything, over all love and more but or breadth cannot forces the peril case, yet origins; two the Linguistically, In D?sir?e's turbulent equally a hair's fell in in him awoke or like a prairie fire, or like anything that drives headlong in Armand's life between obstacles" (240). The difference some is to have is supposed passion swept a inva and Armand in love at first sight: "That was the way all the Aubignys fallen that of most to be annihilation: LITERARY SOUTHERN different She has been dangerous. to her of love as her name im the child parents, gift adoptive to but and delicate and unable anything helpless comprehend in its purest "beautiful and gentle, affectionate manifestations, God's plies, love and sincere, ?the love ?of idol of Valmond?" violence and ?she is entirely passions a marked characteristic, most is her innocence (240). Of baser the other side of innocent. In fact, kind of childlike, 'Itmade [Madame Valmond?] laugh to think of helpless ignorance. a it seemed but D?sir?e with baby. Why, yesterday that D?sir?e was a more herself. little than baby Repeatedly, Chopin displays her in her "in her fantine charm: D?sir?e couched with baby, for example, so much as a soft white muslins and laces" (241), looking like nothing child herself. The naive has questions, rejected When tingencies. plantation, necessary, black ed of like the yellow this the estate delicate house. far-reaching must beyond Big, branches accept to even creature, out reaching came live this "The roof the wide solemn oaks shadowed refuge husband that garments and such a home its name. belie stuccoed D?sir?e she married, to her who were surely from harsh con be protected life might (The Shelter); for a cowl, thick-leaved, However, D?sir?e L'Abri of her fragility only for one whose intended realities in the in her is captured turn to tendency trusting even her, of such innocence vulnerability in her at her husband's seems right, even the though physical came down and steep that galleries grew close encircl to it like a pall" at mere face value: it, and (241). she 131 "DESIREE'S BABY" cannot to see herself bring the ominous the acknowledge long. When with sibilant balance civilization her For and and explanation, branches. nor garments tore and to for so cruelty, own her when tenuous only are measured bayou that the by echoes on grasp one final line one from the between love-child the steps, had not walked who con no word with under away, the changed . . .She she wore. which arms the nurse's the thin white across walked Much of her thin effect to shreds. gown of internal which condition?the all through perhaps, can see She it in her either necessary emergent significant consistent of choice destructive and child for derives the among disappeared sexuality. We the and the more, Armand's comes effect perhaps, the precariousness captures shadow-line that threads she transactions theme in of all subject ?preoccupation or replenishing, development, can see it even of our Chopin's with the and more the This fictions. is, We that marriage between fulfillment convulsive subtlely the of its way lives. relationship of personal slug understatement annihilation that is both hindering full womanly from D?sir?e's persistent the the most be mother of tale Even hell. with economy human this to render employs Chopin inescapable, from the may the a the stubble bruised her tender feet, so delicately reeds and willows that grew thick along the banks of the deep, gish bayou; and she did not come back again" (244). that the boun lies just beyond. to claim wait ignored L'Abri in the face of life's inescapable little slippers field, where deserted shod, the forced she has choice, these descending . . . D?sir?e live-oak the shock of being existence hungry stability the took ancestral one alternatives her "She trarieties. seems death?all not keep could loses the patient, murder, into slips there the and Madness, of mockery, D?sir?e to cross; dary contingencies love life. of whose Armand's in those possibilities trees that portend both life and death. In the end, D?sir?e cannot withstand (but effects more and of in sistently) in her imagistic patterns. As early as the first novel Chopin was already focusing on the impli cations of that margin the domesticated between the bayou and the transient clearing of her management of this plantation, although theme is less skillful than it will become in later works. M?licent is charmed by Gr?goire's Southern passion and inclined to suppose that a game. Similarly, it is harmless?merely she is intrigued by the 132 THE recesses: its dark into imagination her upon erratic realms romance."14 of to project and disposed bayou tropical SOUTHERN fancy, simple, wildness a it for in of JOURNAL uncomplicated scene the caught into the moment quick realizes M?Ticent soon, force her "The speeding Very LITERARY is an there that the that bayou's primitive depth?something and her. "Nameless voices?weird sounds that repels frightens at a in a Southern forest awake twilight's approach,?were crying to the she welcome is sinister shocked Eventually, settling gloom."15 a in and irrational strain ominous for by similarly Gr?goire's passion unknowable, both of a potential the hint her, Chopin her to honor need ing ventures out thereafter; in the her Much Northern stories between written the theme with the her appears linguistic their violation. tainly. was in and water; are at advancing the blue ment the a snail's camomile. of yellow of of the II, 750. 16. Works, II, 882. bayou to the white The is gulf As the beach. a white to could across include tension meets sky uncer sunshade and this of announce waver He progresses, freedom there and boundaries far away, melting novel to render book lines demarcating looked the the irresistible and throughout of the water-oaks sex emergent passages descriptive water meets land, sun, deals Chopin The elements. feelings; where from of Here again the many in this work and novels); fixed his gaze upon pace would throughout significance expanded and waking, possibilities?sleeping death?and the almost unendurable 14. Works, 15. Ibid. She returning Chopin throughout earliest beach trunks horizon."16 theme echoes the the tropical gaunt show the by artistry. Pontellier's Edna nascent upon "[Mr. Pontellier] ly between the the at second its destructive sea and Indeed, we the motif: and of and insistence wakening, (as she had first the tidal pull of the heroine's is a A The implications its positive of the sun uality?both sensual call drawn. shunning too, lover, consummate with many the by has society once, only of margins this metaphor employ that cases, innocence home. she wrote when later, and boundaries pirogue she rejects In both destruction. reluctance certain eventually, of safety for blind M?licent's demonstrates see the it plain stretch hazily initial that into state many paired life and isolation, that is felt by all who and "DESIREES must a balanced maintain in life The by Chopin's suggested vision in all of Chopin's of Baby" life's tenuous may be economical, ample tight context significance cern?the for strength as fiction repeated fiction best use stabilities. psychological Read a quite superb of However, Chopin's complete the most vivid and direct interior, to confont the bleak "D?sir?e's independently, piece drama. opposites "melting."17 is consummately work, of the warring the word of upon her willingness judged of between separation is and it draws fact 133 BABY" the statement short seen story fiction?an in the more accrues of her major added con limits. 17. Two essays touch upon this subject. Donald A. "Romantic in Ringe, Imagery Kate Chopin's The "American 43 (January 1972), 580-88; and Literature, Awakening, Griffin Wolff, "Thanatos and Eros: Kate The Awakening," Cynthia Chopin's American 25 (October, Quarterly, 1973), 449-71.