The actual storm that occurs serves as an ambiguous metaphor for the affair between Calixta and Alcee. The fury of the thunderstorm builds as their desire for one another does, and it ends just as suddenly as it began when their moment of infidelity is over. The first sentence of the story says, “The leaves were so still that even Bibi thought it was going to rain” (342). This is describing the moment of the calm before the storm. It is also describing Calixta and Alcee’s marriages. The stillness of the leaves symbolizes their feelings of entrapment and inability to move forward. There is a tension building, and it so strong that even a child like Bibi can feel it. This tension is hinted at again when Calixta says, “If this [rain] keeps up, …show more content…
Dieu sait if the levees goin’ to stan’ it” (343). Like the literal strain the excess rain water is putting on the levees, Calixta and Alcee’s desire for one another is straining against their will. There is the feeling that something will eventually have to break, and it does. The storm itself also brings about a sense of inevitability.
The releasing of their sexual desires is just as unavoidable as an oncoming rainstorm. Therefore, it is best to just accept that it is happening and deal with the consequences afterward, whether they are good or bad. In this case, the text argues that the passing of this particular storm is a good thing because everyone is happier in the end. Calixta and Alcee are pleased to have had their needs fulfilled and their families mirror their pleasure even though they are oblivious as to why it has occurred. The important thing is that things have changed for the better and how it happened is not to be thought …show more content…
about. In "The Storm", Kate Chopin attempts to unveil an unhappy marriage between the characters Calixta and her husband, Bobinot. As the story begins, Bobinot and their son, Bibi, are at the store when a storm approaches. They chose to await the storm's passing by staying in the shelter of the store. At this same time, Calixta is at home occupied when the storm arrives. When she goes onto the lawn, she is approached by Alcee, who turns out to be an old lover from her past. There is an instant connection between the two and lustful thoughts begin to ensue. As she gets upset about Bibi being away from her during the weather, Alcee begins to comfort her. They soon reminisce about a time they spent in Assumption together. This conversation soon leads to them sleeping together. Afterwards, Calixta began supper while Bobinot and Bibi traveled home. Alcee wrote his wife that night explaining that he was getting along fine without them and their happiness was his first concern. His wife Clarisse received his letter and admitted that she too could forego their relationship for awhile. Chopin addresses the aspects of their unhappy marriage by focusing on Calixta and her personal sexual desires. It appears that Bobinot pays little attention to her needs and desires; therefore; she pursues them with Alcee as he seems to be in tune with her urge to explore her sexual side. Bobinot is depicted as a husband without little authority or dominance with his family. Calixta seems to be seeking a man that possesses these characteristics, which is why she falls so easily for Alcee. From the instant Alcee and Calixta interact we read that "his voice and her own startled her as if from a trance". Chopin's choice of wording here suggests that Calixta was taken over by Alcee's presence. With so many desires and feelings she wants to explore, Calixta is easily convinced to commit adultery with Alcee. She gave herself up openly and affixed herself to the passion between them. I think in this moment Calixta feels more needed and desired by a man since she last encountered Alcee in Assumption. The dialect Chopin selects to depict the story is that of a realistic nature. It is told in third person point of view allowing the reader to understand the thoughts of the narrator as well as what the other characters were thinking. Chopin's ability to create descriptive images through her wording aid in the reader's understanding of what Calixta is feeling and how the interaction with Alcee satisfied her inner urges. That marriage might be an unnatural, forced arrangement is apparent in the final three sections of "The Storm" in which Alcée and Calixta interact with their spouses following the affair.
Calixta interacts with Bobinot without shame and there is no obvious interruption in their familial happiness. Indeed, Bobinot and Bibi are happily surprised by Calixta's pleasant demeanor. Perhaps, then, lifelong monogamous sexual relationships are not necessarily the recipe for happiness between partners in relationships. This is also apparent in the letters between Alcée and his wife Clarisse. Alcée encourages Clarisse to stay away, and Clarisse is more than happy to do so. Chopin writes of Clarisse that "the first free breath since her marriage seemed to restore the pleasant liberty of her maiden days. Devoted as she was to her husband, their intimate conjugal life was something which she was more than willing to forego for a while" (286). Freedom and happiness lie, for Clarisse, in escape from marriage. The intensity and expectations of a marital relationship seem to oppress her, for she even breathes more easily away from her husband. Certainly, she cares for her husband, but Chopin is not suggesting that romantic relationships between men and women be entirely abandoned. Rather, she is calling for the rethinking or even abandonment of an institution that has traditionally cultivated patriarchal notions of gender roles, denied women their sexuality, and oppressed
them. Sandra M. Gilbert calls "The Storm" "so revolutionary in its implications that its author never attempted to publish it in her lifetime" (17). The ideas Chopin expresses in this story would certainly have seemed outrageous to her contemporary society and would have been grounds for an almost universal condemnation of Chopin and her work. She daringly celebrates female sexuality and uses this celebration as a feminist assertion about women's equal potentialities and rights to express themselves and experience pleasure. That "everyone was happy" when the storm passed suggests that revolutionizing traditional concepts of gender and marriage will change everyone's, especially women's, lives for the better.
