Kate Chopin Love Triangle Theory

“The Storm” by Kate Chopin states that societies should not keep two people who have the potential for consummate love apart even though they may be divided by class because doing so would leave the two people unhappy and unfulfilled. In “The Storm,” the characters Calixta and Bobinot do not seem to be happy and fulfilled in the marriage. This inference can see this if we try to see how they fit in the Love Triangle created by Robert Sternberg which measures if two people have consummate love for each other. Before describing how Calixta and Bobinot do not appear to be happy and fulfilled, it is necessary to explain the Love Triangle. It is necessary to remember the theme of “The Storm” is that people who have consummate love for each other should not be kept apart or else they will be unhappy and unfulfilled.

The Love Triangle Theory is a theory discussed in English Class that measures if two people have consummate love for each other (Everett). There are three legs in the Love

It does not explicitly state that Bobinot and Calixta were not sexually fulfilled, but it can be assumed that a fulfilled person wouldn’t desire the sexual company of another person. At the time the story was written, the only reliable birth control was abstinence from sex (Everett). We know that Bibi, Bobinot and Calixta’s son was four years old as stated in the first paragraph of the story: “Bibi was four years old and looked very wise” (Chopin 280). It can be roughly assumed that Bobinot and Calixta were not often passionate with each other since Calixta became pregnant with Bibi. Also, in the beginning of the story it Chopin writes that Calixta’s bed was “adjoining was her bed room, with Bibi’s couch alongside her own” (280). It would be difficult to be intimate with one another if their child was sleeping right beside her bed. It is possible that Calixta maybe kept Bibi’s bed there so as to dissuade Bobinot from being passionate with