Comparison of Desiree Aubigny and Faith Brown

Comparison of Desiree Aubigny and Faith Brown

Everyone has someone that they are like and different from. Desiree and Faith both have some things that they are similar to and a variety of things that put them apart from each other. Consistently, both Chopin’s Desiree’s Baby and Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown reveal that learning the truth does not lead to liberation but bitterness and isolation since the truth is too much to bear. In Young Goodman Brown, Brown experiences the witches in the fires and discovers that his community, including his wife, participates in such meetings, collaborating with the devil. Consequently, Brown withdraws himself from the community due to a lack of trust. Similarly, Desiree realizes that her baby is black, and her husband Armand denies that he is of African American origin, blaming her for the fault. Consequently, Desiree kills herself and her son. Although the authors use the characters Desiree, in Desiree’s Baby and Faith in Young Goodman Brown to convey the theme, the characters uphold the theme differently. Both Desiree and Faith keep their gender roles as wives and adore their husbands is a major similarity. While some similarities between Desiree Aubigny and Faith Brown are evident, they are different in the aspects of religion, generosity, and relationships with others.

The similarity is that both characters keep their gender roles as wives and adore their husbands. Based on Faith and Desiree’s characters, Hawthorne and Chopin illustrate how spouses rely on each other for support and how disappointment gravelly affects relationships. In marriage, emotional support is vital since it gives partners the energy to handle life’s challenges. In this case, Desiree was proud to have a baby with Armand, and she was happily married to Armand. However, when she replied that the baby was African American and Armand failed to accept his black ethnicity, Desiree broke down. Armand chased her out and blamed her for the outcome, yet he was responsible since he was of African American origin. Due to the rejection, Desiree killed herself and her baby. Similarly, Goodman Brown relied on Faith to maintain a godly path toward salvation. He believed that his wife was good and pure and tried to emulate her so they could both go to heaven. However, he realized that Faith collaborated with the devil, and this broke him down. The realization broke their marriage because he knew that his wife was like other people. The characterization illustrates how people should support each other and inspire others to be the best versions of themselves. Both women had their differences, but there is no doubt that they were similar when it came to being good wives.

Faith and Desiree have different religions. Faith is a Puritan, while on the other hand, Desiree is a Christian. In this case, Hawthorne’s story lights in the religious practices of the Puritans who adhered to strict religious norms, and as such, Faith was not exempted. Although Faith accepted all people, including Christians and Puritans, she was a Puritan since her husband was also a Puritan. In this light, Goodman Brown, Faith’s husband, tells his wife, “Say your prayers, dear Faith, and go to bed at dusk, and no harm will come to thee” (Anggraeni, 2016). Goodman then adds that he would cling to Faith’s skirt and follow her to heaven, illustrating their link to Puritanism. On the other hand, Desiree is a Christian since she invokes God’s sating. “For God’s Sake” (Matsushita, 2019).  Moreover, Kate Chopin’s Desiree does not highlight any other religion. These factors illustrate their differing religions.

The differences in their generosity traits are evident. Faith represents goodness since she accepts all people despite their religious views, but Desiree rejects her son because he is African American. In this light, Hawthorne represents Faith as a pure-hearted character who supports all religious emotions. Whenever he questions the good of those around him, Goodman clings to Faith, assuring himself that if she remains godly, he should fight for his Faith and maintain his Faith. On the other hand, Desire does not represent goodness since when she realizes that her son is African American, her blood freezes in her veins. She accuses Armand of the fault and attempts to reassure him of her white ethnicity. However, Armand asks her to leave, and she takes her son and kills herself and her son. Unlike Faith, who represents goodness, Desiree represents selfishness since she rejects her son, yet she is adopted. Monsieur and Madame Valmonde take Desiree in and give her a comfortable life as their daughter, but Desiree cannot grant the same love to her son because he is black. Hawthorne and Chopin use Faith and Desiree to illustrate how goodness positively impacts society and how selfishness yields dire consequences.

The differences in their relationships with others are apparent. Both Desiree and Faith are hypocritical since they hide their real characters from their husbands. In this case, Faith wears a cap with pink ribbons to represent her purity, and Hawthorne refers to the pink ribbons every time Goodman Brown feels troubled and lost. The ribbons remind Goodman Brown about the purity and goodness of Faith. However, Faith attends the witches’ meeting, collaborating with the devil. On seeing Faith at the meeting, Goodman Brown realizes that the pink ribbons on his wife’s cap are superficial and do not represent her true nature. Goodman screams his wife’s name at the witches’ meeting, and a pink ribbon drops from the sky, signifying Faith’s participation in the devil’s work (Purnama, 2016). Faith’s actions contradict her character as a perfect puritan who follows God’s path to salvation. At the witches’ meeting, Goodman sees Faith as a polluted wreck and not his pure wife. Desiree’s hypocrisy comes up after she realizes that her baby is African American. Before the baby changed its skin color, Desiree loved him unconditionally. She would sleep with him in her bed and enjoyed watching him grow. Her joy and love are evident when Madame Valmonde goes to see the baby, and Desiree utters, “at the way he has grown. The little cochon de lait! Look at his legs, mamma, and his hands and fingernails –real fingernails” (Gale, 2016). The statement illustrates Desiree’s pride and love for the boy. However, her love for the boy fades away when she realizes that he is black. Instead of taking him to Madame Valmonde, Desiree kills the baby. Desiree’s actions illustrate her hypocrisy because she does not love the boy unconditionally. Desiree only loved the boy because she thought he was white. Her actions are hypocritical since she does not also know her origin, and she was taken in by Madame Valmonde when she did not have a home. Both women had an incident where their husbands didn’t want them anymore because they thought they were hiding the truth from them.

In conclusion, both women had some similarities and some differences. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that they were both good wives and listened to their husbands. Faith had some hidden secrets from her husband about her religion. Desiree didn’t have hidden secrets, yet her husband accused her of being black while she wasn’t; instead, she was a mom who ran away with her baby and never came back out of fear of what society might think. Faith didn’t get to have that experience of being a mom. Both women had to face husbands who didn’t trust them after getting doubts.

References

Anggraeni, N. (2016). Hawthorne’s Attitudes Toward His Ancestors’ Religious Belief As Reflected In” Young Goodman Brown.” JEE, Journal of English and Education, 2(1), 45-53.

Gale, C. L. (2016). A Study Guide for Kate Chopin’s” Desiree’s Baby.” Gale, Cengage Learning.

Matsushita, S. (2019). Armand and Desiree” Enact” Scenes: Performing Race and Gender in Kate Chopin’s” Desiree’s Baby”.

PURNAMA, T. J. (2016). The Influences of The Puritan’s Teaching on Young Goodman Brown As Seen in Hawthorne’s” Young Goodman Brown” (Doctoral dissertation, Universitas Gadjah Mada).

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Compare and contrast Desiree from Desiree’s Baby and Faith from Young Goodman brown.

Comparison of Desiree Aubigny and Faith Brown

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