Discussion Topic
Exploring Themes, Symbolism, and Emotional Struggles in Kate Chopin's "The Storm"
Summary:
"The Storm" explores themes of passion, infidelity, and societal norms. Symbolically, the storm represents the tumultuous and fleeting nature of the characters' emotions. The story delves into the emotional struggles of its characters, particularly focusing on the conflict between societal expectations and personal desires.
What is the theme of "The Storm" by Kate Chopin?
"The Storm " speaks to the belief that surrendering to passion need not have disastrous consequences, despite what conventional morality suggests. The tryst that Calixta and Alce indulge in is consensual, and their passion is unrestrained. As her character is introduced, Calixta is completely immersed in her sewing—so much so, in fact, that she doesn't notice the approaching storm. She is perspiring, her gown loosened and "her yellow hair, disheveled by the wind and rain, kinked more stubbornly than ever about her ears and temples." She is presented as entirely natural and engaged in life, which makes her spontaneous lovemaking with Alce seem in keeping with her character. When their passion is spent and they move to return to their lives, Alce "turned and smiled at her with a beaming face; and she lifted her pretty chin in the air and laughed aloud." Neither of them are wracked with...
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guilt, and they do not make promises to one another or express regret.
When Bobint and Bibi return home, Calixta greets them lovingly and effusively. She is as "in the moment" with them as she had been with her sewing and her tryst with Alce. Whether she is in the domestic sphere or elsewhere, she is passionate, authentic and natural.
Alce composes a loving letter to his vacationing wife, Clarisse, that tells her she can stay away as long as she likes and that "health and pleasure were the first things to be considered." Clarisse's reaction is that "the first free breath since her marriage seemed to restore the pleasant liberty of her maiden days."
"The Storm" focuses on Calixta and Clarisse and condones their pursuit of pleasure in whatever form it takes. Though Alce enjoys the same freedoms, as a man, Chopin implies that they were never in question. The theme is decidedly feminist in that each woman values self-liberation to pursue her passion without the burden of guilt imposed by societal expectations for women.
References
One possible theme is finding happiness and fulfillment through unconventional means. The main character is a woman who finds incredible gratification in an elicit affair with an old acquaintance. Chopin seems to be indicating that freedom and happiness can be found outside of regular moral conventions of the time. Calixta, who commits the affair, seems perfectly happy, rejoicing, and almost giddy afterwards, treating her husband and son with unusual kindness and levity. So, even though Calixta seemed to love her husband, and had a husband who, by all outward signs, loved his wife, she still found even more fulfillment through satisfying her sexual desires with another man. Chopin's stories often have this theme of women finding happiness in unconventional ways; take "The Story of an Hour" for example, where the main character, a housewife, is ecstatically happy at the freedom that her husband's death gives her. This theme is seen through "The Storm" as a woman, after surrendering to an affair-which was scandalous and wrong in her society-actually seemed to gain quite a bit of happiness from it.
References
What is the irony in Kate Chopin's "The Storm"?
Kate Chopin’s celebration of the alleged joys of adultery must have been pretty shocking to a contemporary audience. Actually, it’s still pretty shocking today, as we are now more clued-in than ever before as to the damaging effects of men and women cheating on each other. In particular, we are more aware than ever before of just how damaging adultery can be on children in a marriage.
And yet, as Chopin presents it, the illicit relationship between Calixta and Alcée is most enjoyable for both of them. There is no pain here, no guilt, no second thoughts. They throw themselves into a rekindling of their former romance with complete abandon and enjoy every last minute of their affair.
Further irony can be observed in the fact that the lovers are actually happier with their respective marriages after their affair than they were before. Again, this turns our expectations upside down. Adultery is supposed to damage marriages, even if the cuckolded partners remain blissfully unaware of what’s going on, as in this case. At the very least, it’s supposed to lead to unhappiness and unfulfillment among those who cheat on their wives and husbands. But the normal rules don’t apply here, which is somewhat ironic, to say the least.
