The Storm by Kate Chopin - Essay Example

Kate Chopin has tried to present the idea of relationships in an entirely new light. From the story, it appears that marriage is simply a chain to one’s sexuality and it bounds both man and woman to the mundane daily routines. Sexuality is ignored for the greater part of the time and hence it is necessary to spend some time outside the marital responsibilities in order to satisfy one’s sexual desires.

The title of the story, ‘The Storm’, itself symbolizes the sexual constraint between Calixta and Alcee. The storm is seen as a feminine element in the storm that is shown to be interlinked to Calixta’s sexuality. As the scene between Calixta and Alcee progresses, the storm also comes nearer indicating that the sexual tension has reached its apex. And only when Calixta is satisfied and her sexual desires subside, the storm goes away. In other words, the storm is a representation of Calixta’s sexuality.

The story which Chopin has presented is actually kind of a rebellion against the society she lived in. The women in that society were supposed to be innocent, faithful to their marital life and suppressive of their sexuality.  What Chopin presents is an entirely different scenario. Through this story, she openly criticizes the institute of marriage by presenting it as a barrier to one’s sexuality. Even though at the end of the story everyone is happy individually but if Calixta is seen with her husband, it is obvious that she did not enjoy the marital life with her husband, or else she would never have conceded to have sex with Alcee or hidden anything about this episode from his husband. The same reasoning also holds true for Alcee since he is also shown to have a perfect relationship with his wife when despite having a sexual affair with Calixta, he writes to her but does not mention anything about the brief encounter he had with her ex-girlfriend.

The Storm can be said to be a story that portrays the feministic ideology of the current society. Freedom for women, not only in its literal sense but also attaining freedom of expressing and enjoying one’s sexuality is seen as an important message from the story. Also, the tone of the story seems to be encouraging the characters to experience what they internally desired.

Kate Chopin’s ‘The Storm’ makes a very nice read due to its different and controversial subject. The way the magic of this short story has been woven really grasps the reader’s attention.