The short story “The Storm,” is about a woman who attempts to conform to society’s norm of marriage, but discovers a different way to satisfy her sexual needs which in the end results in happiness and fulfillment. Chopin brilliantly revolves the story around a storm, hence the title. Literally, a storm means a disturbance of the normal condition of the atmosphere, manifested by an unusual force, which is exactly what she depicts throughout the story with the affair between Calixta and Alcee.…
In any marriage, it is important for the wife to feel secured, loved, and to receive sexual gratification to maintain a strong commitment to her husband. Unfortunately, in Kate Chopin's "The Storm," Calixta does not receive all of these things from her husband Bobinot. Calixta's husband Bobinot lacks a sense of power and control in their marriage and also leaves her feeling sexually frustrated. Calixta's encounter with Alcee Laballiere also reminds her of her dull marriage and the passion her and Alcee has once shared. Because of the unfulfillment of her marriage to Bobinot, Calixta is driven to commit adultery with Alcee.…
The question was asked during class whether it would be accepted the other way around, and many of the guys said no. This is a perfect example of a double standard. Many men believe it is acceptable for men to do something wrong rather than the woman. In the story, I believe this was one of the many ways Chopin was trying to get her point across when it came to the women’s rights movement. Chopin was a strong supporter of women’s rights, and double standards played a big role during that time, especially sexually. It goes way back to the Salem witch trials with adultery. Women are always found especially wrong when committing adultery, infidelity, or any other sexually wrong act. In her story, when Calixta performs infidelity with Alcee, you see no regret or remorse during or after the deed. This was sure to spark debate during the women’s rights movement, and exampled within our class the perfect example of a double…
Immoral. Sensual. Daring. These words reverberated into a woman’s world while society forcibly stamped their disapproval and rejected the Kate Chopin outright. Unconventional, intelligent, and gracious, she matched society with her quick Irish wit and charmed anyone who knew her. Not satisfied with the women’s role in society, she provocatively stirred emotions, thoughts, and ideas in her writings. Two such classic examples are “The Storm” and The Awakening. The idea for a woman to have sexual desires, human connections, and forthright adultery shocked and revolted the society she lived. This unconventional, innovative poet did not deter away her own personal thoughts and feelings from her judgmental peers. She relied on and stayed…
It’s almost as if we can see Calixta in our minds from reading this passage (17). Chopin’s main female roles in “The Storm” and “Desiree’s Baby” share their love for their children and their love for someone they care for, but Calixta does not seem to care for her husband while Desiree is very devoted to her spouse.…
The setting of the house during the storm develops an environment of solitude without guilt normally caused by social norms. The removal of social norms and the complete isolation of the setting allow Calixta to fully express her sexuality. Since “the rain was coming down in sheets and obscuring the view of far-off cabins,” Calixta and Alcee were completely isolated from the rest of society(Chopin). The setting during the storm “is remarkable...for the freedom it asserts in the face of the suffocating conventionality of the 1890’s”(Bender 158). The momentary setting with the storm creates a world within the world where no restrictions exist and where Calixta is free to express her sexuality. The intensity of this setting does not scare Calixta. The purpose of the setting is to show a contrast between surroundings with restrictive norms versus the absence of these norms. Ultimately the house during the storm gives Calixta freedom of expression. A similar situation occurs in Wing Biddlebaum’s life as a…
In Kate Chopin’s “The Storm,” both the plot and the setting of the story help support each other. Chopin was gifted in her use of the setting to strengthen the plot symbolically; in doing so she created a powerful atmosphere. The atmosphere created by Chopin’s style of writing gave “The Strom” a sense of excitement that raised the temperature of the reader’s blood and kept them turning the page for more.…
Boninot and Bibi come back home and Calixta acts like nothing had happened. “The Storm”…
Chopin 's essay begins with Calixta 's better-half and husband Boinot and there four-year-old son Bibi, away at a local grocery store retrieving a few items. Noticing a few somber clouds filed with a tempest intention, Boinot and Bibi are strained to stay out of the rain and insist on taking cover at the grocery store. This storm is ultimately the cause and reason for Calixta 's infidelity. The storm is Calixta 's way to keep husband and son away while she is secretly having an affair. There 's no way on earth that Calixta could have planed any of this out. It just so happened, that everything fell right into place. Even Sylvie, Calixta 's maid and helper happen to be away while the affair was going on.…