The irony in this excellent short story lies in the impact of the adulterous relationship between Calixta and Alcee on their marriages. There is situational irony in the way that we expect that such a tempestuous (no pun intended) session of lovemaking, which is presented very explicitly but also in a way that suggests that Calixta and Alcee are somehow meant for each other actually benefits their respective marriages. Note how their union is presented:
Her firm, elastic flesh that was knowing for the first time its birthright, was like a creamy lily that the sun invites to contribute its breath and perfume to the undying life of the world.
Phrases such as Calixta knowing her "birthright" whilst having extra-marital sex with Alcee suggest that she will be unable to return to her husband after this. However, after the storm of passion that has been unleashed, the air appears to have been cleared, and both Calixta and Alcee are shown to return even happier than before to their respective partners:
So the storm passed and everyone was happy.
This is the irony in this excellent short story, as Chopin shockingly suggests that such outlets of tempestuous passion can actually help marriage rather than destroy it.
Chopin uses both situational irony and dramatic irony in "The Storm." In situational irony, the irony arises from the events in a story. In dramatic irony, the audience knows what characters in the story do not.
Ironically, the violent storm, with its threat of floods and disaster, leads to a period of liberation and happiness for Calixta, Alcée, and his wife, Clarisse. Rather than raising fear, it becomes a time of bliss for Calixta and Alcée, opening a space for them to consummate their love. It provides Clarisse with a sense of peace as well, a welcome break from her husband:
And the first free breath since her marriage seemed to restore the pleasant liberty of her maiden days. Devoted as she was to her husband, their intimate conjugal life was something which she was more than willing to forego for a while.
Ironically, too, while infidelity would normally suggest unhappy marriages, both Calixta and Alcée seem contented with their marital lives—the brief affair is just a pleasant interlude. Calixta, for example, is happy to see her husband and son, and they are happy to see her:
Bobinôt and Bibi began to relax and enjoy themselves, and when the three seated themselves at table they laughed much and so loud that anyone might have heard them as far away as Laballières.
The storm has not brought tragedy or disaster to these families but a refreshing interlude. Even Bobinôt and Bibi seem to have enjoyed themselves.
The dramatic irony of the story is that we as readers know that Alcée and Calixta have had a sexual encounter, while their spouses are unaware of this. Ironically, the sexual liaison does not cause even a ripple in the domestic lives of the characters—it is as if it didn't happen. Another dramatic irony is that Alcée doesn't know that his wife is glad to have a break from "intimate conjugal" relations with him, while Calixta, who has just done something her society would consider "unclean," is unaware of the efforts Bobinôt has gone to clean the literal mud from himself and Bibi. Normally a storm is a metaphor for turmoil, but in this case, nothing bad has happened, and life goes on.
In Kate Chopin's "The Storm," how does the weather create the atmosphere?
In this "Sequel to the 'Cadian Ball," as the subtitle to Kate Chopin's story reads, the storm that "burst" is used in a metaphoric sense as well as a realistic one. The metaphor of the storm represents the whirlwind of unsatisfied passion stored within Calixta and Alcée after their parting from one another, a whirlwind which is briefly regenerated during their first personal encounter in years.
When Alcée Laballière unexpectedly rides up on his horse to the gate of Calixta's home, he asks if he may wait on her gallery until the raging storm subsides. Politely, Calixta replies that he may. Soon, however, his intention to remain outside becomes impractical, as the rain beats down in torrents. So, he joins Calixta inside ,where she looks out the window in concern for her husband and son, who departed some time ago for Freidheimer's store.
The playing of the lightning was incessant. A bolt struck a tall chinaberry tree at the edge of the field. It filled all visible space with a blinding glare and the crash seemed to invade the very boards they stood upon.
In this stormy atmosphere of unleashed natural energy, the frightened Calixta covers her eyes and cries out as the lightning flashes. She staggers backward into Alcée, who encircles her in his arm. For a moment, he draws her close to him in a spasm of emotional energy. This brief contact with Calixta awakens his "old-time...desire for her flesh." When he asks her if she remembers Assumption, where he had kissed her passionately a few years ago, her emotions also are again aroused, and they engage in lovemaking. As the storm subsides, so, too, do their feelings, and Alcée departs.
