Kate Chopin's "The Storm" and "The Story of an Hour"
'The Storm' and 'The Story of an Hour' expresses the attitudes of two women's rebirth and liberation. These two stories are alike in several ways. Natures plays a major role in both of these women's lives. Calixta and Mrs. Louise Mallard struggle to find their independence and in doing so the endings are triumphant and tragic.
'The Storm' begins on a stormy spring day, with the protagonist Calixta at her sewing machine. She is alone, her husband Bobinot and son Bibi have gone to the store. Calixta seems to be a bored woman, confined to her duties as a housewife and mother. As the distant storm approaches she is unaware of what the storm brings, her former lover Alcee. Calixta allows Alcee into her home and opens her whole world to him. There is a connection between the storm that is going on outside and the storm of emotions going on in Calixta and Alcee. The weather sends Calixta into Alcee?s arms, he wraps his arms around her, and they can no longer hide their feelings for one another. They gave into their raging emotions and made love. Outside the weather was subsiding and Calixta and Alcee?s bodies felt relaxed and calmed. ?The rain was over; and the sun was turning the glistening green world into a palace of gems.? (1614) His face beamed with light like the sun. The storm inside of her was satisfied and for a brief instant Calixta felt liberated from her ordinary dull life.
Unlike Calixta, Louise Mallard is a fragile woman afflicted with heart trouble. It comes to her attention through a trustworthy friend that her husband, Brently Mallard has been killed in a railroad disaster. She is overcome with intense grief and instantly weeps o...
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Mrs. Mallard?s freedom did not last but a few moments. Her reaction to the news of the death of her husband was not the way most people would have reacted. We do not know much about Mr. And Mrs. Mallards relationship. We gather from the text that her freedom must have been limited in some way for her to be feeling this way. Years ago women were expected to act a certain way and not to deviate from that. Mrs. Mallard could have been very young when she and Brently were married. She may not have had the opportunity to see the world through a liberated woman?s eyes and she thought now was her chance.
Bibliography:
Chopin, Kate. ?The Story of an Hour.? Literature For Composition. Ed. Sylvan Barnet,
et al. New York: 1996. 12-13
Chopin, Kate. ?The Storm.? The Norton Anthology. Ed. Nina Baym, et al. New York: 1999. 1612-1615
Kate Chopin's the storm is about a woman named Calixta who rekindles a lost romance with a former lover in the midst of a storm. This story centers on lost love and being stuck in relationships that are unwanted. There is a lot of hidden meaning in the story, told well behind the characters and their surroundings, and it also has a strong plot, and a lot of symbolism.
All in all, Kate Chopin is able to combine two very different aspects of life and involve the relationship and symbolism of the storm to physical needs, sexual desires, and new and profound joy. By bringing these two parallel subjects together, the author is able to show the deeper meaning of one simple word, “storm,” and reveal a story that shows the attitudes and beliefs towards marriage and sex. In doing so, Chopin creates a strong point of view between these two subjects and allows for the view of regulations of sex and marriage to be shown throughout her short story, “The Storm.”
Mallard isolating herself in the room with the open window she was able to see the tree tops, clouds, and blue skies. She began to faintly hear the sound of someone singing and birds chirping in the distance. All of her senses are suggesting the upcoming of spring and this feeling of freedom she didn't have when her husband was still alive. This open window in the room is allowing her to look out into the distance and almost envision a future of living only for herself. Once Mrs. Mallard feels her body come back to life she began repeating "free, free, free!" (paragraph 11) Ultimately, Mrs. Mallard did not feel this freedom for very long when her husband walked through the front door. She was so devastated at the loss of her new life that her heart
Throughout history writers have offered readers lessons through themes and often symbolized. In the story, “The Storm” by Kate Chopin is quite different from “The Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid; both have a different theme, symbol, throughout the stories. “The Storm” in Kate Chopin 's story can symbolize a number of different things: temporary, fleeting and quick action, and without consequences.
The Storm is based around a woman by the name of Calixta who is left home alone while a threatening storm blows up suddenly. Her husband and son are stranded at a local store until the weather calms down. While she is preparing for the worst, a man visitor appears at her doorstep needing a place of shelter. This man turns out to be an old sweetheart of hers, Alcee. As the story goes on, Calixta and Alcee, unleash themse...
