Introduction
”The Storm”, by Kate Chopin, is regarded as the voice of women’s liberation and free will. Freedom of passion, desire, and sexuality is the core theme of this work. Her work is highly enjoyed and appreciated by genuine readers of literature because it depicts a sensational scene of a cold stormy evening, and a man and women, who once had been emotionally attached to each other, and who, due to several reasons, couldn’t get married to each other, are now together in the lone house, completely alone. Thundering of storm, and fire of physical desire, the unfulfilled dreams of becoming part of each other is compelling both the “Calixta” and “Alcée” to emerge into each other(Chopin,. 2013), emerge deeply enough to forget everything about their martial lives and their respective spouses.
Discussion
The story “The Storm” by “Kate Chopin” has been a sensation in all aspects. Firstly, it was a social stigma at the time it was written. It came under such heavy criticism that this book was only given permission to be published after 70 years of its completion. For those who have the passion for written material, called it “Enticing”, enticing sexuality to the extent where one has very little or virtually no control whatsoever. To many the story, at large is quite near to the normal human passions and desires.
The art and esthetic remain one of the best sides of the whole story. Kate Chopin has always been amazingly different in using appellations and things and situations. Here, too, she continued her excellence in using the title “Storm”. Violent storms are quite often destructive in Louisiana, but Chopin has kept the word the storm and played with it in such a marvelous way that the word cited in the story sounds to be something really good.
In fact, she used the storm as a solid reason behind the chance of “Calixta” and “Alcée” becoming alone and having passionate sex since the husband of Calixta, “Binot,” and her little son, “Bibi,” are stuck at Friedheimer`s store due to the violent storm. Alcee, too, had to stop by and look for shelter because of the storm.
The opening of the story is as interesting and as skillful as the entire play is. The opening doesn’t talk about any main character at all and talks about the little boy Bibi and his father Binot, who are shown to be stuck due to a heavy storm and are taking shelter in a store. The young Bibi, the little boy, is worried about his mother. The second part of the story opens with the scene of Calixta, who is alone at home and waiting for his husband, Binot, and son, Bibi. She is shown to be busy with her house chores when she begins to notice the approach of a storm. As she is preparing to wind up the goods she had to collect from outside the house(Chopin,. 2016), she finds her old lover “Alce Labarille,” stopped by and looking for shelter from the storm; as they both Calixta recognizes Alce, and invites him to get inside her house to wait till the storm calms down, The real script of the story begins.
As Chopin tells us about the past affair between the two and then the separation and subsequent marriages to their respective spouses. After telling the story of the past emotional affair between the two, Chopin makes us ready to plunge into and feel the passion and heat of the moment. So starts the breathtaking scene of physical intimacy between the two old lovers. Chopin jumps from directly from telling about the thundering sound of the storm to Alce grabbing Calixta and kissing her, loving her to the extent of penetrating her. Calixta, on the other hand, is shown as complexly involved and enjoying the advances of her ex-lover.
At the end of the second part, Calixta and Storm are both shown to be calm, and Alce leaves the house of Calixta in a happy mood; Calixta sees off Alce and receives Bonita and Bibi in a welcoming way. In the last part of the play, Chopin tries to infuse a somewhat strange and different idea, which says that the effects of having sex out of marriage between the two ex-lovers made each one of them more caring and committed towards their respective spouses. Alce writes a letter to his wife “Clarissa”, who is out of town without her husband for the first time after their marriage, and further permits her to stay as long as she feels like staying.
Conclusion
Though a very fine piece of provoking and alluring art by Kate Chopin, I have some disagreements and reservations about the story of the play. My reservation is not at all about physical pleasure or romance between the opposite sex, but the idea that married couples having illegitimate adulterous relations with others are acceptable(Petry,. 1996), or even healthy in the case of “The Storm by Kate Chopin,” is altogether washing away the role of husband and wife, and of marriage by itself. People do get married because the human body needs the opposite sex`s body to quench the thirst of desires. But if fulfilling the physical desire is that easy and simple to achieve, as Chopin wants to make the case, then why would people not have marital relations anymore in the first place? Though the storytelling was fabulous and involving, the message it contains does not create a positive impact.
References
Chopin, Kate. The story of an hour. Blackstone Audio, 2013.
Petry, Alice Hall, ed. Critical Essays on Kate Chopin. Twayne Publishers, 1996.
Chopin, Kate. Kate Chopin: The Complete Novels and Stories. Book House Publishing, 2016.
