“Is it always a betrayal to talk about your husband with another man? What about girlfriends or astrologists?” (Dormen). In modern society, people’s feelings and desires are limited by rules of law and morality, especially when they relate to marriage and conjugal relationships. In The Storm, Kate Chopin raised a moral issue of adultery between characters of the short novel-Calixta and Alcee. She discussed the questions based on the metaphor of storm and the lack of passion in Calixta and Bobinot’s marriage. Similarly, in A Doll’s House, Henrik Ibsen scrutinized an issue of a marriage lacking love. He depicted relationships between Nora and Torvald and showed how imperious attitude and misunderstandings ruined conjugal relationships eventually. Both stories are connected by a common problem of secrets that arose from misunderstandings between the spouses. They solved the problem of misunderstanding in different ways, depending on cultural and personal distinctions of the characters. Therefore, the stories ended differently. Chopin concluded that the adulterous act made positive short-term changes in the marriage depicted in The Storm. In contrast, Ibsen ended his play A Doll’s House by stating that lack of understanding and communication led to the marriage collapse.
In her short novel The Storm, Chopin explained how an extramarital affair between Calixta and Alcee became a factor benefiting the marriage. Chopin ended the story with the words, “So the storm passed, and everyone was happy” (123). The story is interesting not only because of the conclusion that infidelity had a beneficial short-term outcome to the family relationships, but also by intricacies that resulted in the happy end. In the middle of the novel, Chopin utiliz...
... middle of paper ...
...pt unrevealed because of her naivety, passionate and pure love to the husband, did not contain any vicious deeds or intentions. However, upon revealing the secret, the true attitude of the couple to each other uncovered and Nora preferred to live alone to life with the husband who called her a criminal and decided to part with her for a formal mistake that saved him love.
Works Cited
Bartee, Johanna. The Storm: More Than Just a Story. Virginia Wesleyan College , n. d. Web. 09 May 2012.
Chopin, Kate. The Storm. Freewebs Com, n.d. Web. 09 May 2012.
Goldman, Emma. The Social Significance of the Modern Drama. Berkeley. Edu, n.d. Web. 09 May 2012.
Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll's House. Ed. Jim Manis. The Pennsylvania State University, 2010. Web. 09 May 2012.
Dormen, Lesley. Secrets and Lies: The Truth About Conjugal Discretion. Hearst Communications. 26 July 2010.
'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.
Like in many feministic works, that struggle constantly to point out the corruptions of a patriarchal society, which subordinates women to men and subconsciously make them accept their inferior position without defending, their opinions, their interests and themselves, Kate Chopin in her short story “The Storm”, does something completely different of what was consider as acceptable in the 18th century´s literature. She creates the character of a woman who breaks the socially accepted conception of how a woman should be and act in a relationship, or in this case in a marriage, to express her sexuality. In this society women were put in an inferior position and were deprived of many privileges and rights given to men, especially in the sexual aspect; but Chopin, with her viewpoints, went ah...
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.
The Arabian Nights, translated by Husain Haddawy consist of entertaining tales within a story which acquired centauries to accumulate. Some of the tales regard women as possessions, therefore leaving women to use their sexual femininity to subdue men for means of survival. The story goes on to explain how men and women had forbidden sexual relations with concubines, slaves, and lovers. Some religions and cultures accept infidelity and fornication as part of their normal sexual practices, however, in The Arabian Nights sexual practices come with harsh penalties which generate havoc and disfigurement on humans, impacting their lives and relationships.
Nora, with the best of intentions, has caught herself and her family in a legal trap caused by her disregard of the law, when she forges her father’s signature on a bond. In her conversation she first discusses with Mrs. Linde “Yes, a wonderful thing!--But it is so terrible, Christine; it mustn't happen, not for all the world.” (II.66). The reader finds out later that the wonderful thing is also her romantic imaginings of her husband, Torvald, standing up and taking the blame for her actions shielding her from the consequences if what she has done ever comes to light.
Ibsen, Henrik. "A Doll’s House." Perrine's Literature. Forth Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1998. pp. 967-1023
First of all, both women are "victims" of their controlling husbands. Nora and Mrs. Wright are al...
“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.
Goldman, Emma. A Doll's House. A Doll's House. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2014. .
Calixta and Alce, the two main characters in the short story “The Storm” by Kate Chopin, are sexual, mature, and knowing adults. By having them discover amazing sex outside their marriages, they return to their own marriages renewed. Chopin openly condones adultery due to the fact that the characters are not punished and in the end “everyone was happy” (paragraph 40) . A common theme of fresh sexuality and desire is seen in this story though symbols and other literary elements. Kate Chopin is an American author that wrote short stories and novels in the 20th century.
Others criticized Nora for her naiveté. “Nora has always been a child; her father, a man devoted of easy conscience, has brought her up entirely unsophisticated. She knows nothing of the serious side of life—of its privileges, its real opportunities—nothing of the duties of the individual in a world of action.” (W.E. Simmons 119) This was a common criticism of Nora, that she had no right to leave her husband and c... ...
Ibsen, Henrik. "A Doll's House." The Norton Introduction to Literature. 11th ed. N.p.: W. W.
Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll's House. Trans. William Archer. Boston: Walter H. Baker & Co., 1890. Gleeditions. Web. 12 April 2014
In the short story “The Storm” by Kate Chopin, there are two storms that are actually taking place here. This story is mainly focused on the lost love of old lovers, but there are a lot of hidden meanings in the story told behind the characters and their surroundings and how throughout the story “the storm” is being symbolized. The first storm, which is takes place on the outside with the natural world which is consisted of heavy rain, thundering, and gusts of wind that accompanies it, the second storm which is a storm between two old lovers that rekindle a passionate romance, with the storm raging outside, which leads to adultery for both of the married characters Calixta and Alcee. In this case rekindling the love for one another just made them appreciate and understand their partners even more.
...on as a disgrace to society because women are not expected to leave there husbands. Nora proved that she can withstand enormous amounts of pressure and that she is capable of doing things when she is determined. She is eventually freed from that doll ouse, as she calls it, and it allows her to leave without being afraid to learn about her and the world around her.