Désirée’s Baby

by

Kate Chopin

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Désirée’s Baby makes teaching easy.

Madame Valmondé Character Analysis

A childless woman who adopts a baby abandoned at the gate of her husband’s plantation in Louisiana. The Valmondés raise the baby, who they name Désirée, as their own child, and Madame Valmondé considers the child’s arrival to be an act of Providence. The short story begins with Madame Valmondé’s visit to a grown and married Désirée who has recently had her first child. Madame Valmondé’s love for her daughter is boundless (in stark contrast to Armand, even after it appears that Désirée may have a mixed racial heritage.

Madame Valmondé Quotes in Désirée’s Baby

The Désirée’s Baby quotes below are all either spoken by Madame Valmondé or refer to Madame Valmondé. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
).
Désirée’s Baby Quotes

In time Madame Valmondé abandoned every speculation but the one that Désirée had been sent to her by a beneficent Providence to be the child of her affection, seeing that she was without child of the flesh.

Related Characters: Madame Valmondé, Désirée
Page Number: 189
Explanation and Analysis:

When she reached L’Abri she shuddered at the first sight of it, as she always did. It was a sad looking place….The roof came down steep and black like a cowl, reaching out beyond the wide galleries that encircled the yellow stuccoed house. Big, solemn oaks grew close to it, and their thick-leaved, far-reaching branches shadowed it like a pall.

Related Characters: Madame Valmondé
Related Symbols: L’Abri
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 190
Explanation and Analysis:

“This is not the baby!” she exclaimed, in startled tones.

Related Characters: Madame Valmondé (speaker), Désirée, Baby
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 190
Explanation and Analysis:

“…he hasn’t punished one of them—not one of them—since baby is born. Even Négrillon, who pretended to have burnt his leg that he might rest from work—he only laughed, and said Négrillon was a great scamp. Oh, mamma, I’m so happy; it frightens me.”

Related Characters: Désirée (speaker), Madame Valmondé, Armand, Baby
Page Number: 191
Explanation and Analysis:

“My mother, they tell me I am not white. Armand has told me I am not white. For God’s sake tell them it is not true. You must know it is not true. I shall die. I must die. I cannot be so unhappy, and live.”

Related Characters: Désirée (speaker), Madame Valmondé, Armand
Page Number: 193
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Désirée’s Baby LitChart as a printable PDF.
Désirée’s Baby PDF

Madame Valmondé Quotes in Désirée’s Baby

The Désirée’s Baby quotes below are all either spoken by Madame Valmondé or refer to Madame Valmondé. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Slavery and Racism Theme Icon
).
Désirée’s Baby Quotes

In time Madame Valmondé abandoned every speculation but the one that Désirée had been sent to her by a beneficent Providence to be the child of her affection, seeing that she was without child of the flesh.

Related Characters: Madame Valmondé, Désirée
Page Number: 189
Explanation and Analysis:

When she reached L’Abri she shuddered at the first sight of it, as she always did. It was a sad looking place….The roof came down steep and black like a cowl, reaching out beyond the wide galleries that encircled the yellow stuccoed house. Big, solemn oaks grew close to it, and their thick-leaved, far-reaching branches shadowed it like a pall.

Related Characters: Madame Valmondé
Related Symbols: L’Abri
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 190
Explanation and Analysis:

“This is not the baby!” she exclaimed, in startled tones.

Related Characters: Madame Valmondé (speaker), Désirée, Baby
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number: 190
Explanation and Analysis:

“…he hasn’t punished one of them—not one of them—since baby is born. Even Négrillon, who pretended to have burnt his leg that he might rest from work—he only laughed, and said Négrillon was a great scamp. Oh, mamma, I’m so happy; it frightens me.”

Related Characters: Désirée (speaker), Madame Valmondé, Armand, Baby
Page Number: 191
Explanation and Analysis:

“My mother, they tell me I am not white. Armand has told me I am not white. For God’s sake tell them it is not true. You must know it is not true. I shall die. I must die. I cannot be so unhappy, and live.”

Related Characters: Désirée (speaker), Madame Valmondé, Armand
Page Number: 193
Explanation and Analysis: