The Storm By Kate Chopin

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it is doubtful that in writing "The Storm" so soon after completing her 'feminist' novel, Chopin had "the protest of "The Awakening" off her mind" (p169).

The Coming of the Storm

The title of "The Storm", with its obvious connotations of sexual energy and passion, is of course critical to any interpretation of the narrative. Chopin's title refers to nature, which is symbolically feminine; the storm can therefore be seen as symbolic of feminine sexuality and passion, and the image of the storm will be returned to again and again throughout the story. At the beginning of the tale, which is divided into five sections, Bobinôt and his young son Bibi decide to wait out a rapidly approaching storm at the store. Bobinôt's wife, Calixta, is home alone, tending to the household chores. The second section begins with Calixta being unaware that a storm is imminent:
She sat at a side window sewing furiously on a sewing machine. She was greatly occupied and did not notice the ...

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equal to his four-year old son: "Bobinôt... was accustomed to converse on terms of perfect equality with his little son" (p209). There is a mutual attraction between Calixta and Alcée, and this attraction is not new: "She had not seen him very often since her marriage, and never alone" (p209). Their acquaintance with each other is explained in another Chopin story, "At the 'Cadian Ball" (1892), but in this earlier story the attraction between Calixta and Alcée is only briefly explored.
With Alcée's arrival comes the beginning of the rain, and he asks to wait out the storm on the front gallery:
"May I come and wait on your gallery till the storm is over, Calixta?" he asked.
"Come ...

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