Like the thunderstorm, the atmosphere of heightened emotion in which Calixta and Alcée find expression brings them emotional release and refreshment. When her husband and son return, Calixta is overjoyed to see them and does not scold her husband, Bobinôt. Likewise, the reinvigorated Alcée writes to his wife, who is named Clarisse, and with leniency and consideration, he gives her permission to stay on in Biloxi with her old friends and enjoy herself.
In this story, Kate Chopin uses a summer storm to dramatize and mirror the turbulent emotional and physical affair between her two main characters, Alcée and Calixta. The story's title itself points to the significance of the setting in driving the plot. As titles are typically meant to be somewhat descriptive, Chopin's choice to title this piece "The Storm" implies that the events of the storm metaphorically stand in for the events that occur between the characters.
You can chart the plot development of this story onto the progression of the storm itself. The storm provides the inciting incident: it strands Alcée outside in the rain and forces him to seek shelter with Calixta. In the exposition, Chopin offers an ominous personification of the storm, saying that "sombre clouds were rolling with sinister intention from the west." As the drama between Alcée and Calixta rises, so do the elements outside their window, turning into lightning and "torrents." The storm mirrors the passion of their reunion, and accordingly subsides as they lie in each other's arms.
The final line of the story, "So the storm passed and everyone was happy," continues Chopin's metaphor (potentially verging on euphemism here) as she uses "the storm" to signify the affair. By analyzing the way the titular storm operates in this story, in terms of creating the plot and conveying the characters' roiling emotions through pathetic fallacy, you can explore how Chopin uses setting as an integral part of her narrative.
What does the title "The Storm" by Kate Chopin signify and how does it relate to a theme?
The title of Kate Chopin’s short story “The Storm” functions as a symbol that comments on the theme of female sexuality. In the story, female sexuality is recognized as both a choice and an empowering force. Ironically, it does this in two very different ways for the two female figures of the story.
From the moment we first meet her, Calixta is linked to a form of female sexuality. In a moment of foreshadowing that deepens the connection between the storm and sexuality, we learn that although Calixta “did not notice that approaching storm,” “she felt very warm and often stopped to mop her face on which the perspiration gathered in beads.” Moments later, her ex-lover, Alcée, appears at the door.
The language used to describe the conditions produced by the storm is sensual in nature. We learn that it is “stifling hot,” and when a nearby bolt of lightning strikes, the language is particularly sexual:
Calixta put her hands to her eyes, and with a cry, staggered backward. Alcée's arm encircled her, and for an instant he drew her close and spasmodically to him.
Perhaps ironically, Calixta’s newly discovered sexuality does not seem to threaten her identity as a wife or a mother. In fact, it seems to strengthen it, as we learn that she is more patient with her family upon their return.
Conversely, the storm provides Clarisse with the power to escape from her sexual identity as Alcée’s wife. Although this movement is the opposite of Calixta’s in that Clarisse uses the storm to vacate her sexuality, the end result is the same. We learn that, in so doing, Clarisse is able to “restore the pleasant liberty of her maiden days.” For these two characters, the storm functions as a symbol of sexuality that achieves very similar ends through opposite means.
In "The Storm" by Kate Chopin, how does the setting influence plot, character, and theme?
The storm provides the reason for Bobinôt's not returning home, just as it allows for Alcée's stopping for shelter. In its charged energy, the storm also acts as a catalyst for the maelstrom of emotions that arise in Calixta and Alcée.