The character Calixta is bound by the conventions of society, and is afraid to pursue Alcee, the man she loves. It is unacceptable in the society of her day for a woman to pursue a man, and so Calixta loses Alcee to Clarisse who behaves unconventionally and declares her love to Alcee. Calixta must settle for Bobinot who is in love with her. Besides showing how the reality of society's conventions affects the lives of the characters, the story also explores another reality. At the end Chopin writes that Alcee has forgotten Calixta whom he whispered words of love to at the ball. She is like a myth, and Clarisse who is in front of him becomes the only one who is real to him. This is a reflection on the impact of actual reality, physical presence, as opposed to memory, or fantasy. Alcee ends up with Clarisse, not because he does not love Calixta, but because Clarisse is real, in front of him and declaring her…
Alcee ask him if he can come in the house for shelter till the storm passes. While the storm is passing Alcee and Calixta begin to have having feelings for each other and had sex. After the storm passes Alcee leaves the house with a smile, and then her husband and his son Bibi came back home thinking that Calixta will be mad since they are filled with mud but she didn’t care because she was just filled with joy to see them again. There are two types of storms happening in the story, the first storm is describe as dark cloud, winds, rain, and lighting, and then there is the other storm that we can’t see which is the storm of passion, pleasure, and love.…
In public she showed no passion. She was a normal woman. In private she was full of passion and expressed her feelings in a way that would be seen as wrong if publicly known. This shows the theme of Public versus private life in the novella. "…
In the 1980’s, women had distinctive roles in society, especially within their marriage. One contrast of gender roles within a marriage at that time was that men cheated and women were supposed to be ignorant to the cheating or accept it as though it were a fact of life. Calixta and Bobinot’s distinctive roles within their marriage seemed to be switched. As the storm was building, Calixta “felt no uneasiness” (81) about Bobinot and Bibi’s return from the store even though there was a storm coming. One perceives this as representing men’s attitude about their family when they were away from their family. Men had no desire to be reminded of the family that they were away from. Contrastingly, Bobinot and Bibi are concerned about Calixta and how she is going to fair during the storm. Bobinot “sat stolidly” (81) thinking about Calixta while waiting for the storm to pass. Chopin’s use of diction highlights the idea that women were considered thoughtless and stupid individuals. Also, once the storm was over, Bobinot “was the embodiment of serious solicitude” (83) because he was nervous about what the “over-scrupulous” (83) Calixta would say. This illustrates an expectation of perfection that was placed on women no matter the circumstances. Once Calixta seemed to be more concerned with their arrival than their appearance, Bobinot and Bibi were able to “relax and enjoy themselves” (84). Many could…
Kate Chopin's "The Storm" and John Steinbeck's "The Chrysanthemums" are both stories portraying feminine sexuality and passion. Calixta and Elisa experience lust for men to whom they are not married to. Elisa seems to have a functional relationship with her husband Henry. She seems content with tending to the prized Chrysanthemums in her garden, while her husband tends to all the financial affairs. The observation that they have no children hints to the conclusion that obviously something is lacking in the sexual department of their relationship. Elisa seems to have unfulfilled sexual desires, hence her attraction to the tinker. As she speaks to him about the stars at night, her description is almost pornographic. "Every pointed star gets driven into your body." "Hot and sharp and- lovely." As she kneels before him in the garden, her hand extends out to touch his pants leg but she holds back, and it is as if she craves to touch a man. Elisa's husband does not seem to give her the attention she wants, which becomes blatantly obvious as she gets utterly excited when the tinker inquires about the Chrysanthemums in her garden. Eliza and Calixta both have that feeling where they feel unwanted and bored, making them lose control, like Calixta did when she slept with Alcee, while Eliza only fantasized. These stories portray love in many ways, including the way Bobinot buying Calixta a can of shrimps, and Calixta, after meeting up with Alcee, and then later not feeling any guilt or regret afterwards, and even Eliza; how she was fondled when she saw the tinker come along. When it comes to human emotion, Eliza and Calixta were obviously not happy in their marriage, making them do what they do, but in a way we can always see that nature has a part in this too, because if the relationship is not happy, then where does the love go.…
In Kate Chopin's “The Storm” we are presented with a story about an affair. This act of adultery took place between two individuals whom had already been involved romantically in the past. Calixta and Alcee, both who are presently married, were reunited and forced together after many years by the titular storm. Whilst Calixta is at home with her old fling Alcee, her husband Bobinot and son Bibi are out in the storm, and not knowing their whereabouts is making Calixta very worried; putting her in a vulnerable place. Alcee attempting to comfort her brings up old memories, memories that rekindled a suppressed passion from their youth. In the story, Alcee mentions that he was always unable to follow through with his desires for Calixta in the past, but now it was different. They engaged in sex, shortly after the storm ends and they both go on about their day. Everything is normal and unchanged when Bobinot and Bibi return home, the actions that Calixta committed didn’t weight heavily in her conscious.…