Alexis Page
Eng 101.14474
Diagnostic Essay
29 August 2014
Examining Desire and Sex in “The Storm”
Haruki Murakami said, “When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.” This quote is shown throughout Kate Chopin’s story “The Storm”. This story is about two families who are having problem in their relationships. Calixta and Alcee are past lovers and rekindle their love, which actually seems to improve their relationships with their spouses. The feelings between Calixta and Alcee only faded, never fully went away. They do not treat sex and love the same. Their attitudes towards their spouses and families changed. Desire stormed through their lives just like the storm raged through
…show more content…
Who knows how long they have been apart, however the spark was rekindled almost instantaneously. Alcee arrived at Calixta’s house looking for shelter from the storm. He was going to wait outside, however it seemed like Calixta had alternate plans. She says “Come ‘long in, M’sieur Alcee.” As a married woman, it is not okay to be alone with another man inside your house without your spouse knowing. With this being said, her husband did not even know what was going on. She was frightened in the storm and allowed Alcee to comfort her. Married women do not let other men put their hands on them. They are past lovers so it was putting thoughts in Alcee’s …show more content…
Calixta seemed to be more forgiving towards her son and husband. Bibi, her son, was covered in mud and Calixta was so happy to see him. This is shown in the following quote “She had clasped Bibi and was kissing him effusively.” Her husband was afraid what she would do because they were not home during the storm. Calixta was just glad they were okay. Alcee’s attitude also seemed to change. He wrote his wife a loving letter. The letter stated “He was willing to bear the separation a while longer- realizing that their health and pleasure were the first thing to be considered.” Putting your family’s needs before your own shows them you really care.
The feelings between Calixta and Alcee never went away. They restored their spirits and came together through desire. Even though they were past lovers, they did not treat sex and love the same. Once they were finished, Alcee left and did not sleep next to her. There was not only a storm outside; they had one in each of their relationships. Calixta and Alcee’s attitude changed for the better. They ended up treating their families much better. Sometimes you think the grass is greener on the other side, however the grass is only green where you water
Kate Chopin's short story 'The Storm'; describes an encounter of infidelity between two lovers during a brief thunderstorm. The story alludes to the controversial topic of women's sexuality and passion, which during Chopin's time no one spoke about much less wrote about. So controversial was 'The Storm,'; that it was not published until after her death in eighteen ninety-nine. The story is broken up into five sections, each filled with small clues and hints that reflect her message. In short, Kate Chopin's 'The Storm'; is about a confirmation of feminine sexuality and passion and a rejection of the suppression of it by society.
Kate Chopin wrote the short story “The Storm” one of her most bold stories and did not even intention to publish it (Cutter 191). The two main characters in the story are Calixta and Alcee. They both used to be attracted to one another in previous years, but now they are both married to someone else. After Alcee arrives to Calixta’s house looking for shelter they are driven into a passionate moment. In the story “The Storm” the storm has a significant meaning; without it the affair of Calixta and Alcee performed would not have been as powerful as it was between them. “The Storm” has a great deal of symbolism throughout the story: the clouds, the use of color white, the storm relative to the affair, the after effects of the affair, Calixta,
In the story "The Storm", Kate Chopin plots a situation in which two people surrender to their physical desires. Chopin wrote fiction stories in the late 19th century. She was condemned due to the immorality presented in her work. At her times, woman was considered to be very innocent, and always faithful to her husband. In Chopin's work one sees a totally different view of a woman's behavior. She is not a popular writer of her era because of her crude works; the audience of her period could not justify her stories. In the story "the storm", Kate Chopin by hiding the immoral behavior of her characters behind the fear of bad weather is being ironic.
The theme adultery was first initiated when Alcee requested to reside in Calixta’s house till the rain passed. “His voice and her own startled her as if from a trance…”. Judging from the way they both reacted, it is clear that the two still have some sort of feelings for each other. Another aspect that leads to the feelings of both characters is when Chopin outlines the setting of the room they are in. “The door stood open, and the room with it’s white monumental bed, its closed shutters, looked dim and mysterious.” Already, the tone has changed becoming more tense and so has the storm as it beat upon the shingled roof with force like Chopin describes in the story. When Calixta realizes the storm has gotten worse, she then walks over to the window with a disturbed look on her face and Alcee of course follows behind her which proves that he wants to be around her. From the minute Alcee walks in, Calixta begins to show signs of nervousness which proves that he still has some affect on her. The tension of the rain and Calixta’s feelings both build up as it begins to rain harder, the winds blow harder and the lightening become stronger which symbolizes Calixta’s feelings at the moment. She tries to
The author employed the use of symbolism in the description of the storm. Storm, a natural phenomenon that brings about extreme weather condition that might lead to an undesirable outcome. "The Storm" in the context of the selection brought about a positive outcome. “The storm” in the story is not the physical storm that occurred outside with heavy downpour, but the coming together of Alcee and Bobinot. A physical storm forms when the atmosphere is saturated with water and droplets of water pour out from the sky. The symbolic importance of the storm represents the liberation of Alcee and Calixta, from the shackles of societal or moral expectation. "He pushed her hair back from her face that was warm and streaming her" (425). Although Alcee pushed Calixta’s hair back to see her face, the author’s interpretation was not physical. Chopin meant that Alcee was able to set Calixta free from the bondage of marriage temporarily.
