Kate Chopin's novel The Storm
The Storm depicts the unfulfilling case of relationships and circumstances that are typical in contemporary society. The work depicts a woman, Calixta, having extramarital sex with an old boyfriend, Alcee, in a Louisiana setting. When the hurricane ends, both parties are happy.
The concept of an unfulfilling marriage
Via the use of a woman, the author is able to present the core concept of an unfulfilling marriage. She portrays Calixta as an opportunist who finds fulfillment in a romantic relationship with her ex-boyfriend. The job employs metaphors and allegory to demonstrate the couple's unhappy union.
An unfulfilling marriage between Calixta and Bobinot
The couple, Calixta and Bobinot, have an unfulfilling marriage where his wife sees him more as her second child than a husband. Bobinot is to an extent a subservient husband in such a way that he was "accustomed to conversing on terms of perfect equality with his little son." The statement indicates he had lowered himself to the level of his young son. His discussion with the son indicates a wiser son than him when he disagrees with the father that "...Sylvie was helping her yesterday." The statement shows that Bibi reasons better than his father and thus his wife takes him as her child. The statement Calixta states when Bibi and his father arrive also points out how the husband is viewed as a child. She quotes, "Shrimps! Oh, Bobinot! You too good for nothing!"
Lack of sexual intimacy
There are indications that there is a lack of sexual intimacy between Bobinot and Calixta. There are three symbols that are used to show the life of the couple and how their lives were unfulfilling. Calixta agrees to have sex with a stranger, an indication that she was not getting sexual satisfaction from her husband. Calixta, after having sex, returns to her marriage satisfied and more renewed to make her marriage, she quotes that "after the storm everyone was happy." As the ex-lover walks away, Calixta "lifted her pretty chin in the air and laughed loudly" indicating how she was satisfied with the extramarital encounter. Her satisfaction and lack of guilt proves that she has not been satisfied in her sexual intimacy with the husbands. The monumental white bed had closed shutters looking dim and mysterious. The white bed, white neck, and whiter breasts showing unexplored passion or unexploited love.
Fulfillment after the encounter
Calixta, as well as her illegitimate sexual partner, got fulfilled after the encounter. The section shows how the two were fulfilled after the exposure. The use of symbols in the Storm are birthright, white flame, and borderland of life's mystery. Birthright is indicated to show the original love that should have been exploited long ago before she was married. Birthright is a symbol showing the true ownership where Calixta and Alcee should have explored before they both married. The use of white flame in the story is an indication of satisfaction as well as a show of lack of satisfaction. The author quotes, "The door stood open, and the room with its white, monumental bed, its closed shutters, looked dim and mysterious." The statement puts that the door was open to the white monumental indicating the need to be sexually satisfied. The white flame symbolizes chastity or purity in the relationship. Whiter breasts showing how chastity, or lack of being exploited by the husband. Borderland is used in the storm to show how they crossed the moral and social fences of married couples through having sex when they were married to different people. It indicates the couple were satisfied with the encounter and that they were willing to break boundaries to get fulfilled.
The significance of the encounter
The Storm presents a highly romantic encounter between couples who are not satisfied in their marital love. Their encounter is a sign that an extramarital encounter can drive the couples to redeem their marriages.
Work Cited
Chopin, Kate, Storm. 1989
