The Storm

1113 Words3 Pages

A Symbolic Storm Cheating is a destructive act that periodically results in a termination of a relationship. In this case, Kate Chopin’s short story “The Storm” features a symbolic storm which forces a passionate and married woman in encountering her past love. She is left in an extraordinary situation which could potentially terminate her relationship with her family. The storm functions as a mean to an end, as it deliberately build the situation to set a tension between the two protagonists. Also, as the tension grows, both characters succumb to their overwhelming desire for each other, and thus resulting in an act of passion. The departing of the storm reflects the implicit scheme of itself in the incident. Furthermore, the storm operates as imagery and foreshadowing to represent the sexual tension of the two characters. The raging storm serves as the key symbolic element in relation to the two unfaithful characters, namely Calixta and Alcée, in their act of lovemaking. The unrelenting fierceness of the storm forces a barrier between Calixta and her family from getting in contact as they are in different location. This barrier is shown in: “[…] to certain somber clouds that were rolling with sinister intention from the west, accompanied by a sullen, threatening roar. They were at Friedheimer’s store and decided to remain there till the storm had passed” (Chopin page 1, 2-6). The storm begins initiating its mission in maintaining the distance between Calixta and her family. By obstructing Calixta from being with her family, she starts worrying about them while exhibiting a feeling of unease. Alcée, who is revealed to be Calixta’s past lover, suddenly arrives at her house when the storm began to intensify. Rather than being a... ... middle of paper ... ... In short, while the storm might reflect the outer environmental conditions with the inner personal ones, it may possess a certain wish in causing the sexual activity of Calixta and Alcée. The storm successfully achieves its ambition in integrating Calixta and Alcée. It first builds the situation to set a tension between the two primary characters, and then compel them to engaging in lovemaking. The ultimate departure of the storm displays the deliberate and implicit ambitions of integrating Calixta and Alcée, as there is no place for the possibility of coincidence. Also, the existence of the mix of foreshadowing and imagery on representing the sexual tension and desire exhibited by both characters, demonstrates its persistency on causing the sexual activity of Calixta and Alcée. Overall, the protagonists’ sexual engagement is immensely caused by the storm.

Show More
Related

  • The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe

    823 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...een and heard for miles. Sheets of rain pour down outside. Bobinot and his son Bibi is stuck at the store as the storm flows. Alcee, Calixta’s old lover, just so happens to be near Calixta’s home as the storm approaches. As everyone is forced to ride out the storm in their current location, Alcee spends the storm with Calixta. It became a slippery slope, as the two former lovers created sparks between each other. The climax of the story lead to them having sexual intercourse; just as the storm outside reached its peak in symbolic fashion. This then builds suspense for the reader trying to figure out whether or not the husband will discover his wife cheating on him. Ultimately, Alcee leaves before Bobinot comes home, therefore no one figures out what happens during the storm. There is situational irony that goes along with the story really enhances the suspense.

    Read More

  • Kate Chopin's The Storm and The Story of an Hour

    1085 Words  | 3 Pages

    'The Storm' begins on a stormy spring day, with the protagonist Calixta at her sewing machine. She is alone, her husband Bobinot and son Bibi have gone to the store. Calixta seems to be a bored woman, confined to her duties as a housewife and mother. As the distant storm approaches she is unaware of what the storm brings, her former lover Alcee. Calixta allows Alcee into her home and opens her whole world to him. There is a connection between the storm that is going on outside and the storm of emotions going on in Calixta and Alcee. The weather sends Calixta into Alcee?s arms, he wraps his arms around her, and they can no longer hide their feelings for one another. They gave into their raging emotions and made love. Outside the weather was subsiding and Calixta and Alcee?s bodies felt relaxed and calmed. ?The rain was over; and the sun was turning the glistening green world into a palace of gems.? (1614) His face beamed with light like the sun. The storm inside of her was satisfied and for a brief instant Calixta felt liberated from her ordinary dull life.

    Read More

  • Theme of Love and Marriage in The Storm by Kate Chopin and The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Gilman

    589 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Like a river flows so surely to the sea darling, so it goes some things are meant to be.” In literature there have been a copious amount of works that can be attributed to the theme of love and marriage. These works convey the thoughts and actions in which we as people handle every day, and are meant to depict how both love and marriage can effect one’s life. This theme is evident in both “The Storm” by Kate Chopin and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Gilman; both stories have the underlying theme of love and marriage, but are interpreted in different ways. Both in “The Storm” and in “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the women are the main focus of the story. In “The Storm” you have Calixta, a seemingly happy married woman who cheats on her husband with an “old-time infatuation” during a storm, and then proceeds to go about the rest of her day as if nothing has happened when her husband and son return. Then you have “The Yellow Wallpaper” where the narrator—who remains nameless—is basically kept prisoner in her own house by her husband and eventually is driven to the point of insanity.