With the passing of the storm and the departure of Alcee, Calixta does not revert to her subordinate housewife bonds. Instead, she uses her awakening to discover newfound happiness in her marriage and duties as a wife and mother. When Bobinot and Bibi return, the reader sees a different Calixta than the downtrodden, worried, and selfless Calixta from the beginning of the story. In fact, it is the father and son who must begin ?to relax and enjoy themselves,? not Calixta, who is already joyously preparing dinner (861). At the dinner table, ?they laughed much and so loud that anyone might have heard them? (861). The only other time
'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.
So Calixta is happy after the affair and her husband and son are happy because she is not mad and is actually nicer to them. Alcee writes his wife a letter letting her know that he misses her but is okay with her and the children being gone, after receiving the letter Alcee’s wife is happy because she has a loving husband but is also glad to be alone for a while.
There is no doubt her husband loves and cares for her but her feelings and passion seemed untouched by Bobinot. Before her marriage, Alcee seemed to satisfy her in a way that Bobinot does not, but since she loves her family she represses those feelings. The story of Calixta is saddening to me but as a mother myself, I can understand why she chooses to repress her feelings. Her husband seems to give her no cause to disrupt family life and leave the marriage and she does not make that decision based on pure selfish reasons. Her choice simply relieved her possible frustrations for a while.
There will not be any long-term repercussions, because like the storm which is a passing occurrence, so is the love affair between Alcee and Calixta. He persuade Calixta as soon as the storm develops, and the affair ends as the storm ends. Alcee goes home and Calixta turns her attention
Once the storm has passed and all is normal, Alcee leaves and Calixta’s family returns. Bobinot and Bibi make themselves look presentable for Calixta, the “over-scrupulous” wife (page 397) after going through the heavy roads and wet fields the storm left behind. Calixta seemed to have forgotten the encounter she had with Alcee moments before, “and seemed to express nothing but satisfaction at their safe return.” (page 397) The family sat at the table and enjoyed themselves for the remainder of the time, everything was forgotten and back to normal.
The short story, “The Storm” by Kate Chopin is about a love that could never be until it briefly was. The point that Chopin was trying to get across was that Calixta and Alcee had a strong passion for one-another, and perhaps loved each other, but they could never have been married because of their social differences. It is a passionate, but brief affair between two married people from different social classes that takes place during a cyclone in Louisiana around 1898. The story symbolizes the freedom that a woman felt inside after the rain during a time when women had no freedom. (Firtha lesson 2 page 1)
She finally tells him, “"I saw you go away las’ night, Alcée, with those saddle-bags," she said, haltingly, striving to arrange something about the saddle, "an' I made Bruce tell me. He said you had gone to the ball, an' wouldn' be home for weeks an' weeks. I thought, Alcée-maybe you were going to-to Assumption. I got wild. An' then I knew if you didn't come back, now, to-night, I could n't stan' it,-again."She had her face hidden in her arm that she was resting against the saddle when she said that.”(p. 1272). This is Clarisse telling Alcée that she loves him, when he hears her tell him that she loves him he realizes that he loves her
The short story, “The Storm,” can be classified as a story that is explicit of its kind because of its sexual and adulteress content. Although the story is portrayed as that, Chopin is able to bring about two parallel subjects to combine with each other to bring about one meaning that contributes to the subject as a whole. In the story, an affair occurs in the midst of a storm between Calixta and Alcee, two fond lovers that find each other once again and relive their
I will start with The Storm, the Initial Situation, The storm begins and Calixta was at home alone. Bobinôt, was away from home and can't protect his wife. When I was reading the story I was given the impression that a woman is alone and possibly in danger back at the house. The Conflict began when Calixta's old lover arrives at her house just in time to be stuck indoors with by the storm. It would be one thing if Calixta had to wait out the storm alone, worrying about her husband and small son being in stuck in the storm perhaps with no shelter But she's not alone: as soon as the storm starts, her ex lover showed up. We know trouble was about to start. Of course we know what happened next, Alcee and Calista had sex as part of the climax of the story. Now here is the Suspense part of the story ,Calixta's family returns home just after Alcée leaves. Will they cross paths? Will Calixta be able to cover up what has just happened? Those were the first question that came to mind while i was reading the story. Poor Bobinôt worries over whether Calixta will be angry with them when they return home although he was not the guilty party. but it all turns out to be just fine. To conclude the plot of the story, everyone benefits from the affair, and no one finds out about it. No one's going to find out about all the action that just happened. Alcée and Calixta's secret is officially safe,