Kate Chopin's short story "The Storm" is a sequel to a story entitled "At the 'Cadian Ball." In this story, Alcée Laballière, a Creole planter, loses a crop of rice when a cyclone rips through his nine hundred acres on which he has toiled for months. One night, in his frustration, he secretly leaves home and attends a Cajun ball where Acadian girls seek their future husbands. At this ball, Alcée sees Calixta, a beautiful Cajun from a lower social class. They are strongly attracted to each other. However, their class differences forbid their marriage, and Alcée is not willing to risk his class standing or potentially bring shame to his family by having a relationship with her. Calixta then settles for Bobinôt, who is also Cajun.
When Alcée rides up to Calixta's house, she sees him for the first time since the ball five years ago. Then, as a particularly brilliant flash of lightning strikes a chinaberry tree at the edge of Bobinôt's field, Calixta is so frightened that she covers her eyes, cries out in fear, and staggers backward. Alcée catches her, and she cries out in her anxiety about the safety of her little son.
Alcée clasped her shoulders and looked into her face. The contact of her warm, palpitating body when he unthinkingly had drawn her into his arms, had aroused all the old-time infautation and desire for her flesh.
The storm has acted as a catalyst, igniting their old passion for one another. It also creates a milieu charged with electricity which, along with the elements of wind and rain, transforms the appearance of the environment. Alone with each other after all these years in a disguised setting that removes them from their usual thoughts, Alcée and Calixta feel this charged air between themselves; instantly, their old passion is rekindled. The fire of this passion, like the fire of the strike of lightning, ignites all the old feelings that they have tried to bury. Under the cover of a turbulent environment that seems to be in sympathy with them, Calixta and Alcée surrender to their passion for one another.
The generous abundance of her passion, without guile or trickery, was like a white flame which penetrated and found response in the depth of his own sensuous nature that had never yet been reached.
When the storm is over, Alcée rides away, but not before he turns and smiles at her. She lifts "her pretty chin in the air" and laughs aloud. Their storm of passion is at its end, and Calixta happily embraces her family when they return, expressing her satisfaction that they have returned safely. Also content, Alcée writes to his wife in a loving tone. He generously extends his permission for her to prolong her stay with old friends and acquaintances.
The manner in which both Calixta and Alcée appear to be happier and satisfied illustrates Chopin's controversial theme that some liberty is a necessary part of a happy marriage.
"The Storm" takes place in a village in coastal Louisiana, with the most prominent setting being the home of Calixta and Bobinôt. Aside from the house, however, the time, place, and circumstances related to the setting also play a lot of importance in who the characters are in society.
The home, described as a small house whose salient trait is the "white, monumental bed," is of great importance because it is in that bed that Calixta and Alcée, her former flame, end up passing the storm.
The house, where Calixta spends a lot of her time alone even though she is married with children, ends up housing her former boyfriend, who was passing by and whom she had not seen for a while after her marriage. What this means is that the house seems to have called the lovers back together to fulfill their wishes of intimacy in the bedroom, while keeping everyone away due to the huge storm that came over the town.
The hidden aspects revealed by the storm are evident in Alcée and Calixta more than any other characters. Calixta resents her lonely life after marriage, and she is certainly not fulfilled. She is so unfulfilled that it takes just a few touches from Alcée for the two to become immediately engaged in a sexual act. Alcée has always loved Calixta but he is also married. Yet he also seems shocked at the fact that they have finally become intimate even when they had opportunities in the past but never took them.
One more important fact about the setting is that the story takes place in 19th century Louisiana. There were social differences among the French descendants of the first French generation that lived in the area. Calixta and Bobinôt speak like what the novel calls "Cadians." These are the Acadians, or the inhabitants of Acadia in Nova Scotia, who are descendants of French-Americans that then took exile in Louisiana.
As such, they speak differently, are not considered sophisticated in their insistence on using French, and are generally regarded as inferior to the Creoles, who descend from the original French settlers. Alcée and his wife are Creoles, and it is evident in how Alcée's wife is away traveling while he is here. They seem to come from a higher class, and their English is spoken more clearly than that of Calixta and her family.
Hence, the time and place of the setting reveal that there are differences among the inhabitants of the area. These differences are mainly found in the way they speak, which reveals who they are in society and what their lineage is.
