Regional Writers
Kate Chopin in 1894
Photoportrait of writer Kate Chopin
An example of some IronyDuring the post-Civil War era writers from all regions of the country emerged. The writers all generated stories in respect to their region of the country, that incorporated local values and characteristics. Many of the authors use some of the same themes, such as irony. Mary Wilkes Freeman writes with irony in "A New England Nun" and Kate Chopin uses irony in "Desiree's Baby." Freeman is from a small town in Massachusetts and writes of the New England life in her stories. Irony is a theme used by many writes that creates another dimension to a story. Chopin uses irony to show how a little secret can break a family. Freeman writes of a birthright that is lost to Louisa that ironically is not such a great loss. Irony used in writing helps to reveal the lives and feelings of people in several parts of the country, which is shown by Kate Chopin and Mary Wilkes Freeman in "Desiree's Baby" and "A New England Nun."
"As the day was pleasant," the opening lines to "Desiree's Baby", foreshadow events yet to come. The first lines are ironic already because the day may be pleasant, but the pleasantry does not last. Desiree, full of pride, tells her mother "Armand is the proudest father in the parish" and that he loves the baby more than anything. Desiree feels that the baby has "softened Armand Aubigony's imperious nature" and she is alive with happiness. Unfortunately her delight with life can not last and she awakes with "the conviction that there is something in the air menacing her peace." It is difficult for her to grasp, a "disquieting suggestion," an "air of mystery." But her happiness is changed by her husbands emotions, it seems to her...