Bases on the character of Desiree, what conclusions can be made about a woman's place in society?

Kate Chopin's short story "Desiree's Baby" makes a very poignant statement on a woman's place in society. This story tells of the relationship between Desiree and Armand Aubigny. Desiree, an orphan, marries Armand after he falls in love with her. His immediate love for her is described as him being "struck by a pistol shot." Given that Desiree was an orphan, her adoptive mother worried about the impact her "obscure origin" would have on her marriage. Armand did not care; he could give her "one of the oldest and proudest [names] in Louisiana."
After the birth of their child, things begin to change. Although he is at first happy, Armand then questions the race of their child. The baby looks like the "quadroon" servant boy who fans Desiree in the Louisiana heat. Believing to know his own race, Armand accuses Desiree of being black. This newly discovered information could tarnish his proud name. He banishes Desiree and their child. In the end, Armand comes to find out, through letters from his mother to his father, that he "belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery." It was not Desiree who had black heritage; it was Armand.
Therefore, the conclusion that can be made regarding a woman's place in society is one that hinges on dependency and weakness. Women are, at least according to the story, dependent upon the men in their lives. Without Armand's support, Desiree is left destitute and alone. Since he will no longer support her and their child, Desiree is left to return to her mother's. (This is only alluded to, because Chopin does not state that Desiree actually makes it to her mother's home.) As the story leaves it, one can assume that Desiree loses herself in the "reeds and willows" of the bayou.
Secondly, women seem to be identified as weak. It is only Armand's name that gives Desiree strength to continue in life. Once he takes this away, Desiree loses her identity. No longer the wife of Armand, her identity dissolves. She has nothing left. She is left weak and defenseless. She does not possess the strength to go on. Instead, she seems to give herself over to the bayou.
On another hand, one could say that Armand's exile of Desiree allows her to prove that she is able to survive on her own. Readers do not actually know if Desiree succumbs to the bayou. All that is stated is that she and her child leave Armand. Therefore, the argument could be made that Desiree's exile allows her to assert her own strength and power. It is without Armand that Desiree is able to actually flourish, not held back by his oppressive ways.
This forces readers to make an alternative statement on the woman's place in society. If one were to focus on the strength it takes for a woman to raise a child on her own, it could be said that a woman's place in society is one where she does what is needed to ensure the success of her children and herself. Essentially, a woman does not need a man to survive.