How do the women of "Desiree's Baby" and "The Story of an Hour" suffer for the prejudice of their time?

Kate Chopin is definitely immensely skilled at depicting
the plight of women in her world and the various ways in which they are disadvantaged,
ignored and disempowered. In "The Story of an Hour," the brief moment of liberation that
Mrs. Mallard enjoys is depicted to us in all of its joy. Having accepted that her
husband has died, Mrs. Mallard is intoxicated by the freedom that she now has, being a
single woman. Note how the text describes her
feelings:

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There would be no one to live for during those
coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers
in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a
private will upon a fellow-creature. A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act
seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of
ilumination.

Thus we can see
how Mrs. Mallard has suffered. Even though her husband is loving, the way that marriage
was viewed and women's role within marriage at the time is exposed. It is described as a
form of entrapment where she has to "bend her will" to that of her husband. She regards
this as a "crime" and clearly, in this moment of epiphany, realises how little she has
actually been able to live being married in her society.

In
"Desiree's Baby" the form of prejudice is more notable, perhaps. Noticing the dark
complexion of their child, Armand automatically assumes that this form of racial
"weakness" comes from his wife, even though, as Desiree herself says, this seems very
unlikely:

"It
means," he answered lightly, "that the child is not white; it means that you are not
white."

A quick conception of all that this accusation
meant for her, nerved her with unwonted courage to deny it. "It is a lie--it is not
true, I am white! Look at my hair, it is brown; and my eyes are grey. Armand, you know
they are grey. And my skin is fair," seizing his wrist. "Look at my hand--whiter than
yours, Armand," she laughed
hysterically.

However,
because of gender stereotypes and racial prejudice, Armand categorically blames his wife
for the "shame" of her ancestry, and as a result, she commits suicide. It is immensely
ironic and incredibly tragic therefore that at the end of the tale Armand discovers that
his mother was black, and Desiree was right all along.

Thus
both female characters are shown to suffer through the gender stereotypes and roles of
women in their time and society. These works expose a world in which women are
definitely depicted as "the weaker sex" and lesser citizens compared to men, and yet the
texts argue passionately for equality.