    Read More

  • Views on Sex and Marriage Depicted in Kate Chopin's The Storm

    1308 Words  | 3 Pages

    A storm can represent and symbolize many different meanings. The impact of the word can be brought about in many different views and aspects that arrange themselves to create and portray detailed information and great definition to the subject of the short story as a whole. By using the storm as a symbol, it gives way to a passage that will encounter the relationship and parallel aspect of both the fervent thunder that occurs and the sexual passion that is encountered throughout the story. Kate Chopin opens up an interesting view and tentative explanation of human sexuality and the strong point of view of regulations placed on human sexuality as well as the aspect of trying to control a storm. By tying up these two ideas with one word, Kate Chopin was able to provide a view that would symbolize the premise of desires through variations of the storm.

    Read More

  • A State of Mind in Kate Chopin’s "Storm"

    1091 Words  | 3 Pages

    A storm defined by the Princeton dictionary means "violent weather condition, or a direct and violent assault " Kate Chopin personifies and creates imagery of a dark ominous storm heading from the distance with an ominous presence and dark intentions. “…sombre clouds that were rolling with sinister intention from the west, accompanied by a sullen, threatening roar.” The calm before the storm is all but gone, the storm pressing closer and closer, yet, Calixta is not doing much before the unavoidable storm hits her home. By the use of symbolism Kate Chopin shows that Calixta willingly opens herself up in the beginning of the story. “She unfastened her white sacque at the throat” what can this represent? This poor defenseless woman lets her neck out in the open; just like an antelope in the wild that is tired of ruing from a lion gives up by turning their neck towards their predator and giving up their jugular. Calixta is not deterred by the ideals of the time and decides to take her conventional life out of the norm. Rebecca Long-Kluckner from the Association of Young Journalists and writers, writes the folloing "Kate Chopin wrote in a time period that believed women did not even possess sexual desires, but only behaved pro...

    Read More

  • The Storm by Kate Chopin

    1345 Words  | 3 Pages

    The first thing I noticed about Kate Chopin’s “The Storm,” is that it is utterly dripping with sexual imagery and symbolism. Our heroine, if you will, seems to be a woman with normally restrained passions and a well-defined sense of propriety, who finds herself in a situation that tears down her restraint and reveals the vixen within. I wonder if it was intentional that the name Calixta makes me think of Calypso – the nymph from Greek mythology. If half of the sexual symbolism I found in this story was intentional, Chopin was a genius. I was quite taken with the sexual imagery of the colors mentioned: white, and red. There is also mention a place called Assumption, while there’s nothing written on it in the bible, I believe it’s the popular opinion of those of Christian faiths, that Mary (Jesus’ mother) going to heaven was called “The Assumption.” Again, I cannot accept that as merely a happy coincidence, I believe its mention in the story was intentional. Finally, we have the storm, so central to the theme of the story that it was named for it. In this work, as well as others by Chopin, there is a recurring theme of infidelity, or women behaving in ways that society generally doesn’t accept, women behaving badly, if you will, I cannot help but wonder if Kate Chopin used her writing to express desires that she would not otherwise have expressed.

    Read More

  • Free Essays - Analysis of Kate Chopin's The Storm

    687 Words  | 2 Pages

    Soon after this, Calixta who is then feeling the situation gets up to look outside the window, as not to keep looking at Alcee for she knows what may come of it. Alcee then also gets up to look out the window so that he may stand close to Calixta, which shows how Alcee wants to be with her. While Calixta is looking out the window she sees that it is raining hard and there is strong winds and lightning, which clearly signifies how mixed up Calixta’s feelings for Alcee are at that moment. After this Alcee grabs Calixta close to him as she staggers back, she then retreats and immediately asks where her son may be. This also shows that Calixta is having mixed feelings with the situation. Which is the reason she gets loose but does not tell Alcee to control himself but yet like nothing had happened wonders where her son may be, “ Bonte! She cried, releasing herself from his arms encircling arms and retreating to the window… If I only knew were Bibi was!”

    Read More

  • Imagery And Symbolism In Kate Chopin's 'The Storm'

    1113 Words  | 3 Pages

    These two themes are built upon two main characters. Even the smallest details of these characters bring out the themes in a way that can only give the story a happy ending. Calixta still has a place in her heart for Alce, her prince charming, which gives the affair a chance to happen. The overall story is symbolized through the color white and the passing storm which intensifies all of the emotions in the story. “The Storm” was a controversial story that many did not approve of when it was first written. Today it is appreciated, along with most of Chopin’s work, as an important part of the feminine

