Views on Sex and Marriage Depicted in Kate Chopin's The Storm

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.

A theme is the prime element of literature, which contains the central idea of the story. It helps reflect on the characteristics that a story might have and reflects on observations interpreted from our view of the author. The theme, a main idea or underlying meaning of literary work may be stated directly or indirectly, but it is ultimately our job to figure it out. Throughout any story, short story or poem you can see the constant change of imagery that will play a big part in the development of the characters ability’s to demonstrate the theme. In “The Storm” by Kate Chopin, the theme illustrates many sexual desires, adultery, and happiness as well as shows a theme of conflict. Chopin uses a storm to represent sexual passionate tension that builds throughout the story between the two main characters Alcee and Calixta.

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,

Kate Chopin is best known for her novel, The Awakening, published in 1899. After its publication, The Awakening created such uproar that its author was alienated from certain social circles in St. Louis. The novel also contributed to rejections of Chopin's later stories including, "The Story of An Hour" and "The Storm." The heavy criticism that she endured for the novel hindered her writing. The male dominated world was simply not ready for such an honest exploration of female independence, a frank cataloguing of a woman's desires and her search for fulfillment outside of the institution of marriage.

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 short story “The Storm” by Kate Chopin revolves around a theme of adultery. The story takes place in Southern Louisiana during the early 1900’s. “The Storm” not only serves as a title but creates a setting as well as symbolizing the affair that takes place between the two main characters, Calixta, the wife and Alcee, the former lover. While reading the story, you’ll begin to notice that as the storm begins, comes to a peak and ends, so does the affair and the story. Overall, the title metaphorically resembles their relationship while also implying that adultery is natural being that a storm is also a natural occurrence. Not only does Chopin use imagery to shape Calixta and Alcee’s sexual encounter in Calixta’s house, but he also uses the color “white” which represents purity. Although this sinful act does not illustrate purity, the experience and feeling that the two lovers undergo during the act does. This also goes to say that Chopin uses both imagery and color to also redefine female agency and sexuality.

“The Storm’s” theme was based on Love, Immoral affair, and Freedom. Chopin’s technique of foreshadowing, symbolism, irony, tone, and imagery set the plot for Alcee, Calixta, Bobinot, and Clarisse in this short story. “A bolt struck a tall chinaberry tree at the edge of the field. It filled all visible space with a blinding glare and crash seemed to invade the very boards they stood upon” (425). The writer used Imagery to depict how nature shook the foundation of their respective marriages. The significance of the tall chinaberry tree that crashed the boards was that it made Bobinot and Clarisse almost irrelevant in the story. The author used the metaphorical expression to indicate how the storm schemed Bobinot and Clarisse out of the reckoning.

As a forerunner of the modern feminist movement, Kate Chopin explored bold new characterizations of her female subjects. Chopin is famous for her progressive depiction of the female characters in her stories. Two such stories, 'The Storm' and 'The Story of an Hour,' examine and refute the long held ideal of the subservient wife. 'The Storm,' written in 1898 but not published until later because of its provocative content, describes the passionate extramarital affair between Calixta and Alcee, a former lover. 'The Story of an Hour' follows Louise Mallard as she deals with the death of her husband. Chopin uses the extraordinary events in the characters' lives to

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.

Kate Chopin in “the Storm” uses symbolism in characters to develop the theme that marriages are not perfect. Although there is a physical storm in the story, there is also a storm of emotions. Chopin is able to convey the emotions of her characters throughout the story because the storm that takes place at the very beginning of her story.

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)

Kate Chopin's The Awakening is truly a novel that stands out from the rest. From the moment it was published, it has been caused women to examine their beliefs. The fact that The Awakening was shunned when first published, yet now taught in classrooms across the country is proof that The Awakening is full of rebellious and controversial ideas.

Usually a storm creeps upon us, hits a luminous climax, and then fades away into nothingness.  In The Storm, Kate Chopin develops a parallel between a rainstorm and an emotional storm in a woman’s life.  Chopin uses symbolism to depict the feelings of relationships that are as unpredictable as that of a raging storm.

Kate Chopin is writing so many great stories about whatever she sees. Kate has many Wonderful stories such as, (The Storm, Desiree’s Baby, A Pair of Silk Stocking, A Respectable Woman, and The Story of an Hour). There is one story in particular that catches my mind which is “The Storm”. 0In Kate chopin's era, women are seen as nothing more than a wife and have to stay with their husband for life. Chopin shows a dramatic scene between Alcee and Calixta during the time of a storm that is passing by. Chopin states a non judgemental spot about refraining from morals about the purity of marriage especially calixta. Chopin drenches in “The Storm” a strong feminist and makes a good question about marriage.

To illustrate a difference in an element of fiction, we commence with plot. We can conclude that Chopin has numerous techniques to implement her notions and effectively carry out disparate plots by comparing her two short stories. In “The Story of an Hour” by Chopin, the main character, Louise Mallard, “died of heart disease” at the end of the story (Chopin 181). What this melancholy ending does for this story is create a tone of dreariness. In spite of this method, in “The Storm” by Chopin, at the end of this fearsome storm, “everyone was happy” (Chopin 123). Chopin’s approach to ending this story was unlike her approach to ending “The Story of an Hour.” The pleasing ending of “The Storm” creates a fulfilled, content tone for the story. Demonstrating that two stories transcribed by the same author end in two utterly divergent