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“The Storm” by Kate Chopin setting and plot
“The Storm” by Kate Chopin setting and plot
Introduction to the storm by kate chopin
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In “The Storm,” Kate Chopin criticizes 19th century society’s oppression of women in the institution of marriage through her protagonist, Calixta, rediscovering her sexuality. Chopin illustrates this through the symbolism of the storm itself, the nature-derived imagery surrounding the storm, and the inversion of religious symbols like whiteness.
The last line of the story is, “So the storm passed and everyone was happy,” (153). Everyone is content, even Alcée’s wife Clarisse. For her, as well as Calixta, marriage is confining. However, while Calixta escapes those constraints through an extramarital affair with Alcée, Clarisse does so through forgoing her “intimate conjugal life” (153) with her husband. Calixta will remain with Bobinôt, just
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He decided to “remain there till the storm had passed,” (148) with his son Bibi. Since the storm represents Calixta’s passions, he is avoiding those passions. Immediately after, Calixta was “sewing furiously on a sewing machine,” (148) and did not notice the oncoming storm. Calixta’s ignorance of the oncoming storm and her frustration in performing such mundane tasks suggests that her sexuality is repressed through the constraints of marriage. Then, when Alcée arrived, and Calixta invited him in, she babbled and “nervously began to gather up from the floor the lengths of a cotton sheet which she had been sewing,” (149). By putting away the cotton sheet, she is further distancing herself from a symbol of society’s constraints and her marriage and draws closer to acting upon the increasing sexual tension. Without an object between her and Alcée, her focus shifts towards him. Her nervousness and excited chatter, combined with the rain that was “coming down in sheets obscuring the view of far-off cabins and enveloping the distant wood in a gray mist,” (150) help to illustrate the sexual tension building between Alcée and Calixta. The rain here is in tune with her emotions; the more unsettled Calixta becomes, the stronger the storm
During this time a storm develops leaving them stranded seeking shelter. Alce, the character who appears to be Calixta first love suddenly appears at her house as she is alone seeking shelter from the storm himself. They had not laid eyes on each other since Calixtra was married which from a passage in the text indicated it had been five years at this points “She was a little fuller of figure than five years before” (The Storm, by Kate Chopin). Surprised to see him she invited him in which resulted in the room being filled with feelings and the sensation of flesh they craved for each other. Like the scene in Titanic they drift away making love to each other passionately. At the beginning Calixtra fights to resist the temptation “Bont! She cried, releasing herself from his encircling arms and retreating from the window” (The Storm, by Kate Chopin) but is ultimately overpower by temptation. Calixtra’s moment of awakening comes when Bobint and Bibi returns and she affectionately attends to her husband and effusively kissing her son. In this moment she see what she has, an amazing family. This is a women how just cheated on her husband with a man she has held feelings for but the love for her husband a family unit holds more values, weirdly it took her committing a wrong deed to realize this. Her moment of awakening in the case was positive though
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.
Infidelity and betrayal were prominent problems in Kate Chopins book The Storm that depict real life issues. In this essay I intend to address the point of how detrimental the topic of sex was in Choplins The Storm and compare and contrast it to how it is displayed in James Carr “Dark end of the Street”. These to pieces compare because they are about infidelity and betrayal to a loved one. However, these two pieces also differ in some ways like how the cheater feels after what has been done. Whether it is gratification or regret.
The storm is the major factor of getting Alcee and Calixta back together. If the storm would not have hit, Calixta’s husband and son would have been able to return home, and Alcee would have not had a reason to come by the gallery where Calixta was. Also, while Alcee was waiting on the storm to pass at the gallery, he gave readers reason to believe that the two of them had been lovers before. A line in the story that was said by the narrator was “She had not seen him since her marriage and never alone.”, this symbolizes that Alcee and Calixta have had some type of relationship before the two of them married other people, and she does not trust herself alone with him. When things started to get intimate between the two, Alcee said “Do you remember in Assumption, Calixta?”.
'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
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.”
A storm defined by the Princeton dictionary means "violent weather condition, or a direct and violent assault " Kate Chopin personifies and creates imagery of a dark ominous storm heading from the distance with an ominous presence and dark intentions. “…sombre clouds that were rolling with sinister intention from the west, accompanied by a sullen, threatening roar.” The calm before the storm is all but gone, the storm pressing closer and closer, yet, Calixta is not doing much before the unavoidable storm hits her home. By the use of symbolism Kate Chopin shows that Calixta willingly opens herself up in the beginning of the story. “She unfastened her white sacque at the throat” what can this represent? This poor defenseless woman lets her neck out in the open; just like an antelope in the wild that is tired of ruing from a lion gives up by turning their neck towards their predator and giving up their jugular. Calixta is not deterred by the ideals of the time and decides to take her conventional life out of the norm. Rebecca Long-Kluckner from the Association of Young Journalists and writers, writes the folloing "Kate Chopin wrote in a time period that believed women did not even possess sexual desires, but only behaved pro...
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!”
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.
In “The Storm” a woman by the name of Calixta cheated on her husband while a huge storm held him and their children at a store. Back in the 1800’s it was greatly shunned upon that a woman cheat on a man even if he brought his mistress to galas and events. While Calixta husband, Bobinot, was away her ex-boyfriend found himself on her porch in the storm. As it progresses Calixta and Alcee begin to fall back into their old ways. As the day progresses he “touched her breast and they gave themselves up in a quivering ecstasy” meaning she was cheating on her husband (Chopin). Calixta thinks that she has “triumphed” over her husband by cheating on him, but what she does not realize is that she will always be his lesser. Even when she mentions to Alcee that their affair will not be the last night, she still done not win the battle with her husband. As the storm passes and Alcee leaves, Bobinot comes home with Calixta favorite dinner, shrimp. Even though he has brought home her favorite, he walks through the door and says “We’ll have a feast tonight! Umph-umph” (Chopin). Meaning that Calixta will still be preparing the dinner even though he has bought the shrimp for her. This shows that he still is the most powerful in the story because even when she is on an “ecstasy” high, he can always bring her down because she will always be less than him (Chopin). This is a
“The Storm” by Kate Chopin states that societies should not keep two people who have the potential for consummate love apart even though they may be divided by class because doing so would leave the two people unhappy and unfulfilled. In “The Storm,” the characters Calixta and Bobinot do not seem to be happy and fulfilled in the marriage. This inference can see this if we try to see how they fit in the Love Triangle created by Robert Sternberg which measures if two people have consummate love for each other. Before describing how Calixta and Bobinot do not appear to be happy and fulfilled, it is necessary to explain the Love Triangle. It is necessary to remember the theme of “The Storm” is that people who have consummate love for each other should not be kept apart or else they will be unhappy and unfulfilled.
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).
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.
Criticism of The Storm by Kate Chopin While it has traditionally been men who have attached the "ball and chain" philosophy to marriage, Kate Chopin gave readers a woman’s view of how repressive and confining marriage can be for a woman, both spiritually and sexually. While many of her works incorporated the notion of women as repressed beings ready to erupt into a sexual a hurricane, none were as tempestuous as The Storm. Kate Chopin was a woman whose feminist viewpoints were far ahead of her time, which of course garnered her more than her share of criticism. In a time when women were expected to behave "properly" and sexual desire was considered to be something only experienced by men, Chopin spoke with exceptional openness about human sexuality.