Freedom and Love in "The Storm" by Kate Chopin

Categories: Kate Chopin

The Storm by Kate Chopin uses imagery, language and symbolism to portray the complicative aspect of marriage that we do not see, a woman’s freedom to love, freedom and equity. Wan noted that (woman) “ suffers and assumes sole responsibility for her life, which then depends on her own efforts, freedom becomes a negative condition and she herself is indeed a solitary soul” (Wan Xuemei, Pg 2). Marriage is a beautiful union but its more beautiful when you get married to the right partner, it is beautiful when there is love, companionship, friendship.

In Equity everyone should be treated with fairness disregarding the gender. Bobint and Calixta in this story both show that marriage has some complicated issues as long as we are not in the marriage.

Bobint, Calixta’s husband and Bibi, their child are stuck out in the storm. Alcee who was Calixta’s old time lover who haven’t seen Calixta her in a long time since her marriage stops by in her house to get some shelter.

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The story unfolds as Alcee and Calixta get intimate with each other. She feels something she hasn’t felt since her marriage. On the other hand, Alcee wife feels happy as she is faraway as she enjoys the freedom of not being under her husband for some time. The storm is over and Bibi and bobint are back and as Kate Chopin describes it everyone is happy.

In a society where women were not treated equally with men. Bobint was asked to make it a usual thing to treat his son as he is being treated in the society as a man.

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“Bobint, who was accustomed to converse on terms of perfect equality with his little son…(Chopin)”. Bibi was a young boy who cared more about his mom as his father bobint grabs his attention to the approaching storm. It was a beginning of something mysterious bibi and bobint didn’t know about. “..Sombre clouds that were rolling with sinister intention…(Chopin)”. It would be fair to say Mr Bobint was a caring man as the storm rages, he purchases a can of shrimp for Calixta as she is fond of it. Calixta didn’t love Bobint.

From the language Kate Chopin uses it would be fair to say Alcee was Calixta old time lover who Calixta doesn’t get married to. They had known themselves long before Calixta was married. The storm which Kate Chopin repeats over and over again in the literature symbolizes a traumatic event which unites two people (Calixta and Alcee) turn asunder. As Calixta looks through her room, it looked dim and mysterious, it was the beginning of something dark couldn’t realize. “…it’s white monumental bed, it’s closed shutters, looked dim and mysterious (Chopin)”. When alce gets intimate with her she realizes she is feeling love for the first time in her life “…Elastic flesh that was knowing for the first time its birthright...(Chopin)”

Unlike the men, not all women were priviledged to marry who they felt the loved, they never had the right to be free under their husbands and were not treated with equity, they were always meant to submit to their husbands and were fully house wives. Calixta is a complete house wife as the time setting describes it, alce wife on the other hand feels free finally as she is far away from some time “ and the first free breath since her marriage seemed to restore the pleasant liberty of her maiden days (Chopin)”. With fair judgement from the work of this literature, Calixta cheated on her husband with a man who she truly loves, in as much as women were not priviledged it is seen as a sad thing till this day, for any person to that in any home. Adultery is frowned at in the society today, bobint loved calixta and was a very thoughtful man as he always thought about calixta from the raging of the storm till they were back home. He never deserved it, even if calixta never loved him at all. Apart from her freedom to love, she was a very self centered person who didn’t think about her husband at first and how he would feel, her son and the problems and damages it could bring to their home and the destruction of her marriage. Alcee on the other hand didn’t care about his wife and children, they only cared about the love they felt towards each other, she cared about her own happiness alone.

A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person. Scott noted that some “marriage suggests that many portrayals of love are false, representations of selfish will masked in seemingly benign actions intended to advance the wishes of one’s own self. the notion of love in society is corrupted by self assertion and private wants” (Daryll Scott). Freedom is priceless, it is the state of being free and this was the opposite in tee 19th century. The freedom of any one is very important because it leads to great expression of creativity, increased productivity, and an high quality of ones life, just as Clarisse has always wanted, it is more of freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of going out and coming in and not staying in the house all day like calixta and it can never be compared to any other thing, it is recognizing who u really are, it is worth more than anything, as this literature setting explains to us that women never enjoyed this when they get married.

Equity is treating everyone with fairness, it is realizing that no gender deserves to be treated with more fairness but understanding that both gender deserves to be treated with the same level of fairness, I would have used the word equality but equity seems fair enough. According to this story time setting if women were treated with equity and where not forced to be under their husbands. The two women characters wont be fighting for freedom and self identity. It is seen that after the rain was over Calixta and Alcee see each other off, and they laugh to each other, “He turned and smiled at her with a beaming face, and she lifted her pretty chin in the air and laughed aloud (chopin)” the language Kate Chopin uses describes that Calixta was very excited.

Bobint being a thoughtful man remembers that Calixta is a very careful wife, he makes sure himself and Bobint are cleaned up before they step into the house. They have a feast everyone was happy. Kate Chopin at the end of the literature tells us that the storm was over, finally Calixta feels love she never felt from her old lover, Alcee wife is free for some time Bobint and Bibi are back home with Calixta and everyone is happy. Indeed marriage is very complicated, everyone seems to be happy when you get married but a lot of people are into unhappy marriages but they pretend and also go on to cheat because of lack of passion and love in a marriage just like Calixta, her character portrays as she only thinks for herself. Everyone has a right to get married to who they want to, everyone deserves to be free and everyone deserves to be treated with fairness and should most importantly be recognized in the society.

Works cited

  1. Xuemei wan, kate chopin”s viewon death and freedom in the story of an hour,2009 https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1083696.pdf
  2. Daryll scott, corruption of love in the story of an hour, https://www.google.com/amp/s/thepiratevoice.com/2015/10/15/the-corruption-of-love-in-the-story-of-an-hour/amp/
Updated: Nov 01, 2022
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Freedom and Love in "The Storm" by Kate Chopin. (2021, Aug 03). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/freedom-and-love-in-the-storm-by-kate-chopin-essay

Freedom and Love in "The Storm" by Kate Chopin essay
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