The Storm

1178 Words5 Pages
Female Sexuality, Feminism And Moral Views Of the Nineteenth Century The Storm is a racy account of events, more so considering the time at which Kate Chopin wrote it towards the tail end of the 19th century. The characters are presented as sexualized adults of the story. The principle characters, Calixta and Alcee previously had a relationship prior to the beginning of this story. However, they ended up marrying other suitors and had since not kept contact. Presently, Calixta and Alcee are reliving a time when their passion was at a high point. "The Storm" avails to us the sexual standards and constraints of the latter part of the nineteenth century, while at the same time displaying humans’ instinctive propensity for sexual passion. Chopin…show more content…
This essay aims to expound on this running theme as portrayed in Kate Chopin’s short story. From the beginning, Chopin exemplifies the sexual restraint of the period using the title "The Storm." In literary terms, a storm depicts turmoil, agitation and upheaval. Chopin utilizes imagery of the storm to symbolize the sexual tension between Alcee and Calixta that builds up throughout the story. Robert Wilson a critic of the story discusses "Chopin’s title refers to the nature, which is symbolically feminine; the storm can, therefore, be seen as symbolic of feminine sexuality and passion, and the image of the storm will be returned to again and again throughout the story”. Chopin’s presents the first illustration of the storm with Calixta’s husband, Bobinot. Bobinot, who is with their son Bibi at the general store, decides to wait out the storm. The waiting out of the storm implies that Bobinot averts the stormy passions that his wife dearly craves. Back home, Calixta is attending to household chores such as sewing. She is at first incognizant of the imminent storm, just as her sexual thirst might be on a subconscious level; yet, as the storm nears, Calixta grows warm and damp with perspiration. It is assumed that her sexuality is repressed by the constraints of her marriage and society’s view of women, represented in this passage by the
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