Additionally, the setting of the small house with the huge bed under a massive storm creates the opportunity for the two main characters to become isolated and answer to their inner desires once they are alone in the right place and in the right time.
In Kate Chopin's "The Storm," how does the setting reinforce the plot?
Kate Chopin's "The Storm" is a sequel to "At the 'Cadian Ball" in which Calixta and Alcee had gone to Assumption in another storm of passion, having planned another meeting in New Orleans for the following year, but Alcee's wife Clarisse intervened by arranging for Alcee to marry her.
In the aftermath of their intensely passionate relationship, Calixta has also married. However, with her husband and son waiting at Friedheimer's store for the turbulence to end before returning home, Alcee appears at Calixta's house seeking shelter. When a bolt of lightning strikes the ever-symbolic chinaberry tree, their passion for one another is reignited. In this naturalistic story in which the characters behave in accord with their natural, animalistic drives and impulses, the parallels between the setting of the storm and the emotions of the characters becomes apparent.
The pomegranate color of her lips and her dove-like appearance awaken the sensuous nature of Alcee,
The generous abundance of her passion, without guile or trickery, was like a white flame which penetrated and found response in depths of his own sensuous nature that had never yet been reached.
In a maelstrom of sexual desire, Calixta and Alcee satisfy their natural
impulses that wax and wane with the storm. And, once the storm has
abated, so, too, does their passion:
The growl of the thunder was distant and passing away. The rain beat softly upon the shingles, inviting them to drowsiness and sleep. But they dared not yield.
Alcee returns home, and Calixta cheerfully welcomes her son and husband; further, having had her emotions spent in the storm, the fastitidious housekeeper does not scold her family for being muddy. Similarly, having his desires and emotions released in the passionate storm of his lovemaking, Alcee writes to his wife, encouraging her to enjoy herself and remain away longer. As a storm often benefits nature, so, too, the "storm" of passion serve to ease both Alcee and Calixta. For, with their liberating experience during the storm, the man and woman are provided a liberty that saves them from the confinement and tensions of their marriages. Certainly, the storm is a metaphor for the importance of natural releases of emotion that provide people the freedom they need as creatures of the natural order.
What is the tone of Kate Chopin's "The Storm"?
I agree with you that the tone of Chopin's "The Storm" is sympathetic.
One place to find evidence to support your conclusion about tone is in the description. A speaker's description of characters will usually reveal his/her attitude toward those characters.
In paragraph twelve, the speaker describes Calixta as follows:
She was a little fuller of figure than five years before when she married; but she had lost nothing of her vivacity. Her blue eyes still retained their melting quality; and her yellow hair, dishevelled by the wind and rain, kinked more stubbornly than ever about her ears and temples.
The speaker describes her character as vivacious, and the character's eyes melt. The speaker uses specific detail--"about her ears and temples"--to give her character verisimilitude, or realism, and to create imagery; to make the face concrete. The speaker encourages the reader to imagine Calixta in her vivaciousness.
In paragraph twenty, when Calixta staggers backward, she is "encircled" by Alcee's arm--a protective, tender motion. When she cannot compose herself,
Alcee clasped her shoulders and looked into her face. The contact of her warm, palpitating body when he had unthinkingly drawn her into his arms, had aroused all the one-time infatuation and desire for her flesh.
The moment is described positively. Again, specific detail creates imagery--Alcee "looked into her face"; her body is "warm" and "palpitating"; his infatuation and desire are "aroused." The imagery makes the movement concrete, as well as adding verisimilitude. And the images are positive and tender.
This is the moment that leads directly into what society calls adultery, but the speaker considers fulfillment and necessary passion.
The speaker's description reveals the tone to be sympathetic.
How does the storm reflect real life in Kate Chopin's "The Storm"?
In Kate Chopin's story, the literal storm of turbulent weather parallels the figurative storm of human emotion.