Chopin’s use of setting is a significant element in this story. She uses the description of “The Storm”
Throughout the month of February Mrs. Henry assigned for her class to read four different short stories written by Kate Chopin. The four stories were; "Ripe Figs," "Story of an Hour," "Désirée's Baby," and "The Storm." The one with the most interesting setting would have to be "The Storm." This story took place in the antebellum time period meaning it was a period before the Civil War. In "The Storm," Kate Chopin, uses contrast to show how society differs in class, gender and marriage.
The short story “The Storm” by Kate Chopin, deals with the subject of adultery. The story takes place in the early 1900’s. There are two main characters, Calixta (the wife) and Alcee (the former lover). Alcee must take refuge from a passing storm in Calixta’s house, while he is there the two end up making love while Calixta’s husband and son have to wait out the storm at the local store. By doing this Chopin implies the theme that is, adultery is natural and does not necessarily have negative consequences. Through out the story the constant changing of imagery plays a great role in the development of characters and their ability to demonstrate the theme.
Much can be said of an era by looking to the literature written during the time period, and such is the case for Kate Chopin’s short story “The Storm” written in 1898. Through her usage and application of regionalism, narration, and Darwinian ideas Chopin reflects a change in society’s values and way of thinking.
In Kate Chopin’s “The Storm”, she offers an intoxicating account of two souls awakened by a storm. The story was composed on July 19, 1898. At this time in history women were considered objects, their sole purpose in life was to serve their husbands. In addition, social stratification was an important aspect of society that determined who they married. Calixta’s marriage could have been a product of an arrangement, making it of unnatural origin. Chopin points out singular characteristics of the storm to shed light on the uncommon strength of a marriage when it is not determined by social norms. Consequently, Chopin brings Calixta and Alceé together to embellish their passion, in which Calixta plays an active role rather than a submissive one.
“The Storm”, by Kate Chopin, is a short story about a woman who has intercourse with an old boyfriend, while her husband and son are at the store. While a storm is passing by Alcée happens to stop by and stays at Calixta’s during the storm. The two commit adultery, but never tell anyone. While there are many similarities between these two stories, there are also several differences.
The main character in this story, Louise Mallard shows us her dream of freedom and proves these people wrong when her husband, Brently Mallard, dies. Louise’s husband was on a list of people that died in a railroad disaster. They tell her carefully since she has a heart condition. She starts crying, but afterwards she begins to think of all the positive things that come from his death. Her sister, Josephine goes upstairs to make sure she is okay,and once she finds out she is they come down. As they walk down the stairs she sees the door being opened and her husband comes in. Having her heart condition, she dies. The doctors thought “she had died from heart disease-of joy that kills.” However, she didn't die from the joy of getting to see her living husband but from losing her future filled with freedom.
The storm is the main metaphor in this story; it is seen as the lust that stomps through their lives like the storm rages through a single d...
...way that the story is being interpreted and how the storm influences the story as a whole. Sometimes people need a wakeup call or a 'storm' to make them aware of how good they have things. In this short story Alcee and Calixta both come to realization of how good they have things with their spouses and how that they already found the ones that they love, which weren't each other. This made me aware of how we as people can take things for granted or believing we know what’s best for us. In reality we don't always know what’s best until something occurs and shows us that what we already have is the best.
Mrs. Mallard’s repressed married life is a secret that she keeps to herself. She is not open and honest with her sister Josephine who has shown nothing but concern. This is clearly evident in the great care that her sister and husband’s friend Richard show to break the news of her husband’s tragic death as gently as they can. They think that she is so much in love with him that hearing the news of his death would aggravate her poor heart condition and lead to death. Little do they know that she did not love him dearly at all and in fact took the news in a very positive way, opening her arms to welcome a new life without her husband. This can be seen in the fact that when she storms into her room and her focus shifts drastically from that of her husband’s death to nature that is symbolic of new life and possibilities awaiting her. Her senses came to life; they come alive to the beauty in the nature. Her eyes could reach the vastness of the sky; she could smell the delicious breath of rain in the air; and ears became attentive to a song f...