The Storm: The Connection Between Calixta And Alcee

Kate Chopin wrote the short story “The Storm” one of her most bold stories and did not even intention to publish it (Cutter 191). The two main characters in the story are Calixta and Alcee. They both used to be attracted to one another in previous years, but now they are both married to someone else. After Alcee arrives to Calixta’s house looking for shelter they are driven into a passionate moment. In the story “The Storm” the storm has a significant meaning; without it the affair of Calixta and Alcee performed would not have been as powerful as it was between them. “The Storm” has a great deal of symbolism throughout the story: the clouds, the use of color white, the storm relative to the affair, the after effects of the affair, Calixta,

The storm is symbolised as a purifier of the soul, washing away her material possessions. The storm is also considered destructive as well as renewing life for mankind. The struggles against the storm were worth the price to pay, as the obstacles she had faced earlier, no longer exist.

A basic thunderstorm, goes through three phases during its lifetime: cumulus, mature, and dissipating. These storms can last between 30 minutes to an hour. When we see a thunderstorm coming, knowing the stage of the storm, can help us determine how much impact it will have on the area around you. (Life Cycle of a Thunderstorm) Although we can see a storm coming in the distance we don’t realize the damage or the impact that the storm is going to have. Sometimes we are hit with thunderstorms in life that we do not see coming, and when it comes we don’t realize the impact that it will have on us. Sometimes if we are prepared for them, we can handle the situation much better. In “The Storm”, Calixta has a storm that’s brewing in her personal life, and she too does not realize what is

'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.

Kate Chopin's  "The Storm" focuses on two simultaneous and related storms, one a fierce tempest of the natural world with the expected rain, wind, lightening, and thunder, the other a cyclone of the mind and heart which results in an short love affair between the two main characters. With her husband Bobinot and her son Bibi stranded in town by the storm, Calixta finds herself at home alone when an old lover, Alcee, rides up. The storm, the worst in two years, drives the two indoors, where, though they have not met in five years, they soon are embracing each other. As the storm outside reaches a climax, the emotions in the house spike to a fever pitch, and, though not directly

When Alcee rides up at the beginning of the storm Calixta gathers her husband s Sunday clothes in order to remember her sense of duty and loyalty to her husband.  Respecting social graces, Alcee tries to stay outside, but the storm drives him into the house.  Inside Calixta s home Alcee can see into her  dim and mysterious  bedroom, this foreshadows the forbidden relationship that takes place.

This conceit of the storm continues throughout much of the story with the storm's crescendo symbolizing a climax in Calixta and Alcee`'s sexual encounter. At first, the obvious desire between the pair is sublimated into a nervous tension, and the effort to restrain their physical longing for the sake of social mores is paramount. Calixta exclaims, "If this keeps up, Dieu sait if the levees goin' to stan' it," which is symbolically indicative of the growing force of their passion and the weakening of their resistance before that passion. A blinding bolt of lightening breaks the lovers' nervous tension, much as it splits through the air and strikes the chinaberry tree. This violent crash precipitates Calixta and Alcee`'s first embrace and kiss, and the affair that ensues vividly matches the progress of the raging storm. The storm reaches a crescendo, which Calixta views as a delightful counterpart to their passionate love-making, for, "they did not heed the crashing torrents, and the roar of the elements made her laugh as she lay in his arms" (284). To make the parallel between the storm and Alcee and Calixta's affair particularly evident, Chopin consistently uses this conceit until the end of the encounter, for the thunder

The short story, “The Storm” by Kate Chopin is about a love that could never be until it briefly was. The point that Chopin was trying to get across was that Calixta and Alcee had a strong passion for one-another, and perhaps loved each other, but they could never have been married because of their social differences. It is a passionate, but brief affair between two married people from different social classes that takes place during a cyclone in Louisiana around 1898. The story symbolizes the freedom that a woman felt inside after the rain during a time when women had no freedom. (Firtha lesson 2 page 1)

The storm is menacing, it rolls in “somber…with sinister intention.” Chopin allows us to see the storm build up slowly, reaching its highpoint, and passing. The storm builds chaotically to its climax, Alcee and Calixta are together. As the storm dies out and fades away everything is quiet again in terms of the relationship. The reader can make the assumption that the marriages are unharmed, but it shows that they aren’t perfect.

I will start with The Storm, the Initial Situation, The storm begins and Calixta was at home alone. Bobinôt, was away from home and can't protect his wife. When I was reading the story I was given the impression that a woman is alone and possibly in danger back at the house. The Conflict began when Calixta's old lover arrives at her house just in time to be stuck indoors with by the storm. It would be one thing if Calixta had to wait out the storm alone, worrying about her husband and small son being in stuck in the storm perhaps with no shelter But she's not alone: as soon as the storm starts, her ex lover showed up. We know trouble was about to start. Of course we know what happened next, Alcee and Calista had sex as part of the climax of the story. Now here is the Suspense part of the story ,Calixta's family returns home just after Alcée leaves. Will they cross paths? Will Calixta be able to cover up what has just happened? Those were the first question that came to mind while i was reading the story. Poor Bobinôt worries over whether Calixta will be angry with them when they return home although he was not the guilty party. but it all turns out to be just fine. To conclude the plot of the story, everyone benefits from the affair, and no one finds out about it. No one's going to find out about all the action that just happened. Alcée and Calixta's secret is officially safe,

The title of 'The Storm'; gives the reader a peek into the underlying meaning of the story. It obviously

“The Storm” is not only the title of the short story, but it is also part of the main setting that

The author employed the use of symbolism in the description of the storm. Storm, a natural phenomenon that brings about extreme weather condition that might lead to an undesirable outcome. "The Storm" in the context of the selection brought about a positive outcome. “The storm” in the story is not the physical storm that occurred outside with heavy downpour, but the coming together of Alcee and Bobinot. A physical storm forms when the atmosphere is saturated with water and droplets of water pour out from the sky. The symbolic importance of the storm represents the liberation of Alcee and Calixta, from the shackles of societal or moral expectation. "He pushed her hair back from her face that was warm and streaming her" (425). Although Alcee pushed Calixta’s hair back to see her face, the author’s interpretation was not physical. Chopin meant that Alcee was able to set Calixta free from the bondage of marriage temporarily.

The author’s frightening story, “The Storm” has all the expected things that a good scary story should have. It has a story line that gains suspense throughout the story, there is irony, and there is lots of

No storm is experienced the same. Seeing a storm on the horizon has the power to stir up gripping memories, introspective thoughts, and convoluted emotions. The poem “Storm Warnings”, by Adrienne Rich, applies a predictable structure paired with flowing syntax, and ambiguous diction- speaking both of weather and emotions- to illustrate that one cannot avoid the tribulations of life, embodied as the approaching storm, but instead prepare for their arrival.