Interestingly, both storms have been brewing for a time. In a previous story
with which "The Storm" is paired--"At the 'Cadian Ball"--passions have been
stirred to stormy levels between the Acadian beauty, Calixta, and the wealthy,
upper-class Creole, Alceé. However, before anything happens between the two,
the equally lovely Clarisse, who is of Alceé's social class, tells him she
loves him. So, Alceé soon marries her. With no chance of having Alceé,
Calixta settles for one of her own social level, an Acadian named
Bobinot.
After a while, Alceé's love for his wife has cooled. Then, in the sequel story,
"The Storm," while Bobinot and the son Bibi are out with a cyclone
approaching, Alceé is in the area of Calixta's house and the weather
threatens his safe return home. When she steps outside, Alceé Laballiere rides
his horse in under an overhanging protection and asks if he may wait out the
storm.
May I come and wait on your gallery till the storm is over, Calixta? he asked.
"Come 'long in, M'sieur Alceé."
Calixta has not seen Alceé much since her marriage, and then never alone. Perhaps, if the storm were not present, forcing Bobinot and Bibi to delay their return, and if the lightning bolt were not to flash and send a blinding glare and terrible crash, frightening Calixta into Alceé's arms, nothing may have happened. But, the clash of nature's elements has charged the air and this electricity penetrates the hearts of the two who once loved each other. Thus, a storm of nature begets a natural storm of emotion, and Calixta and Alceé make love with great passion.
The growl of the thunder was distant and passing away. The rain beat softly upon the shingles, inviting them to drowsiness and sleep. But they dare not yield.
Returning to their responsibilities after the storm, Alceé rides away, and Calixta prepares supper when Bobinot and Bibi return. Jubilantly, she greets her family, both storms forgotten.
That same night Alceé Laballiere writes to his wife, encouraging her to stay longer in Biloxi if she and the children are enjoying themselves. For, he writes that he is faring well and is willing to endure the separation for their happiness. Madame Laballiere is glad to receive his note because she has missed the "pleasant liberty of her maiden days," and is in no hurry to resume their conjugal life.
Much like a storm, human emotions rage and, just as quickly sometimes, they abate. The storm of passion between Calixta and Alceé, like a huge thunderstorm or cyclone, has been brewing for some time. Finally, it, too, rages, but its passion abates afterwards.
What is the symbolic setting in Kate Chopin's short story "The Storm"?
Your question relates to the richly symbolic way in which the storm, which of course is such an important part of the setting of this excellent short story, impinges on the lives of the two central characters: Calixta and Alcee. Ever since their last encounter, their passions for each other have been simmering just like the way in which, before a massive summer storm, the air becomes heavy and oppressive. The release of the storm triggers a release in their passions and emotions that is paralleled by the sounds of the tempest outside of the house:
They did not heed the crashing torrents, and the roar of the elements made her laugh as she lay in his arms. She was a revelation in that dim, mysterious chamber; as white as the couch she lay upon.
The setting is thus very important in terms of the way it symbolises the unleashing of emotions and feelings repressed for so long between Calixta and Alcee. Note too, the way in which this symbolism is continued after their secret tryst. Both of their marriages are shown to benefit from this release of passion, just in the same way that we are all grateful for an intense summer storm and the way that it restores everything to its fresh state. Chopin obviously thought that a bit of marital infidelity here and there could actually be constructive rather than destructive, and the setting shows this.
How does "The Storm" by Kate Chopin depict women's emotional and mental struggles?
Chopin's "The Storm" reveals the emotional and mental struggles of women even when briefly mentioning a minor character, Clarisse, in the final paragraph of the story. Visiting Biloxi with her babies, the "first free breath since her marriage seemed to restore the pleasant liberty of her [Clarisse's] maiden days." Chopin demonstrates that a second woman (in addition to Calixta) finds freedom from the confines of marriage invigorating. Clarisse's marriage is apparently suffocating her, figuratively speaking. She feels a lack of "pleasant liberty" in her marriage. Note that it is her role as wife that is suffocating, not her role as mother, since she has her babies with her in Biloxi. Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" presents a parallel to Clarisse, a minor character, by telling the story of Mrs. Mallard, the protagonist, if you wanted more details on the writer's views on marriage.
