Kate Chopin The Storm

Kate Chopin is a magnificent writer who has the expertise to weave the setting of her short story, “The Storm”, in order to convey the theme. Because the theme of this story was considered so perverse and unorthodox during the time that it was written, it was published in the later year, 1960, instead of 1898. It can be said that Chopin was well ahead of her time. She often pushed the limits of sexual affairs, and she frequently questioned society’s limitations on women. Most of her female protagonists struggle under the repression of an unwanted marriage or a husband who is too restrictive. Her story, “The Storm”, was no exception. Per Seyersted, a Chopin biographer, wrote that the theme in this story is “sex is a force as strong, inevitable,
This storm represents two things. The storm’s literal denotation is conveyed as it keeps Bobinot and his son in town until the storm is over; furthermore, it places Alcee inside the house with Calixta. Also, it alludes to a figurative meaning. The storm is just a gigantic metaphor that represents the passion between Calixta and Alcée. By linking the two, Chopin indicates that the lovers’ feelings are natural and therefore not subject to moral scorn. She reinforces this idea by continuing to draw imagery from nature. For example, she wrote,”Her lips were as red and moist as pomegranate seed.” (Chopin, “The Storm") She further compares them to nature by writing, ”Her firm, elastic flesh that was knowing for the first time its birthright, was like a creamy lily that the sun invites to contribute its breath and perfume to the undying life of the world” (Chopin, "The Storm."). This illustrates that Chopin believed that sex positively correlated with nature, as both were inevitable. However, the storm’s symbolization goes even deeper than
A storm has its brooding arrival, powerful climax, and a peaceful resolution, and so does Alcee’s and Calixta’s affair. He is like the sun and she is a “white flame” (Chopin, "The Storm."). Also, “She cushions but also clasps him, being both active and passive” (Chopin, "The Storm."). Then, “His heart beats “like a hammer upon her” while she “strokes his shoulders” (Chopin,). Finally, they “swoon together at the very borderland of life’s mystery.” This forbidden union could not have been stopped, as it erupted from buried passions. Like a storm, it was a moment of powerful desires that was over in a brief instant. Additionally, the affair provided them a release of those passions, so now they both can relinquish all negative emotions they held against their family. 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 about; the same way a storm rampages in, but leaves behind a new