Condemning Calixta's Sexual Desire In The Storm By Kate Chopin

Written in a time when a woman’s sexual desires were considered unimportant and inappropriate, Kate Chopin writes a story about a married woman in the 1890’s who involves herself in an adulterous relationship with her former lover, Alcee. In “The Storm,” Chopin refrains from condemning Calixta’s sexual immorality by drawing parallels between the storm and her passion while ultimately allowing Calixta to move from the traditional housewife to a more liberating feminist role. Chopin uses the symbol of the storm to portray the impending storm, its peak, and end with Calixta’s sexual encounter with Alcee. The storm is being used as a metaphor for Calixta’s increasing passion. In the beginning, “the leaves were so still” and the “somber …show more content…
The rain beat softly upon the shingles, inviting them to drowsiness and sleep. But they dared not yield.” Here, the storm is symbolizing an invitation to imitate what is going on outside with the ending storm. Nature is suggesting that since the storm has calmed, they too should stop their intercourse and sleep together. However, sleeping together would cause far more problems than the storm did, as they risk being caught by Calixta’s husband and son. Soon after, “the rain was over; and the sun was turning the glistening green world into a palace of gems.” Following their sexual affair and the end of the storm, life appears to be good for Calixta and Alcee, as they both feel rejuvenated from their encounter. As Alcee rides away, “he turned and smiled at her with a beaming face; and she lifted her pretty chin in the air and laughed aloud.” What was once a place of tumult and chaos with the rain and lighting is now a place of beauty. Likewise, Calixta and Alcee experience reinvigoration, just like a plant feels after it is watered during a storm and nourished by the sun when it returns to the sky. Chopin concludes, saying, “so the storm passed and everyone was happy.” The end of the storm brings rejuvenation for both Calixta and Alcee. Their passions have been released and Calixta’s desires have been fulfilled, yet nobody knows about their affair. In Calixta and …show more content…
Calixta is vividly portrayed as the typical, over-scrupulous housewife. Calixta cooks, cleans, sews, worries, and fusses about mud being dragged in from outside, as evidenced at the end of the story when Bobinot tries to clean the mud off of Bibi’s clothes. In the beginning of the story, we find her “sewing furiously on a sewing machine.” She clearly works hard to run her household. Chopin also shows that Calixta is selfless and an integral part of the family as she runs to grab Bobinot’s Sunday clothes from the line outside. She does not worry about her own safety, but the safety of the clothes that she meticulously washes and sews on a daily basis. We see Calixta not as a selfless individual, but as a selfless housewife who suffers from her inferiority to add up to anything greater than someone who does chores to keep a house running. After Alcee’s arrival, Calixta is startled by his presence as if she was woken from a trance. She “seized Bobinot’s vest,” almost as if she is holding her husband in between her and Alcee to remind her of her duties as a housewife. Alcee grabs the clothes, inviting her to lay down society’s views of housewives and open up her passion that is lingering inside of her. When they go inside, Calixta is hesitant to be alone with Alcee. She is unsettled like the storm outside, as she “nervously began to gather up from the floor the lengths of