The Storm By Susan Chopin Literary Analysis

Sexual Openness There have been several instances in history where a woman’s societal and personal existence revolved around her relationship with her husband. In “The Storm”, Chopin discusses women’s sexual openness in correlation with their husbands and status in society. By contrasting martial structure, gender roles, and class distinction, Chopin showcases the weight of societal pressures on women during the 19th century. One of the foundations for marital structures is the conflicting ideas of monogamy and polygamy. Calixta represents polygamy while Bobinot represents monogamy. While Calixta slept with Alcee, she felt a “response in the depth of his own sensuous nature that had never yet been reached” (83). One could perceive that Calixta,
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
With the social hierarchy, women’s class distinction was based on their husband’s social standing. One example of the difference between woman’s class distinctions was in their freedom of movement. Whenever Calixta had been around Alcee, she was “never alone” (81). Contrastingly, Clarisse was able to travel without her husband. One could presume that the higher a woman’s husband was within the social hierarchy, the more freedom she could exercise like going to different places without a male escort. Another difference is the number of wifely duties that a woman had to take on by herself. Because Calixta’s family was low-middle class, her family was able to have someone help Calixta around the house, but the times that Sylvie would come were infrequent. When Bobinot was waiting for the storm to pass, he hoped that Sylvie was “helpin’ her” (81) to shut the house, but “Sylvie was helpin’ her yistiday” (81) thus she wouldn’t be at the house during the storm. Conversely, Clarisse was able to have assistance that was even able to go away on trips with her family. This is portrayed by how Clarisse was able to “restore the pleasant liberties of her maiden days” (84) even though her children were supposed to be on the trip with her. One could perceive that she had hired help that would take care of her children while