    Read More

  • A Love Affair in The Storm by Kate Chopin

    339 Words  | 1 Pages

    Kate Chopin's "The Storm", is a short story about a brief love affair that takes place during a storm that has separated Calixta with her husband and son. The title "The Storm" is an obvious reference to the storm outside, but more importantly to the love affair that takes place. The title refers to nature, which is symbolically used again and again in the story. Chopin uses words like "somber clouds", "threatening roar", and "sinister intentions" to describe the approaching storm. Later in the story those same words in reference to the storm outside, will also be represented symbolically to the storm brewing inside with the love affair. In the beginning of the story Bobinot and his son Bibi stay at a store to let the storm pass by. Calixta, the wife , is at home by herself doing some chores around the house. As the storm starts to approach, Alcee rides in and asks Calixta if he could come in until the storm passes. It starts to rain immediately after he arrives. It's important to know that Alcee and Calixta had past together which he brings up to her later in the story. It is also stated that she has never seen him alone. The storm starts to increase outside, reflecting the sexual tension inside. The storm's sinister intention appears when "The rain beat upon the shingled roof that threatened to break an entrance...". It seems that the storm knows what is going on between the two and is threatening to break in and ruin their chances. They move through out the house and end up in the bedroom "with its white, monumental bed, its closed shutters, looked dim and mysterious. The bed being white symbolizes purity. The two then make their way to the window to watch the storm outside when lightning strikes nearby, falling back into his arms. The storm in a sense seems to be forcing them together now. They then embrace each other in the peek of the storm where things really start to get stormy in the love affair. The two then start making out yahda, yahda, yahda. The thunder is now distant and passing away. The storm outside turns into a soft, lighter rain, being symbolic that the storm is ending.

    Read More

  • Spunk By Zora Neale Hurston Analysis

    1301 Words  | 3 Pages

    “The Storm”, by Kate Chopin, is a short story about a woman who has intercourse with an old boyfriend, while her husband and son are at the store. While a storm is passing by Alcée happens to stop by and stays at Calixta’s during the storm. The two commit adultery, but never tell anyone. While there are many similarities between these two stories, there are also several differences.

    Read More

  • Story of Nature Desire: The Storm by Kate Chopin

    1297 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... The affair brews, it happens, and then it is over. But as we know another storm will happen and so will the affair between these two characters. When Alcée sends a letter to his wife saying that she must not rush home, this is an indication that Alcée may expect to see Calxita again soon. “Mrs. Chopin may refuse to sit judgment on morals, but she covers only one day and one storm and does not exclude the possibility of later misery” (Koloski 145). Kate Chopin ends the story with the idea that this may have been first time but is certainly not the last time will this happen.

    Read More

  • Gender and Role of Women in Kate Chopin´s The Storm

    641 Words  | 2 Pages

    Alcée, a planter and a man of the outer sphere enters Calixta’s domain with good intentions. Alcée, a man with much respect and honor for Calixta, greets her and acknowledges that she is a married woman. He greets her by name and properly asks permission to wait out of the storm on her porch. She properly addresses him as “M’siur Alcée” when she greets him. Alcee, who happened to live nearby, could have ridden on through the storm, but he did not. Instead, as Lawrence I. Berkove claims, Alcee’s “wish to escape a drenching in Calixta’s home is “innocent” (90).

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Storm By Kate Chopin

    1082 Words  | 3 Pages

    In“The Storm”, Bibi, a young boy, and his father, Bobinot, wait out a storm at a local store. They are both very concerned about the well being of a third member of their family, Calixta, but they cannot do anything about it until the storm is over. Calixta, at home, knows that there is a storm about to break out. An old boyfriend coincidentally stays with her while the storm is taking place. Calixta and her old boyfriend, Alce, see a spark in their lusts for each other then start to make out and the making out leads to sex. When the storm passes, the old boyfriend, Alce leaves. Bibi and Bobinot, Calixta’s husband, never find out that Alce was there. When the child and Babinot return home, Calixta is really glad to see them. In the end of the story, Alce writes a letter to his wife, Clarisse, saying that it’s OK with him if she wants to stay longer on her trip. She is relieved because she wants a break from her husband and the romantic aspect of their relationship. When the storm passes, everything works out well for everyone.

    Read More

  • Literary Elements of The Storm by Kate Chopin

    885 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...way that the story is being interpreted and how the storm influences the story as a whole. Sometimes people need a wakeup call or a 'storm' to make them aware of how good they have things. In this short story Alcee and Calixta both come to realization of how good they have things with their spouses and how that they already found the ones that they love, which weren't each other. This made me aware of how we as people can take things for granted or believing we know what’s best for us. In reality we don't always know what’s best until something occurs and shows us that what we already have is the best.

    Read More

  • Kate Copin's Feminist Theory

    1236 Words  | 3 Pages

    For instance in the story The Storm illustrated the marriage life of two couples that are passing throughout a difficult phase of their marriage and infidelity is performed by men/women. The women characters represented a devoted wife and mother responsible of her duties. They display the kindness and affection that women should demonstrate to their family. Regarding their values, women can be driven by their emotions and commit infidelity. One of the couples, the wife cheat on her husband, but then she realizes that what she has done is unappropriated. However, she confirms her loved to her husband and she could not image her life without him and want to keep her family united. In society preconception about women cheating on their husband is inconsiderable and unacceptable. On the past is was a sin or even worst the life of women were the punishment of infidelity. On the other hand, the husband cheats on his wife who is in a trip with his sons, after the infidelity he communicates to his wife to stay longer if she wants. His wife Clarisse found appropriate to stay away longer from her husband, because

    Read More

More about The Storm

Open Document