The Storm Literary Analysis

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 a rejection of shame and guilt for her infidelity, Calixta appears to be unfazed and even happy after her recent encounter with Alcee. This lack of guilt and shame reinforces the outdated ideal of monogamy, as Calixta has merely been allowed to embrace true passion outside of the oppressive institution of Victorian marriage. This is one reason why remorse no longer plays a part in her behaviors, as the symbolic “storm” reveals the powerful impulses of sexuality that overrode her domestic obligations: “So the storm passed and every one was happy” (Chopin, 1898, para.39). In this manner, the sexual liberation of Calixta becomes the focal point in which sexuality is naturally expressed without the presence of a Victorian conscience: “Sex in this story is a force as strong, inevitable, and natural as the Louisiana storm that ignites it” (Seyersted, 2000, p.166). In this sexual perspective, Chopin ends the story on a positive note, especially in the case of Calixta’s freedom to pursue her won sexual passions without being hindered by oppression marital standards of the Victorian

The storm is key to the story because it is the all-powerful force of nature that drives the two lovers together, which would be almost impossible without the storm. Because the storm occurs when Alcee is riding by Calixta's house, it forces him to go there. He must take refuge inside her house when the rain starts to drench him (96). By portraying the storm as

Kate Chopin's  "The Storm" focuses on two simultaneous and related storms, one a fierce tempest of the natural world with the expected rain, wind, lightening, and thunder, the other a cyclone of the mind and heart which results in an short love affair between the two main characters. With her husband Bobinot and her son Bibi stranded in town by the storm, Calixta finds herself at home alone when an old lover, Alcee, rides up. The storm, the worst in two years, drives the two indoors, where, though they have not met in five years, they soon are embracing each other. As the storm outside reaches a climax, the emotions in the house spike to a fever pitch, and, though not directly

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

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)

Chopin uses the storm to imitate two separate meanings; she does this by using imagery. One meaning is the denotation, the actual storm happening in the story, and the second being the connotation, the building tension between the characters Calixta and Alcee. At the beginning of the story, the storm has just started to roll in, and Alcee needs to find shelter. He asks Calixta if he can come into her home and she says yes. Though this is a small act that seems harmless, to let another man into your home does not follow the ideal image of a woman. A woman should be domestic, this includes keeping the home for the family. Calixta lets Alcee come in, however. By doing so she resists being a true woman.

"The Storm" by Kate Chopin melds the theme of romantic love with those of rebellion and conformity. In the story, Chopin gives readers an account of a meteorological disturbance that sweeps through a town, leaving a family to seek shelter until the storms passing. The wife of the story Calixta is at the family's home while her husband Bobint and child Bibi are seeking refuge at Friedheimer's store. Deeply concerned for his mother Bibi begins to question and seek reassurance for Calixta's safety from his father. Bibi implores by saying, "Mama'll be 'fraid, yes, he suggested with blinking eyes"(1). His father attempts to reassure him stating "She'll shut the house. Maybe she got Sylvie helpin' her this evenin' " (1). Bibi knew differently, but at last, settles and he is comforted by his father's unwavering confidence in Calixta's safety. While readers are preoccupied with the storm and the uncertainty it holds, Kate Chopin begins to scribe an unending metaphor that carries the entire plot of the story. Calixta goes out to gather Bobint's Sunday clothes before the rain starts and to her surprise, Alce Laballire comes riding up. Calixta is nervous with Alce in the house, she stands at the window gazing out while making small talk with him. Lightning strikes and Calixta grabs her eyes and stumbles backward where Alce's arms are waiting. The tension between the two has built, when Calixta staggers back from the window the passage states that "Alce's arm encircled her, and for an

The story begins when Bobinot and his son Bibi are at Fregheimer’s store and decide to stay there due to a storm that is coming. Meanwhile, Bobinot’s wife, Calixta, is at home. Calixta is a blonde woman with blue eyes. Calixta does not see the storm coming, but she felt a very warm (Chopin 122). She starts closing all the doors and windows; she goes outside to gather the clothes she hung before. She sees Alcee, who asks for shelter because of the storm approaching. Calixta gives him some shelter and the storm arrives. They have to stuck clothes underneath the door to avoid the water getting into the house. The storm is scares Calixta and Alcee is there next to her in her room. Calixta frightened hugs Alcee. Alcee kisses Calixta and he says “do toy remember-in Assumption, Calixta?” The storm had trapped them into the house and its magnificence took them to the bedroom where they now seem pushed into each other arms and then onto bed. After the affair and the storm had passed Calixta sees her lover to leave the scene and ride away (Chopin 123). After the storm Calixta turns from a lover to a lovely mother

This is an example of an external social conflict because the problem is between these two characters whom of which have a past together and being alone with only each other during the storm only creates leeway to old sparks igniting. By using the storm to create action and move the story, a bolt of lightning frightens Calixta by striking a nearby tree she was viewing out a window. “Calixta put her hands to her eyes, and with a cry, staggered backward” and “Alcee's arms encircled her.” (Chopin 269). “there was nothing for him to do but to gather her lips in a kiss.” (270). These scenes highlight the conflict of resisting the sexual temptations these two shared for each other, which they inevitable gave in

Kate Chopin’s “The Storm” suggests, through the use of characterization, climax, and tone, that affairs (and storms) are not only terrifying, but liberating. She demonstrates that the storm which rages within us can be particularly greater than actual events it self. As the storm is just about to arrive, so too does Alcée. So, in many ways the storm mirrors the passionate encounter between Calixta and Alcée because that is when Calixta and Alcée once again get comfortable with each other and end up sleeping together. As the storm passes and the calm returns, Alcée leaves Calixta’s home returning to his home leaving behind a “calm” Calixta. It is interesting that rather than having an expected negative effect on their marriages, the affair appears to have actually brought them closer to their spouses. This is significant because Chopin is exploring the idea of marriage or at

“The Storm” Analysis As the storm gets stronger and more severe, so do Calixta and Alcee's emotions for each other showing their desire. The storm represents the character's passion and as it gets strong their desire for one another increases. In the beginning when Calixta and Alcee first see each other the storm is not too bad as it is just beginning: “She stood there with Bobinot ’s coat in her hands and the big rain drops began to fall” (Chopin). Only moments pass by and the tension between Alcee and Calixta is getting stronger and so does the storm.

The storm is menacing, it rolls in “somber…with sinister intention.” Chopin allows us to see the storm build up slowly, reaching its highpoint, and passing. The storm builds chaotically to its climax, Alcee and Calixta are together. As the storm dies out and fades away everything is quiet again in terms of the relationship. The reader can make the assumption that the marriages are unharmed, but it shows that they aren’t perfect.

In “The Storm” Kate Chopin makes the setting an essential and entwined part of her action and ideas. The story focuses on the two main characters, Calixta and Alcee and their short love affair. The action is taking place in a small town in Louisiana where all of the characters live. The story is set in the late nineteenth century when adultery was not expected from anyone, as woman were considered to be innocent and faithful. The integration of setting and story can be followed in details about the storm itself, setting of the atmosphere/mood, and also the complexities of married status in the society.

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.