According to Seyersted, “its ‘daring’ its ‘happy’ and ‘healthy’ treatment of sex … sex is a force as strong, inevitable, and natural as the Louisiana storm which ignites it.” Seyersted states that sex is powerful and it takes a lot of strength and braveness to do it. Calixta was not for a moment regretting the fact of having sex with Alcee. On the contrary, she was happy to do it. Seyersted also describes the goodness of sex by saying, “Kate Chopin was not interested in the immoral in itself, but in life as it comes, in what she saw as natural–or certainly inevitable–expressions of universal Eros, inside or outside of marriage. She focuses here on sexuality as such, and to her, it is neither frantic nor base, but as ‘healthy’ and beautiful as life itself.” Seyersted describes the point of view for Kate Chopin and how she viewed sex in her perspective. Chopin states that happiness to Calixta comes from
In the story "The Storm," Kate Chopin uses imagery throughout as a powerful instrument to convey the new sexual feelings that Calixta and Alcee are experiencing. In this story, words such as "thrust beneath the crack," and "her lips were as red and moist as pomegranate seed" are very good uses of imagery to show the sexuality of the characters. Throughout the story the description of the beauty of Calixta is repeated. At the beginning of the story Calixta is shown to be a caring wife and mother and there is no anger shown toward her husband. For example, she "hastened out to get them before the rain fell," she picked up Bobinot's Sunday clothes before the rain fell. If she was angry with Bobinot she would have left the clothes outside(147). Single words and phrases are very important when looking at the situation. The word "hastened" shows that she cared about her husband. If the word in that sentence was not "hastened," but "went," it would change the whole meaning of the sentence&emdash;"she went out to get them before the rain fell" does not indicate that she cared whether the clothes got wet or not.
...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.
In Kate Chopin’s story “The Storm” it talks about love and lust. It speaks of two kind of storm that occurs. These two storms I find to be the central part of the story, and is being represented as a symbol within the story. The first storm is the most obvious one that Bibi and Bobinot are faced with. The second storm isn’t that visible for it involves Calixta and Alcee. Just as like most storms they come and pass.
The subject of adultery was first introduced soon after Alcee asked Calixta if he may take refuge from the approaching storm within her house. That was also the first point when the author lets us know that Calixta “may” still have feelings for Alcee. This was shown clearly in the story when it says, “ His voice and her own startled her as if from a trance…” Immediately after this the description of the setting changed from a outdoor relax feel to an indoor tense feel. This also lead to the feelings of both characters towards each other, which was shown when the room was described, “ The door stood open, and the room with its white, monumental bed, its closed shutters, looked dim and mysterious.”
Chopin gives off the impression that she is in favor of Calixta’s decision to actively engage in an affair. Chopin tackles the theme of female sexuality present at the time by allowing Calixta to crave sexual enjoyment with Alceé. In the 1800’s, like all women of her period Calixta grew unaware of her desires as a direct result of society. During that time women never acted upon their desires but rather played a submissive role in a sexual encounter omitting their needs to succumb to their male counterparts. Chopin identifies Calixtas’s ardent personality when she says: “she felt very warm and on her face perspiration gathered in beads” and “she unfastened her white sacque at the throat”(122). In this scene Calixta shows her devotion for sewing. Chopin parades Calixta as a very fervent woman who is eager to love and be loved when she says: “The generous abundance of her passion, without guile or trickery, was like a white flame which penetrated and found response in depths of his own sensuous nature that had never been reached” (123). In this excerpt Chopin alludes to the nature of their passion and the vigorous interaction that came with
'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.
This story focuses on the extra-marital affair a housewife named Calixta has while her husband and son are away due to a storm. Although we learn that Calixta has an affair we also know that she doesn’t completely defy the Cult of Domesticity. From the story we get the idea that she remained pure until she married her husband and as Chopin tells us in page 689 “She had not seen him very often since her marriage, and never alone,” this line suggest that even if she saw her past lover around she would not speak to him because neither of them were ever alone and they both didn’t want to disrespect their marriages. In addition Calixta seems to be a very good housewife and mother. She appears to be always tending her home. In page 689 we learn that “[sitting} at a side window sewing furiously on a sewing machine. [Calixta] was greatly occupied and did not notice the approaching storm.” She is so focused on her chores that she didn’t even notice a storm. For Calixta sewing and doing chores around the house is what is normal. She has assumed a role as a married woman and mother and she is fulfilling it. Before the affair you can say that by societies expectations she was a true woman, she kept her virginity until marriage, she makes sure her house chores are done, and she takes care of her family. Even after the affair she acts as if nothing has
Calixta makes it apparent that she needs more from her husband and if he is not going to give her what she needs, she will find it in another man. The story depicts that Bobinôt did not give his wife the attention she needed when Bibi asked, “Mama’ll be ’fraid, yes” and Bobinôt responded by saying, “She’ll shut the house. Maybe she got Sylvie helpin’ her this evenin’” but Bibi corrects him by saying, “No. She ent got Sylvie.
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.
Many short story writers have written about the gender and role of woman in society. Some of these stories express what Barbara Walter calls, “The Cult of True Womanhood” meaning the separation of both man and woman in social, political and economic spheres. In order to be considered a “true woman” woman were to abide by the set of standards that were given to her. Women were expected to live by the four main principal virtues - piety, purity, submissiveness, and domestication. In Kate Chopin’s short story, “The Storm,” Calixta the main female character breaks away from “The Cult of True Womanhood” when she has a sexual encounter with her past lover Alcée. The storm goes through many twists and turns that tie with their adulterous actions. Although she breaks away from the four main principal virtues, she in the end is considered to be pure innocent of heart because the action in which occurred happened instantly, and as white as she was, she was taken away from her innocence.
... 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.
...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.
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.
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.