Examples Of Irony In The Storm By Kate Chopin

Irony in “The Storm”
The Storm by Kate Chopin is a dramatic story that contains dramatic, situational, and verbal irony about the mother and father during the storm they encounter. The story starts off with Calixta the other alone at her house while her husband Bobinot and son Bibi are at a local store. Then out of nowhere a storm approaches and everyone is worried about each other. They did not know what storm was really approaching. The first irony that Kate uses in her story is verbal. The irony comes from Bib, the son, saying “mama’ll be ‘fraid, yes”(88) and Bobinot responding with “She’ll shut the house”(88). It Implies that the character should be fine and nothing will happen. Women were typically supposed to stay home all the time, Kate has this interaction between the characters to say that Calixta isn’t afraid of the storm because she’ll be safe in the house because the doors are shut, but the truth which the reader later finds out is that storm did enter the house but it was her past lover. The second form of irony is dramatic.

When Bibi and Bobinot stop at the door before entering the house, “stopped without at the cistern to make themselves presentable (90)”. He thinks it’s the least he could do because he was not there during the storm but the ironic thing is that he cares about what the son looks like, but the person who’s truly filthy is Calixta after the affair she just took part in with Alcee while Bobinot was gone. Bobinot also brings her a can of shrimp. “I bought you some shrimp Calixta” (90). He brings them as a sorry gift for not being there during the terrible storm. She wasn’t worried at all about them because she was doing other activities that was unheard of during that time. Alcee then writes a letter to his wife, “It was a loving letter full of tender solicitude” (90). She then writes back saying she will stay another month, implying to the reader, she too is enjoying her time over