“Is it always a betrayal to talk about your husband with another man? What about girlfriends or astrologists?” (Dormen). In modern society, people’s feelings and desires are limited by rules of law and morality, especially when they relate to marriage and conjugal relationships. In The Storm, Kate Chopin raised a moral issue of adultery between characters of the short novel-Calixta and Alcee. She discussed the questions based on the metaphor of storm and the lack of passion in Calixta and Bobinot’s marriage. Similarly, in A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen scrutinized an issue of a marriage lacking love. He depicted relationships between Nora and Torvald and showed how imperious attitude and misunderstandings ruined conjugal relationships eventually. Both stories are connected by a common problem of secrets that arose from misunderstandings between the spouses. They solved the problem of misunderstanding in different ways, depending on cultural and personal distinctions of the characters. Therefore, the stories ended differently. Chopin concluded that the adulterous act made positive short-term changes in the marriage depicted in The Storm. In contrast, Ibsen ended his play A Doll’s House by stating that lack of understanding and communication led to the marriage collapse.
In her short novel The Storm, Chopin explained how an extramarital affair between Calixta and Alcee became a factor benefiting the marriage. Chopin ended the story with the words, “So the storm passed, and everyone was happy” (123). The story is interesting not only because of the conclusion that infidelity had a beneficial short-term outcome to the family relationships, but also by intricacies that resulted in the happy end. In the middle of the novel, Chopin utiliz...
... middle of paper ...
...pt unrevealed because of her naivety, passionate and pure love to the husband, did not contain any vicious deeds or intentions. However, upon revealing the secret, the true attitude of the couple to each other uncovered and Nora preferred to live alone to life with the husband who called her a criminal and decided to part with her for a formal mistake that saved him love.
Works Cited
Bartee, Johanna. The Storm: More Than Just a Story. Virginia Wesleyan College , n. d. Web. 09 May 2012.
Chopin, Kate. The Storm. Freewebs Com, n.d. Web. 09 May 2012.
Goldman, Emma. The Social Significance of the Modern Drama. Berkeley. Edu, n.d. Web. 09 May 2012.
Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll's House. Ed. Jim Manis. The Pennsylvania State University, 2010. Web. 09 May 2012.
Dormen, Lesley. Secrets and Lies: The Truth About Conjugal Discretion. Hearst Communications. 26 July 2010.
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.
First of all, both women are "victims" of their controlling husbands. Nora and Mrs. Wright are al...
'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.
“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.
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.
The Arabian Nights, translated by Husain Haddawy consist of entertaining tales within a story which acquired centauries to accumulate. Some of the tales regard women as possessions, therefore leaving women to use their sexual femininity to subdue men for means of survival. The story goes on to explain how men and women had forbidden sexual relations with concubines, slaves, and lovers. Some religions and cultures accept infidelity and fornication as part of their normal sexual practices, however, in The Arabian Nights sexual practices come with harsh penalties which generate havoc and disfigurement on humans, impacting their lives and relationships.
Henrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House” is a controversial play focusing on the marriage of Nora and Torvald Helmer. The play is filled with symbols that represent abstract ideas and concepts. These symbols effectively illustrate the inner conflicts that are going on between the characters. Henrik Ibsen’s use of symbolism such as the Christmas tree, the locked mailbox, the Tarantella, Dr. Rank’s calling cards, and the letters allows him to give a powerful portrayal to symbolize aspects of characters and their relationship to each other.
Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll's House. Trans. William Archer. Boston: Walter H. Baker & Co., 1890. Gleeditions. Web. 12 April 2014
Ibsen, Henrik. "A Doll’s House." Perrine's Literature. Forth Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1998. pp. 967-1023
Goldman, Emma. A Doll's House. A Doll's House. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2014. .
Ibsen, Henrik. " A Doll House. " Four Major Plays: Volume 1. New York: New American Library, 1992.
Ibsen, Henrik. "A Doll's House." The Norton Introduction to Literature. 11th ed. N.p.: W. W.
Ibsen writes his play A Doll House to explain the life of a housewife and her struggles with her own actions. Ibsen examines the emptiness in the lives of Nora and Torvald as they lived a dream in a Doll House. Both awaken and realize this emptiness and so now Torvald struggles to make amends as he hopes to get Nora back possibly and then to restore a new happiness in their lives. Ibsen examines this conflict as a rock that breaks the image of this perfect life and reveals all the imperfections in the lives of those around.
Isben, Henrik. "A Doll's House and Other Plays." Google Books. N.p., 1 Jan. 2010. Web. 06 May 2014.
In the short story “The Storm” by Kate Chopin, there are two storms that are actually taking place here. This story is mainly focused on the lost love of old lovers, but there are a lot of hidden meanings in the story told behind the characters and their surroundings and how throughout the story “the storm” is being symbolized. The first storm, which is takes place on the outside with the natural world which is consisted of heavy rain, thundering, and gusts of wind that accompanies it, the second storm which is a storm between two old lovers that rekindle a passionate romance, with the storm raging outside, which leads to adultery for both of the married characters Calixta and Alcee. In this case rekindling the love for one another just made them appreciate and understand their partners even more.