Journals / Transynergy Journal of Translation, Literature and Linguistics / 2023 / Volume 2, Issue 1
Kate Chopin’s Desiree’s Baby: A New Historicist Approach
- Pages
- 31–37
- DOI
- —
Abstract
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.
Özet
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.