Kate Chopin’s Desiree’s Baby: A New Historicist Approach
In this study, New Historicism, a contemporary literary theory, has been used to examine Kate
Chopin’s short story Desiree’s Baby. The author of this short story illustrates the racial
prejudice, insults directed at women, and social discrimination that existed in America in the
19th century. Thus fictitious characters and the fictional environment effectively depict the
historical aspects of this century. When Desiree’s Baby is analyzed in the context of this theory,
it is clear that the historical context of the time when the short story was written can be
visualized. This is because the new historicist viewpoint emphasizes that literary works are the
means to reach the historical and ideological conditions of a specific time. The objective of the
present study is to analyze Chopin’s short story using a New Historicist approach. To that end,
a literature review was used to compose the study and a qualitative research method was used.
It is clear from the short story being handled that a white person unable to have a child who
looks like a member of a different race. The place of a person in society is thus determined by
their origin, which is very important. Only white plantation owners who are affluent and of a
certain race are permitted to possess slaves. As a consequence of the study, it was discovered
that Chopin genuinely wrote about the reality of American society in the nineteenth century,
thereby accurately depicting historical facts.
Anahtar Kelimeler:
Desiree’s baby, new historicism, historical context, Kate Chopin, new historicist approach
Kate Chopin’s Desiree’s Baby: A New Historicist Approach
In this study, New Historicism, a contemporary literary theory, has been used to examine Kate
Chopin’s short story Desiree’s Baby. The author of this short story illustrates the racial
prejudice, insults directed at women, and social discrimination that existed in America in the
19th century. Thus fictitious characters and the fictional environment effectively depict the
historical aspects of this century. When Desiree’s Baby is analyzed in the context of this theory,
it is clear that the historical context of the time when the short story was written can be
visualized. This is because the new historicist viewpoint emphasizes that literary works are the
means to reach the historical and ideological conditions of a specific time. The objective of the
present study is to analyze Chopin’s short story using a New Historicist approach. To that end,
a literature review was used to compose the study and a qualitative research method was used.
It is clear from the short story being handled that a white person unable to have a child who
looks like a member of a different race. The place of a person in society is thus determined by
their origin, which is very important. Only white plantation owners who are affluent and of a
certain race are permitted to possess slaves. As a consequence of the study, it was discovered
that Chopin genuinely wrote about the reality of American society in the nineteenth century,
thereby accurately depicting historical facts.
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- Hickling, M. (2018). New historicism. Brock Education Journal, 27(2), 53-57. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1179950.pdf
- Lyu, X. (2021). An introduction to new historicism. Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, 543, 1075-1078. DOI: 10.2991/assehr.k.210407.203
- Mayer, G. (2010). A matter of behavior: a semantic analysis of five kate chopin stories. ETC, January, 94-100. http://www2.latech.edu/~bmagee/212/!internet_course/ article_analysis_winter_ 2010/Forrest%20J%20Davis%20article.pdf
- McInerny, R. (2005). Kate Chopin. ethicscenter.nd.edu/assets/156941/ kate_chopin.pdf
- Mojdegahi, F. (2016). The new historicist reading of Arthur Miller’s the crudible. Canadian Social Science, 12(7), 13-17. DOI: 10.3968/8590
- Monika, R. (2020). Analysis of metaphor in “a family affair” by Kate Chopin. Journal of English Education, Literature and Linguistics, 3(1), 1-12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31540/jeell.v3i1.827
- Ramadan, F. A. (2019). Narrative structure and the representation of history in Leila Aboulela’s the kindness of enemies: a new historicist approach. Occasional Papers, 68, 29-65. DOI: 10.21608/OPDE.2019.131918
- Serdaroğlu, D. (2017). A new historicist approach to Kazuo Ishiguro’s when we were orphans. Gaziantep University Journal of Social Sciences, 16(3), 785-795. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21547/jss.290611
- ISSN: 2979-9503
- Yayın Aralığı: Yılda 2 Sayı
- Başlangıç: 19.12.2022
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