The main character of "The Storm," Calixta, fulfills her "birthright"--the right of a woman to express and experience true passion--during her spontaneous encounter with Alcee. She is a "revelation," a "creamy lily that the sun invites to contribute its breath and perfume to the undying life of the world." Her "generous abundance" of passion, expressed "without guile or trickery," even leads Alcee to "depths of his own sensuous nature that had never yet been reached." As a spontaneous pair, the two "swoon together at the very borderland of life's mystery."
The struggles of women, according to Chopin, include the lack of liberty in marriage, and the lack of true, spontaneous passion. The latter, at least, in a birthright.
Notice, too, that the "over-scrupulous housewife" that Bobinot is afraid to come home to is transformed by true passion into the doting mother and wife who "seemed to express nothing but satisfaction at their safe return." Bobinot and Bibi are happy at the close of the story. Calixta is a better wife, and Alcee a better husband. Even Clarisse reaps the benefits of this true passion.
"So the storm passed [the literal and figurative] and everyone was happy."
What is the theme of "The Storm" by Kate Chopin?
In Chopin's "The Storm," the fulfillment of passion and desire has a cleansing effect like that of rain on the marriages of the adulterers.
Alcee and Calixta, with a history of sexual encounter, find their passion reawakened when Calixta, scared by the storm, reacts by moving into Alcee's arms. The sexual descriptions would have been controversial enough in Chopin's day, but the approval the story grants to the encounter even more so.
Instead of her usual grouchiness and condemnation when her husband and son enter the house after walking through the aftermath of the storm, Calixta is welcoming and warm, fulfilled by her passion. Alcee, too, is loving to his wife, and tells her to stay away on her vacation for longer than planned if she'd like to.
Alcee's wife, too, finds marriage confining, and her vacation from her husband is welcome for her, too.
The story suggests that not only is adultery not harmful, but it is liberating and cleansing, and even necessary for a succesful marriage. The brief adultery is harmless, and even helpful.
In my opinion, the theme of this story is sexual liberation and freedom. Specifically, I think that Chopin is saying that people should do what they want to sexually -- they should do what feels good rather than sticking to what society tells them it is alright to do.
I think you can see this because of a couple of things.
- Neither Alcee nor Calixta is unhappy with marriage in general or with their own marriage. So it is not a story about hating marriage as an institution.
- Nothing bad happens to either of them as a result of their infidelity. So it is not a story that is meant to teach conventional sexual morality.
Instead, it seems that the point of the story is that this fling during the storm was satisfying for both of them and that that was a good thing.
How does the setting affect Kate Chopin's "The Storm"?
What also makes the storm setting so significant is how it is an example of pathetic fallacy, a literary device that attributes human feelings to nature. That is, the violent storm reflects the intense carnal and emotional feelings of the characters of Alcée Laballiere and Calixta, feelings initiated in the first story of the paired narratives by Kate Chopin. In "At the 'Cadian Ball" the young Creole gentleman planter stands in the doorway of the ballroom with a "feverish glance" directed toward Calixta, a lower-class Cajun, whom literary critics refer to as "interstitial" in her placement in a social class as she is also described as having hair "that kinked worse than a mulatto's."
This intense forbidden carnal attraction that Alcée feels goes unrequited and he marries Clarisse Laballière of a prestigious family, a woman whose sexual urges do not match her husband's. So in the sequel story, "The Storm," the turbulence of the weather imitates the storm of emotion within Alcée, who finds himself stopping for shelter at the home of Calixta, whose senses were left "reeling" at the ball when Alcée's lips brushed her ear "like the touch of a rose." When she is alone with the man who has ignited passion in her and she is already in an emotional state from her fright at the turbulent weather, their reactions are as spontaneous as the lightning:
The generous abundance of her passion, without guile or trickery, was like a white flame which penetrated and found response in depths of his own sensuous nature that had never yet been reached.