There is however, a turning point in the story, when Madame Loisel loses the necklace, her husband could have left her to be arrested, for theft and continue his life as before. Instead, he chooses to stay with her, paying the debt off together so that a new necklace can be bought. This clearly is a sign of great affection from Madame’s husband as it would have been much easier for him to just leave her. She gives up her hopes and dreams of living a life of luxury and being rich in order to pay her friend back, this shows that she has changed from the spoilt person she was into a more responsible character who is taking responsibility for losing the necklace and doing the right thing which is buying a new necklace for her friend.
The relationship clearly changes between the Loisel’s after the necklace is lost, because Madame’s husband decides to stay with her, which shows how much he loves her, which may have changed her feelings about him, where at the beginning of the story she did not really love her husband, "Nothing. Only I haven't a dress and so I can't go to this party. Give your invitation to some friend of yours whose wife will be turned out better than I shall." He was heart-broken.” This shows that she did not really love her husband at the beginning of the story and only cared for the life’s luxuries. They pay their debts off at the end working for ten years together and pay of the debt together and at the end of the story are still married.
The next story I am going to discuss is Desiree’s Baby by Kate Chopin. The story is set on a cotton plantation in America in the time when blacks were slaves and had to work in the fields all day. The story is based on the racial prejudice that existed widespread in those times and still exists today which is why we can relate to the story in today in some way. Armand falls in love at first sight with Desiree, who was left outside the gates of the house of Valmonde by her parents when she was a child, “It made her laugh to think of Desiree with a baby. Why, it seemed but yesterday that Desiree was little more than a baby herself; when Monsieur in riding through the gateway of Valmonde had found her lying asleep in the shadow of the big stone pillar.” They both get married and have a baby together, the baby has dark skin and Armand abandons Desiree and the baby after he tells her she is not white. Desiree is unsure of her origins because she was adopted at birth. Desiree goes and drowns herself and the baby, the story ends by Armand finding a letter that tells him he is the father who has black origins that have been passed onto the baby.
The story is set in a time when Desiree would have been dependant on her father and/or husband. This is sad because she was abandoned by her real father abandoned by her husband, "Do you want me to go?"(Desiree) "Yes, I want you to go."(Armand)
I feel sorry for Desiree because she was abandoned by her real father, but was then taken into the house of Valmonde by Madame Valmonde, but she then marries into a rich family, “What did it matter about a name when he could give her one of the oldest and proudest in Louisiana?” in which she has a husband who loves her dearly. She is the “Idol Of Valmonde” and is loved very much by her parents who adopted her. With her new marriage it seems she is going to have a perfect life.
The turning point in this story is when Desiree finds out her baby has dark skin, her reaction is to ask her husband for support, "Look at our child. What does it mean? Tell me." He is sarcastic with her and tells her she is not white, she then asks Armand if she is still wanted at the cotton plantation, after she is told to return to the house of Valmonde by a letter she received in reply to a letter she sent asking for reassurance from Madame Valmonde. She cannot bear a life of shame at the house of Valmonde and so she runs off into the night, to kill herself and the baby.
Desiree and Armand have a very “rocky” relationship, at the beginning of the story they are greatly in love but when Armand discovers that the baby has dark skin he feels ashamed and has great hate for the baby. Even in their marriage Desiree is always afraid of Armand, “When he frowned, she trembled.” But even still she loved him deeply. It could always be easy for Armand to throw Desiree and the baby out and to never wish to see them again.
In conclusion to my essay, the woman I feel most sympathy for is Desiree and my reasons for this are, Desiree is because she was not strong enough to bear the shame of having a baby with dark skin, because people judged you on things like that and people would not wish to associate with her because she would be branded a woman who was really black. Desiree was not strong enough to bear the shame of having a baby with dark skin. I feel less sorry for Madame Loisel because she was strong enough and coped with her debt and she and her husband paid it off together and had each other.