Deception in "The Storm" and "The Story of an Hour"

726 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Women in English literature

Thesis: In Kate Chopin's "The Storm" and "The Story of an Hour," the wives seem to share the foul qualities of selfishness, unfaithfulness and confusion.

I. The most common element found within both pieces of literature is that both women seem to be greatly selfish.

A. In "The Story of an Hour," Mrs. Mallard seems to be overwhelmed with joy because of her husband's death.

B. In resemblance to Mrs. Mallard, Calixta, the wife in "The Storm," is also immensely selfish.

II. The second most obvious theme throughout both stories is their unfaithful commitment to the sacrament of marriage.

A. Mrs. Mallard was never physically unfaithful, but mentally and emotionally she lost herself in the idea of her new life without her husband.

B. In opposition of Mrs. Mallard, Calixta acted upon her emotions and became physically unfaithful.

III. In addition to both selfishness and unfaithfulness, both women give the perception of confusion.

A. Mrs. Mallard's confusion begins by her first feeling "sudden, wild abandonment, " but then a short while after begins to have strange feelings of relief.

B. Calixta also experiences confusion when Alcée's "arm encircles her..." and ."..draws her close and spasmodically to him."

Deception

In Kate Chopin's "The Storm" and "The Story of an Hour," the common theme for each short story is the deception of marriage. "The Storm" involves two married couples in which one woman, Calixta, and one man, Alcée, from each marriage have an affair with one another. Calixta has a little boy with her husband and Alcée's family is at Biloxi. The affair takes place at Calixta's home when Alcée asks to stay with her until the storm is over, while her son and husband are awa...

... middle of paper ...

...should be honored and it's horrible to see marriage as somewhat of a joke and a waste of time.

In conclusion, the women in both stories experienced two very different situations but overall deal with the same things. Selfishness plays a role in their thoughts and actions and unfaithfulness plays a role in the overall happiness in their marriages. With both selfishness and unfaithfulness controlling their thoughts and emotions they become confused and lose all control of the situation. Basically it is shocking to see how lightly affairs are taken into consideration and how the loss of a loved one doesn't affect people, as it should.

Works Cited

The Story of an Hour

Kate Chopin

Internet

www.bedfordstmartins.com/literature

The Storm

Kate Chopin

Literature The Human Experience, Shorter Eighth Edition, Richard Abcarian & Marvin Klotz

Page 750-754

Show More
Related

  • Wives in Silko's Yellow Woman and Chopin's The Story of an Hour

    441 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Roles of Wives in Silko's Yellow Woman and Chopin's The Story of an Hour

    Read More

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

    687 Words  | 2 Pages

    The short story “The Storm” by Kate Chopin, deals with the subject of adultery. The story takes place in the early 1900’s. There are two main characters, Calixta (the wife) and Alcee (the former lover). Alcee must take refuge from a passing storm in Calixta’s house, while he is there the two end up making love while Calixta’s husband and son have to wait out the storm at the local store. By doing this Chopin implies the theme that is, adultery is natural and does not necessarily have negative consequences. Through out the story the constant changing of imagery plays a great role in the development of characters and their ability to demonstrate the theme.

    Read More

  • Characterism And Symbolism In Kate Chopin's The Storm

    1218 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Kate Chopin’s “The Storm”, she offers an intoxicating account of two souls awakened by a storm. The story was composed on July 19, 1898. At this time in history women were considered objects, their sole purpose in life was to serve their husbands. In addition, social stratification was an important aspect of society that determined who they married. Calixta’s marriage could have been a product of an arrangement, making it of unnatural origin. Chopin points out singular characteristics of the storm to shed light on the uncommon strength of a marriage when it is not determined by social norms. Consequently, Chopin brings Calixta and Alceé together to embellish their passion, in which Calixta plays an active role rather than a submissive one.

    Read More

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

    1085 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mrs. Mallard?s freedom did not last but a few moments. Her reaction to the news of the death of her husband was not the way most people would have reacted. We do not know much about Mr. And Mrs. Mallards relationship. We gather from the text that her freedom must have been limited in some way for her to be feeling this way. Years ago women were expected to act a certain way and not to deviate from that. Mrs. Mallard could have been very young when she and Brently were married. She may not have had the opportunity to see the world through a liberated woman?s eyes and she thought now was her chance.

    Read More

  • The Story of an Hour and The Hand

    1153 Words  | 3 Pages

    The “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin and ‘”The Hand” by Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette are similar in theme and setting. Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette and Kate Chopin create the theme of obligatory love and the unhappiness it entails. Both stories illustrate the concealed emotions many women feel in their marriage yet fail to express them. The two stories take place in a sacred room of the house and both transpire in a brief amount of time. The differences between the two stories are seen through the author’s choice of characters in each story. In “The story of an Hour” Kate Chopin involves other characters in Mrs. Mallard’s life, whereas, “The Hand” deals with marriage and togetherness and only involves the husband and wife. Symbolism is seen all throughout “The Hand” not so in ‘The Story of an Hour.” The similarities in “The Story of an Hour” and “The Hand” is portrayed in theme and setting. The differences are illustrated in the choice of characters involved in each story and the amount of symbolism depicted in the different stories.

    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

    All in all, Kate Chopin is able to combine two very different aspects of life and involve the relationship and symbolism of the storm to physical needs, sexual desires, and new and profound joy. By bringing these two parallel subjects together, the author is able to show the deeper meaning of one simple word, “storm,” and reveal a story that shows the attitudes and beliefs towards marriage and sex. In doing so, Chopin creates a strong point of view between these two subjects and allows for the view of regulations of sex and marriage to be shown throughout her short story, “The Storm.”

