The Storm by Kate Chopin
"The Storm" is a story that was written in 1898 by Kate Chopin. This short story focuses on two different places with the background atmosphere of a dynamic thunderstorm. A father and son, Bobinot and Bibi, encounter the storm while shopping at Friedheimer's store. Calixta, the wife and mother, is at home during the storm. Alcee, Calixta's friend, stays with her until the storm passes. In Kate Chopin's "The Storm" the description of weather, place and time help create a significant setting.
First, in the exposition, weather plays a very important role in the plot development this story. The plot revolves around a thunderstorm that takes place throughout the story. The storm is fierce and powerful as it "shook the wooden store and seemed to be ripping great furrows in the distant field." Descriptions of incessant lightning and depictions of bolts striking a chinaberry tree near Calixta's house give the setting a dangerous quality. Calixta becomes frightened and worries that the house will be struck by lightning. A dramatic situation results when Alcee tries to comfort and reassure Calixta that Bobinot and Bibi are safe at the store and she is safe from the storm's fury.
Secondly, two main places make up the setting in "The Storm." Friedheimer's store, where Bobinot and Bibi ride out the storm, is only briefly described. The store was made of wood and the reader gives an illusion of ordinary surroundings. Bobinot and Bibi sat on empty wooden kegs while they wait for the storm to pass. The house, in which Calixta and Alcee wait out the storm is in the country. Examples such as these give a mundane portrayal to the setting. The characters' names are of French origin, indicating that and the story takes place in Louisiana. Calixa and Alcee give the reader more clues on location when they mention Assumption, a parish near New Orleans. The descriptions of "far-off cabins and distant wood" create a feeling of loneliness and isolation. The house has a front gallery where Bobinot's Sunday clothes are hanging. While referring to all the other rooms in the house, the bedroom is described in detail. The bedroom door is open directing the focus toward the "white monumental bed, its closed shutters, looked dim and mysterious." This graphic description of the bedroom foreshadows the encounter between Calixta and Alcee.
Lastly, the time of day in "The Storm" is set in the evening.
...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.
'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.
A storm can represent and symbolize many different meanings. The impact of the word can be brought about in many different views and aspects that arrange themselves to create and portray detailed information and great definition to the subject of the short story as a whole. By using the storm as a symbol, it gives way to a passage that will encounter the relationship and parallel aspect of both the fervent thunder that occurs and the sexual passion that is encountered throughout the story. Kate Chopin opens up an interesting view and tentative explanation of human sexuality and the strong point of view of regulations placed on human sexuality as well as the aspect of trying to control a storm. By tying up these two ideas with one word, Kate Chopin was able to provide a view that would symbolize the premise of desires through variations of 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...
The first thing I noticed about Kate Chopin’s “The Storm,” is that it is utterly dripping with sexual imagery and symbolism. Our heroine, if you will, seems to be a woman with normally restrained passions and a well-defined sense of propriety, who finds herself in a situation that tears down her restraint and reveals the vixen within. I wonder if it was intentional that the name Calixta makes me think of Calypso – the nymph from Greek mythology. If half of the sexual symbolism I found in this story was intentional, Chopin was a genius. I was quite taken with the sexual imagery of the colors mentioned: white, and red. There is also mention a place called Assumption, while there’s nothing written on it in the bible, I believe it’s the popular opinion of those of Christian faiths, that Mary (Jesus’ mother) going to heaven was called “The Assumption.” Again, I cannot accept that as merely a happy coincidence, I believe its mention in the story was intentional. Finally, we have the storm, so central to the theme of the story that it was named for it. In this work, as well as others by Chopin, there is a recurring theme of infidelity, or women behaving in ways that society generally doesn’t accept, women behaving badly, if you will, I cannot help but wonder if Kate Chopin used her writing to express desires that she would not otherwise have expressed.
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.
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 Kate Chopin’s “The Storm”, she offers an intoxicating account of two souls awakened by a storm. The story was composed on July 19, 1898. At this time in history women were considered objects, their sole purpose in life was to serve their husbands. In addition, social stratification was an important aspect of society that determined who they married. Calixta’s marriage could have been a product of an arrangement, making it of unnatural origin. Chopin points out singular characteristics of the storm to shed light on the uncommon strength of a marriage when it is not determined by social norms. Consequently, Chopin brings Calixta and Alceé together to embellish their passion, in which Calixta plays an active role rather than a submissive one.
On the other hand, poor weather in the novel was used to foreshadow negative events or moods. In the opening of the novel, when Jane was living in Gateshead, she was reading while an unpleasant visit of John Reed was foreshadowed: “After it offered a pale blank of mist and cloud: hear, a scene of wet lawn and storm-beat shrub” (2).
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.
“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.
Naturalism is about bringing humans into the “natural world”. We, as humans, are seen as aspects of nature collectively not separate like they once were. “Naturalism holds that everything we are and do is connected to the rest of the world and derived from conditions that precede us and surround us. Each of us is an unfolding natural process, and every aspect of that process is caused, and is a cause itself ” (“A Guide for Naturalism”). Humans are like “animals” they contain the same drives that animals have. They are just plain “natural”. Many authors express naturalism in their writings such as Kate Chopin. She expresses a naturalistic view on sexual drives which classify her as a naturalistic writer.
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.
Chopin, Kate. "The Storm" .The Complete Works of Kate Chopin. Louisiana State University Press. 1969. Print.
Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour is a brilliant short story of irony and emotion. The story demonstrates conflicts that take us through the character’s emotions as she finds out about the death of her husband. Without the well written series of conflicts and events this story, the reader would not understand the depth of Mrs. Mallard’s inner conflict and the resolution at the end of the story. The conflict allows us to follow the emotions and unfold the irony of the situation in “The Story of an Hour.”