Passionate Storms Kate Chopin’s “The Storm”, is a story filled with metaphorical references between a thunderstorm of rain and a thunderstorm of passion. Calixta, Bobinot, and Bibi led, what one would assume to be, a rather normal life. While Bobinot and Bibi are in town shopping they notice a storm approaching, and “Bobinot, who was accustomed to converse on terms of perfect equality with his little son, called the child’s attention to certain sombre clouds that were rolling with sinister intention from the west, accompanied by a sullen, threatening roar.” However, a moment a Mother Nature’s fury unleashed a wealth of passion between Calixta and her former beau Alcee Laballiere. Calixta was at home sewing while Bobinot and Bibi were at Friedheimer’s store, and she did not realize that a serious, yet pleasurable, storm was fast approaching. Once she noticed that it was getting darker she quickly set about closing doors and windows. Calixta remembered hanging Bobinot’s Sunday coat on the front gallery and as she was retrieving it Alcee rode up seeking shelter from the storm. “May I come and wait on your gallery till the storm is over, Calixta?” he asked. Although Alcee wished to remain on the gallery, Calixta insisted that he come inside and stay until the storm passed. Although it was dark outside, inside Alcee admired the fact that “she was a revelation in that dim, mysterious chamber; as white as the couch she lay upon.” Calixta realized that “her firm, elastic flesh that was knowing for the first time it’s birthright, was like a creamy lily that the sun invites to contribute its breath and perfume to the underlying life of the world.” “Her mouth,” unlike the torrential rains, “was a fountain of delight.” As though their adulterous tryst were timed with the weather, their forbidden lust filled afternoon was over just as the storm was moving on. Although basking in the after-glow, neither dared to sleep. “The rain was over; and the sun was turning the glistening green world into a palace of gems.” Their passion was as fierce as the crashing torrents of the rain outside and then the after-glow from both being mutually satiated was like the sun coming back out.
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!”
The plot of a woman and a man rekindling a lost romance in the midst of a storm is one with a lot of innuendos. ""The Storm" helps to define the sexual standards and restraints of the late nineteenth century" (Bartee 1). The storm causes Bobinot and Bibi to be stuck in the market and wait out the storm, while the housewife, Calixta, sits alone, so into her housework that she doesn't even notice the storm is brewing. When she finally realizes, she hurries to shut the windows and goes outside to get the laundry before it is blown away in the wind. Then she notices Alcee, and he asks for shelter while the storm passes through. Chopin writes the scene almost in the vain of a steamy romance novel, building up to the climax, which in this story is the "climax". She adds a little tension also, when she writes "The growl of the thunder was distant and passing away. The rain beat softly upon the shingles, inviting them to drowsiness and sleep. But they dared not," (Chopin 33). At this point, Bobinot and Bibi are probably on their way home and just what if Calixta and Alcee did fall asleep on the couch, oh the "storm" that would arise if Bobinot and Bibi saw that sight. They don't fall asleep, and they say their goodbyes, and Bobinot and Bibi come home to a worried Calixta and supper on the table. Everybody is happy and Bobinot has no idea that his wife just cheated on him. Chopin also goes onto resolve that Alcee is married, but is happier when his wife is away, illustrated by the letter that he writes to his wife at the end. "He was getting on nicely; and though he missed them, he was willing to bear the separation a while longer realizing that their health and pleasure were the first things to be considered," (Chopin 123).
'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.
Calixta, scared from the storm, finds herself in Alcee’s arms. “Do you remember-in Assumption, Calixta? he asked...Oh! she remembered; for in Assumption he had kissed her and kissed her and kissed her” (109). As both storms begin to peak, they retreat to her bedroom. “They did not heed the crashing torrents, and the roar of the elements made her laugh as she lay in his arms. Her firm, elastic flesh that was knowing for the first time its birthright, was like a creamy lily” (110).
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 a past together, which he brings up to her later in the story.
Her bedroom was closed but with an “open window” (463), with a roomy armchair she sank into. As she is looking out the window she sees “the tops of trees,” “new spring life,” “breath of rain was in the air,” and she could hear a peddler below in the street, calling to customers, and “patches of blue sky showing” (463). The author depicts in the previous sentence that when she uses “breath of rain was in the air,” rain is more like a cleansing so she could be feeling a sign of relief but can’t recognize it. She sat with her head on the cushion “quite motionless,” except when a sob came in her throat and “shook her,” like a child “continuously sobbing” (463) in its dreams. The author uses imagery in the previous
Throughout history writers have offered readers lessons through themes and often symbolized. In the story, “The Storm” by Kate Chopin is quite different from “The Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid; both have a different theme, symbol, throughout the stories. “The Storm” in Kate Chopin 's story can symbolize a number of different things: temporary, fleeting and quick action, and without consequences.
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).
“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.
“The Storm” was corresponded to each stage of story, and it symbolized the sexual desire of Calixta as she expected the passion from affair. Chopin stated the sky “began to grow dark” (Chopin 111) and then “the big rain drops began to fall” (Chopin 11). Accompanied with the description of the atmosphere, Alcee “went inside, closing door after him.” (Chopin 111) The rising action was that Alcee walked into Calixta’s house to escape the storm and the rain drops began. Alcee maintains his manner and being polite to Calixta at the beginning. Along with “the rain beat upon the low, shingled roof with a force and chatter that threatened to break an entrance and deluge them there” (Chopin111), the setting change to “her bed room” (Chopin 111) which indicated there would be a further development among Alcee and Calixta. The air in the room seemed to become more nervous and odd. Suddenly, “a bolt struck a tall chinaberry tree at the edge
...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.
Chopin's short story, "The Storm," shows the reader some of the controversial issues she wrote about. It was written in 1898 and was one of the last stories that she wrote before Awakening. It tells of the struggles of one woman to find happiness and excitement in her everyday life. The reader really does not get much information on the relationship at the beginning of the story, but one can imagine that it was becoming monotonous and boring. The title itself lets the reader know that this storm is the result of a long chain of events that have built up over time, like a thunderstorm in the middle of the summer comes after many long days of intense heat. In the following paragraphs, I will discuss the events that lead to the apex of the 'storm,' the consequences that follow the decisions that are made, and how this short story could be seen as feministic.
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.
This story is a great and very direct metaphor of inner turmoil in the minds of Calixta and Alcee. The storm, ravaging outside, strikes close to the house, which sends Calixta into his arms, and he offers her a word of comfort, and takes advantage of her vulnerability in that moment.
In “The Storm,” Chopin explores the idea of sexual desire as a human emotion that is not exclusive for males. Even in today’s society, women possessing their bodies and undergo emotions such as sex drive. Calixta’s account in “The Storm,” reveals that passion and sexual experiences are female emotions and they have the choice to utilize their flesh for what it was made for: pleasure. Initially, the story focuses on the hours prior to the storm, where all the characters are anxious for what is yet to come. Calixta, however, is shown to feel “… no uneasiness for her safety” because she knows that sexual desire is normal and once it passes, whether it is satisfied or not, everything turns back to normal (Chopin 81). As the storm approaches, Alce Leballire is introduced, and the passion between the two emanates from the pages of “The Storm.” Calixta explains that sexual awakenings are sporadic, like storms, in the phrase “’ My! What a rain! It had been two years since it rain’ like that,” explaining that, despite sexual needs being a day to day human emotion, the need for a different experience, something strong, with thunders and showers of passion, is also a female sentiment (Chopin 282). Furthermore, another imperative point to highlight is the storm as a gloomy setting and plot device. According to Chopin, the weather obscured “… the view of far-off cabins and distant wood in a gray mist”