Symbolism In The Storm By Kate Chopin

Chopin explores the institution of marriage in a multitude of ways, the first with symbolism. In one of her short stories, “The Storm”, a storm has separated Calixta from her husband and son, Bobinot and Bibi. Alone at home, she is greeted with a past lover of hers. When she is being described the common color of white appears. Chopin writes, “Her white neck and a glimpse of her full, firm bosom disturbed him powerfully” (Chopin). White is often used to symbolize purity, which relates to marriage. Chopin is subverting this concept of a pure marriage by bringing up this color. Calixta’s body being described in this way during the affair is to explore marriage and how the woman fits into that. What Chopin is doing is using the color white in …show more content…
In “The Kiss”, the characters call into question what marriage really means. At the wedding of Nathalie and Brantain, The groom asked Harvy to kiss his new wife. Harvy in turn says to Nathalie, “... it would have seemed ungrateful” (Chopin). The character realizes that marriage is not to be tampered with. What he says shows the traditional outlook on marriage, highlighting his own personal thoughts and beliefs about marriage, but Chopin is here to change that and does this by giving the impression that the newly wedded Nathalie is going to find another man who can give her the passion she desires. This motivation Nathalie has explains Chopin’s idea of an independent woman. It challenges the sacredness of marriage and the role of women, which is to stay home and follow what her husband tells her. Additionally, this is also challenged in “Story of an Hour”. When the widow is looking at her surroundings and thinking about her life, she has an epiphany. Chopin writes, “She said it over and over under her breath: ‘free, free, free!’... Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body” (Chopin). These actions show how powerful this realization is. Her whole body is reacting and she is getting a sense of what life without the chains of marriage will be like. She has been relieved of her duties as a wife and can now live her life. The new thoughts the character has is so powerful in Chopin’s message. The protagonist’s new found motivation to live a free, non-binding life has been revealed. The thoughts of this widow reflect what some women of this era feel. Chopin is giving the women of this time period as taste of what life would be like in a different, less strict society, and that is more influential in the women’s rights movement than the reader can