How Marriage Is Presented in "Desiree's Baby" & "The Story of an Hour"
State how marriage is presented in the stories, “Desiree’s Baby” and “The Story of an Hour.”
In “Desiree’s Baby” and “The Story of an Hour” there are two distinguishable women who are dependent on and controlled by their husbands both physically and emotionally. In “The Story of an Hour” Mrs. Mallard is restricted by the institution of marriage while, in “Desiree’s Baby” Desiree is confined to her husband because of her dependency on him.
In the story “Desiree’s Baby” it shows how Armand is impulsive when he fell in love with Desiree instantaneously. It was at the same pillar where Monsieur Valmonde, her adopted father, found her and her new life begun and ironically it is the same place Armand fell in love with her, signifying another life, one where she will be given an identity. “He was reminded that she was nameless. What did it matter about a name when he could give her one of the oldest and proudest in Louisiana?” He did not care if Desiree loved him back. Their marriage was hasty and intense and had a short life span. It was one that inflicted pain and was destructive both physically and emotionally. This is portrayed through the use of expressions such as “That was the way all the Aubignys fell in love, as if struck by a pistol shot...The passion that awoke in him that day, when he saw her at the gate, swept along like an avalanche, or like a prairie fire, or like anything that drives headlong over all obstacles.” These expressions illustrate a rush, intensity, excruciating pain, hurt and destruction. Also, marrying Armand meant that Desiree would lose her freedom and would have very little power to make decisions for herself. She was like a slave for him has he used her to fulfil his needs and desire and did not take notice of her submission and love for him.
In the story racism and prejudice were prevalent in that era, and this affected Desiree because she was of no known or set origin. She is in a culture where marriage was seen as priority and
In “Desiree’s Baby” and “The Story of an Hour” there are two distinguishable women who are dependent on and controlled by their husbands both physically and emotionally. In “The Story of an Hour” Mrs. Mallard is restricted by the institution of marriage while, in “Desiree’s Baby” Desiree is confined to her husband because of her dependency on him.
In the story “Desiree’s Baby” it shows how Armand is impulsive when he fell in love with Desiree instantaneously. It was at the same pillar where Monsieur Valmonde, her adopted father, found her and her new life begun and ironically it is the same place Armand fell in love with her, signifying another life, one where she will be given an identity. “He was reminded that she was nameless. What did it matter about a name when he could give her one of the oldest and proudest in Louisiana?” He did not care if Desiree loved him back. Their marriage was hasty and intense and had a short life span. It was one that inflicted pain and was destructive both physically and emotionally. This is portrayed through the use of expressions such as “That was the way all the Aubignys fell in love, as if struck by a pistol shot...The passion that awoke in him that day, when he saw her at the gate, swept along like an avalanche, or like a prairie fire, or like anything that drives headlong over all obstacles.” These expressions illustrate a rush, intensity, excruciating pain, hurt and destruction. Also, marrying Armand meant that Desiree would lose her freedom and would have very little power to make decisions for herself. She was like a slave for him has he used her to fulfil his needs and desire and did not take notice of her submission and love for him.
In the story racism and prejudice were prevalent in that era, and this affected Desiree because she was of no known or set origin. She is in a culture where marriage was seen as priority and