Deception in "The Storm" and "The Story of an Hour"

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Recommended: Women in English literature

Thesis: In Kate Chopin's "The Storm" and "The Story of an Hour," the wives seem to share the foul qualities of selfishness, unfaithfulness and confusion.

I. The most common element found within both pieces of literature is that both women seem to be greatly selfish.

A. In "The Story of an Hour," Mrs. Mallard seems to be overwhelmed with joy because of her husband's death.

B. In resemblance to Mrs. Mallard, Calixta, the wife in "The Storm," is also immensely selfish.

II. The second most obvious theme throughout both stories is their unfaithful commitment to the sacrament of marriage.

A. Mrs. Mallard was never physically unfaithful, but mentally and emotionally she lost herself in the idea of her new life without her husband.

B. In opposition of Mrs. Mallard, Calixta acted upon her emotions and became physically unfaithful.

III. In addition to both selfishness and unfaithfulness, both women give the perception of confusion.

A. Mrs. Mallard's confusion begins by her first feeling "sudden, wild abandonment, " but then a short while after begins to have strange feelings of relief.

B. Calixta also experiences confusion when Alcée's "arm encircles her..." and ."..draws her close and spasmodically to him."

Deception

In Kate Chopin's "The Storm" and "The Story of an Hour," the common theme for each short story is the deception of marriage. "The Storm" involves two married couples in which one woman, Calixta, and one man, Alcée, from each marriage have an affair with one another. Calixta has a little boy with her husband and Alcée's family is at Biloxi. The affair takes place at Calixta's home when Alcée asks to stay with her until the storm is over, while her son and husband are awa...

... middle of paper ...

...should be honored and it's horrible to see marriage as somewhat of a joke and a waste of time.

In conclusion, the women in both stories experienced two very different situations but overall deal with the same things. Selfishness plays a role in their thoughts and actions and unfaithfulness plays a role in the overall happiness in their marriages. With both selfishness and unfaithfulness controlling their thoughts and emotions they become confused and lose all control of the situation. Basically it is shocking to see how lightly affairs are taken into consideration and how the loss of a loved one doesn't affect people, as it should.

Works Cited

The Story of an Hour

Kate Chopin

Internet

www.bedfordstmartins.com/literature

The Storm

Kate Chopin

Literature The Human Experience, Shorter Eighth Edition, Richard Abcarian & Marvin Klotz

Page 750-754

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