Marxist Critique of Desiree's Baby
Michael A. Morales
Professor Carol Froisy
LITR 320 American Fiction
June 10, 2012
A Marxist Critique of Desirée’s Baby
The Antebellum south, or merely the word plantation, conjures images of white, columned manses shaded by ancient oaks bowed beneath the weight of Spanish moss and centuries. Somehow these monuments of Greek revivalist architecture sparkle in their ivory-coated siding, even while the trunks of their aged arboreal neighbors hide under layer upon soggy layer of dense, green lichen. The white house is a reflection of the inhabitants, its cleanliness in the damp, soiled environment standing as a stark reminder of the hegemony governing the lives of those living not in the house, but hidden nearby. L’Abri, the plantation home of the Aubigny family in Chopin’s Desirée’s Baby, is yellow and has a foreboding black roof made more sinister by the gloomy shadows cast by its requisite antiquated greenery. L’Abri is not unlike any other antebellum mansion of the pre-Civil War era; it represents its inhabitants. The mansion is excellently presented as an example of how little authority color truly wields without an underlying power structure to give it substance. While race figures prominently in Desirée’s Baby, the story is an exemplary specimen for the application of Marxist criticism.
Marxist criticism is the recognition of “inequalities in power between characters” (Gardner 146). It purposes to “expose the inequalities that underlie all societies” (Gardner 146). These inequalities can have multiple sources, though often the main source is race. But is race a biological reality? Miles posits that races are imagined, in that they “have no real biological foundation” (26). Miles further observes that differentiations between groups are “simultaneously inclusive and exclusive” (27) as the characteristics describing one group stand in contrast to another group. The destructive nature of racial categorization is in the claims that biological types determine
Professor Carol Froisy
LITR 320 American Fiction
June 10, 2012
A Marxist Critique of Desirée’s Baby
The Antebellum south, or merely the word plantation, conjures images of white, columned manses shaded by ancient oaks bowed beneath the weight of Spanish moss and centuries. Somehow these monuments of Greek revivalist architecture sparkle in their ivory-coated siding, even while the trunks of their aged arboreal neighbors hide under layer upon soggy layer of dense, green lichen. The white house is a reflection of the inhabitants, its cleanliness in the damp, soiled environment standing as a stark reminder of the hegemony governing the lives of those living not in the house, but hidden nearby. L’Abri, the plantation home of the Aubigny family in Chopin’s Desirée’s Baby, is yellow and has a foreboding black roof made more sinister by the gloomy shadows cast by its requisite antiquated greenery. L’Abri is not unlike any other antebellum mansion of the pre-Civil War era; it represents its inhabitants. The mansion is excellently presented as an example of how little authority color truly wields without an underlying power structure to give it substance. While race figures prominently in Desirée’s Baby, the story is an exemplary specimen for the application of Marxist criticism.
Marxist criticism is the recognition of “inequalities in power between characters” (Gardner 146). It purposes to “expose the inequalities that underlie all societies” (Gardner 146). These inequalities can have multiple sources, though often the main source is race. But is race a biological reality? Miles posits that races are imagined, in that they “have no real biological foundation” (26). Miles further observes that differentiations between groups are “simultaneously inclusive and exclusive” (27) as the characteristics describing one group stand in contrast to another group. The destructive nature of racial categorization is in the claims that biological types determine
Cited: Chopin, Kate. “Desirée’s Baby.” Anthology of the American Short Story. Ed. James Nagel. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2008. 121-135. Print. ISBN: 978-0-618-73220-3 Gardner, James. Writing about Literature: A Portable Guide. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009. Print. ISBN: 978-0-312-60757-9 Miles, Robert. “Recent Marxist Theories of Nationalism and the Issue of Racism.” The British Journal of Sociology 38.1 (1987): 24-43. Web. 9 Jun. 2012. New American Standard Bible. Trans. The Lockman Foundation. New York: Oxford UP, 1971. Print.