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InThe Storm The Storm In Kate Chopin s The Storm, the story suggests that passion kept hidden inside will rage violently like a storm until this passion is released. Chopin relates the storm outside with the storm of emotions going on between the characters, Calixta and Alcee, inside Calixta s home. The intensity of their sexual act inside the house follows the pattern of the storm outside. Their passion climaxes and diminishes with the storm. The storm outside had been brewing for some time, just as it had been between Calixta and Alcee. As the storm outside increases, the sexual tension between Calixta and Alcee increases.
They move through the rooms of the house until they reach Calixta s bedroom. We see a lack of passion in marriage represented by the separate beds that Calixta and her husband, Bobinot, have. But the room s description also hints at the mystery of passion: The door stood open, and the room with its white, monumental bed, its closed shutters, looked dim and mysterious. These images seem to contrast one another, the white purity of innocence versus the dark passion that lies within.
Also, Chopin alludes to the character s attraction to each other from a previous meeting, and how the fiery passion between them is smothered by society s views on premarital sex and virginity. But Alcee and Calixta are not pure in this meeting. Both are in marriages that lack passion and this passion which they desire is free to be experienced in this moment. Just like the storm beating down the barriers of the house trying to expose them to the outside elements, the barriers between Calixta and Alcee were diminishing. The storm rages on and the drama of the lightning intensifies their feelings. The playing of 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. The lightning is a symbol of the passion felt between Calixta and Alcee. It draws them together. She falls into his arms and their desire could not be denied once they touched.
They did not turn and run from the storm of passion within them, but instead released it. Their passion for each other made them oblivious to the storm raging outside. They did not heed the crashing torrents, and the roar of the elements made her laugh as she lay in his arms. Relaxation and calm is the feeling one gets after a storm has passed. This is what they both felt after their brief encounter.
The rain was over; and the sun was turning the glistening green world into a palace of gems. He turned and smiled at her with a beaming face. The storm inside them is satisfied for the moment. They were calmed by this act just as the earth is satisfied and calmed by the rainstorm.
They felt whole and replenished again. A storm does many things for nature. It replenishes, feeds, and allows nature to grow. The storm between Alcee and Calixta did all of those things. Their desire was fed and satisfied. This storm rejuvenated their lives with their families as the other storm rejuvenated and replenished the earth outside.
The following passage was used to describe Calixta and her family at dinner that same night. The three of them seated themselves at the table they laughed much and so loud that anyone might have heard them as far away as Laballiere s. It also replenished Alcee s relationship with his wife. Alcee Laballiere wrote to his wife, Clarisse, that night.
It was a loving letter, full of tender solicitude. Throughout the story, Chopin presents the characters passion through the imagery of the storm. Their passion climaxes and diminishes with the intensity of the storm. Her characters are unaware of the passion within themselves, and it is only by casting aside their constraints of society that they are able to unleash this passion. The storm makes Alcee and Calixta newly aware of the depths of passion within themselves. The storm between them gave them new life and satisfaction.
They could appreciate everything they have once again. So the storm passed and everyone was happy. The last line of the story allows us an ambiguous ending that unifies the central idea of the story. One may see the storm s passage as a happy ending, or one may see it as the storm will return again, only to destroy both of their lives.
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Research essay sample on Calixta And Alcee Passion Climaxes And Diminishes Storm
