Desiree's Baby

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1. How do most people explain Desiree's arrival at Valmonde, as a baby? When Desiree was a baby, she is found by Madame Valmonde, next to the Valmonde gateway. People's opinion about her origin is described in the second paragraph, where some people thinks that she was left by traveling Texans and the others thinks that "she was of the tobbling age". 2. What does Madame Valmonde herself think? Explain, using your own words. Even though people were wondering about her origin, for her adoptive mother this child was send by God, it was like a blessing, "had been sent to her by a beneficent Providence to be the child of her attention" because she did not have a child of her own. 3. Roughly how old is Desiree at the time the story takes place? 19 years old (she got married when she was 18 years old, she gave birth to a child shortly after). 4. What difference of opinion is there between Armand and Monsieur Valmonde on the proposed wedding? Monsieur Valmonde is more cautios, he things they will get married too fast, he reminds Armand about the girl's obscure origin, but the two lovers get married besides everything. 5. In the paragraph beginning "Madame Valmonde had not seen Desiree..." what impression does the author create of L'Abri - the house and estate- and how is this impression achieved? (Pick out some key words from the passage) Due to the fact that for a long time the place did not have a feminine presence, the estate looked like an old, unkempt place. When Madame Valmonde reaches the house L’Abri the tone changes to sad dismal and quite funeral like. Kate Chopin uses similes to create the bad impression. For example ‘The roof came down steep and black like a cowl’ and ‘reaching out, thick leaved and shadowed’. 6. What is Madame's reaction upon seeing the baby? Explain, giving evidence from the text. The
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