    Read More

  • Symbolism of “The Storm"

    1527 Words  | 4 Pages

    Kate Chopin wrote the short story “The Storm” one of her most bold stories and did not even intention to publish it (Cutter 191). The two main characters in the story are Calixta and Alcee. They both used to be attracted to one another in previous years, but now they are both married to someone else. After Alcee arrives to Calixta’s house looking for shelter they are driven into a passionate moment. In the story “The Storm” the storm has a significant meaning; without it the affair of Calixta and Alcee performed would not have been as powerful as it was between them. “The Storm” has a great deal of symbolism throughout the story: the clouds, the use of color white, the storm relative to the affair, the after effects of the affair, Calixta, Bibi the son, and the husband Bobinot.

    Read More

  • Conflicts in "The Storm"

    804 Words  | 2 Pages

    Finally, Kate Chopin’s “The Storm” is a story with a variety of conflict. The conflict of Bobinot against Calixtra shown that conflict can be about relational problems, such as one person worrying over another or failing in their duties. Alcee’s conflict with Calixtra has shown a different side of relational problems, both of them not wanting their partners to find out of their actions, and their guilt in having committed the acts. The final conflict of the story, Alcee against Clarisse, shows that deceit can be another source of conflict, shown when Alcee sent a misleading letter to Clarisse. In conclusion, this story shows that conflict can occur, even when there is no physical confrontation.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Storm By Kate Chopin

    1082 Words  | 3 Pages

    Calixta and Alce, the two main characters in the short story “The Storm” by Kate Chopin, are sexual, mature, and knowing adults. By having them discover amazing sex outside their marriages, they return to their own marriages renewed. Chopin openly condones adultery due to the fact that the characters are not punished and in the end “everyone was happy” (paragraph 40) . A common theme of fresh sexuality and desire is seen in this story though symbols and other literary elements. Kate Chopin is an American author that wrote short stories and novels in the 20th century.

    Read More

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

    1113 Words  | 3 Pages

    Storytelling has been a common pastime for centuries. Over the years it has evolved into different styles containing different themes. Kate Chopin, a well-known author of the 20th century, wrote stories about the secrets in women’s lives that no one dared to speak of. Her work was not always appreciated and even considered scandalous, but it opened up a world that others were too afraid to touch. In Chopin’s story “The Storm,” a woman has an affair that causes an unlikely effect. The story’s two themes are portrayed greatly through an abundance of imagery and symbolism, along with the two main characters themselves.

    Read More

  • Criticism of The Storm by Kate Chopin

    651 Words  | 2 Pages

    She lambasted society for its perpetual close-mindedness in a time when righteousness was considered to be an attribute, and she helped to generate more enlightened attitudes among both the women and men of her time. In The Storm, the character of Calixta is unable to fulfill society's standards of virtue, despite her perceived purity by her lover Alcee. When Alcee professes, "If she was not an immaculate dove in those days, she was still inviolate" (p. 34), he is basically saying that just because a woman is not chaste, does not mean she is not pure of heart. After all, it was Calixta's marriage which had stripped her of her chastity status.

    Read More

  • Story Of An Hour Analysis Essay

    651 Words  | 2 Pages

    Most women in Mrs Mallard’s situation were expected to be upset at the news of her husbands death, and they would worry more about her heart trouble, since the news could worsen her condition. However, her reaction is very different. At first she gets emotional and cries in front of her sister and her husbands friend, Richard. A little after, Mrs. Mallard finally sees an opportunity of freedom from her husbands death. She is crying in her bedroom, but then she starts to think of the freedom that she now has in her hands. “When she abandoned herse...

    Read More

  • Story Of An Hour Oppression Analysis

    1156 Words  | 3 Pages

    “There is no perfect relationship. The idea that there is gets us into so much trouble.”-Maggie Reyes. Kate Chopin reacts to this certain idea that relationships in a marriage during the late 1800’s were a prison for women. Through the main protagonist of her story, Mrs. Mallard, the audience clearly exemplifies with what feelings she had during the process of her husbands assumed death. Chopin demonstrates in “The Story of an Hour” the oppression that women faced in marriage through the understandings of: forbidden joy of independence, the inherent burdens of marriage between men and women and how these two points help the audience to further understand the norms of this time.

    Read More

  • Three Readers Response to The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin

    1192 Words  | 3 Pages

    The first reader has a guided perspective of the text that one would expect from a person who has never studied the short story; however the reader makes some valid points which enhance what is thought to be a guided knowledge of the text. The author describes Mrs. Mallard as a woman who seems to be the "victim" of an overbearing but occasionally loving husband. Being told of her husband's death, "She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance." (This shows that she is not totally locked into marriage as most women in her time). Although "she had loved him--sometimes," she automatically does not want to accept, blindly, the situation of being controlled by her husband. The reader identified Mrs. Mallard as not being a "one-dimensional, clone-like woman having a predictable, adequate emotional response for every life condition." In fact the reader believed that Mrs. Mallard had the exact opposite response to the death her husband because finally, she recognizes the freedom she has desired for a long time and it overcomes her sorrow. "Free! Body and soul free! She kept whispering." We can see that the reader got this idea form this particular phrase in the story because it illuminates the idea of her sorrow tuning to happiness.

    Read More

More about Deception in "The Storm" and "The Story of an Hour"

Open Document