Analysis of The Short Story 'The Storm' by Kate Chopin

When a storm hits, it strikes with a sudden climax, and fades away into oblivion. In The Storm, a short story by Kate Chopin, an adulterous affair occurs during a rainstorm between Calixta, mother to Bibi and wife to Bobinot, and Alcee, husband to Clarisse. A parallel is developed between the storm and the emotional storm in a woman’s life. This storm generates a storm for the readers - each character is happy in the end, indicating the adultery does not result in bad consequences. From the reader’s point of view, this storm should have social consequences, but instead it provokes a rupture in the structure. Jacques Derrida, theorist, argues in his short story, Structure, Sign & Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences, that every structure is arbitrary and is capable of epistemic change. He critiques the theory that logocentrism is socially constructed, and a structure could either become restrictive or totalized, or open, allowing free play. The presence of this storm is not coincidental - Chopin develops the relationship between the two with the use symbolism in order to illustrate how the feelings in a relationship that are as unpredictable as the blustering storm. Chopin points to a rupture that impacts the reader’s view of women’s repression and how confined a marriage in the nineteenth century could be for a woman - both sexually and spiritually. They were considered to be innocent; always faithful to her husband, and sole function was to act as a wife and mother. In this episteme, women were expected to behave properly, and sexual desire was not even considered. Only pertaining to men, women supposedly lacked passion and desire. Men who did give in to a woman’s temptation were considered to be in the lower class. If you were able to withstand this desire, you would become more successful in both the private and public spheres. The Storm challenges the structure of the sex/gender system in ninteenth century by presenting a sympathetic character, Calixta, whose actions decenter and undermine patriarchy and the constructed feminitiy held by society. The Storm suggests that there is no longer any trancendetal-signified prespective on sex and gender, and that both sex and gender are constructed by the culture of one’s society. Not only does the story illustrate the idea of ‘passionless’ women, and that women do in fact have strong sexual desires, it instead glorifies them, demonstrating the wide range of free play within the system.

The center of a structure regulates the entire structure. According to Derrida, Western philosophy was logo-centric: places a logo at its’ center that organizes and explains the world for us, while remaining outside of it (Tyson 242). Although a structure may change over time, the center remains the same. Derrida believed there are different ways of defining it, and that everything can become “discourse”. A center can lead towards “full presence”, or totalization, or towards free play. Totalization means that a structure has a definite definition and any change and transformation of the elements within a structure is forbidden. On the other hand, free play is a disruption of presence. This means that the meaning of the words we use everyday is always open and never fixed. Derrida deemed that there should be flexibility within a system - no matter how adequate laws are, there will always be another perspective, and that you can never fully escape the “perhaps” (Derrida 925).

“The coherence of the system, the center of a structure permits the freeplay of its elements inside the total form… the center also closes off the freeplay it opens up and makes possible” (Derrida 915). In this specific episteme, late nineteenth century America, the center of the sex/ gender system was patriarchy. Economic and social changes followed after the War of Independence, which lead to American’s relying on the family as a source of social stability. As a result, unique roles were placed on both men and women (D'Emilio & Freedman 56). The patriarchal model included separate sexual spheres - husbands would leave the home to seek fortune in the public sphere, while wives would stay in the private sphere performing unpaid reproductive, household chores (D'Emilio & Freedman 57). Women were perceived much differently in terms of status and nature from men. The distinct perceptions of men and women are called patriarchal binary thought. Patriarchal binary thought is a term for polar opposites - we understand each of them by their opposition to one another. Derrida concluded that these oppositions also included little hierarchies - each pair had one that was more superior, or privileged than the other (Tyson 240). Men were superior to women - in both the public and private sphere. The stereotypical women during this time was seen as passive, domestic, and dependent on men. On the other hand, men were dominant, controlling, and independent. Women were not allowed to own property, and were perceived as the property of men - first to her father and then her husband.

As demonstrated in the text, Calixta performs her regular, “woman” duties, unaware that there is a storm approaching. “She sat at a side window sewing furiously on a sewing machine. She was greatly occupied and did not notice the approaching storm. But she felt very warm and often stopped to mop her face which the perspiration gathered in beads” (Chopin 558). Although Calixta does not seem to be unhappy in her role, this does illustrate that the role was beginning to consume her. She was distracted while conforming to the 19th century gender roles constructed for her. 

Nothing is “natural”, not even sexual identity. Society has this idea of biological essentialism, which indicates that there is an inborn inferiority of women based on biological differences between the sexes that are considered part of our unchanging essence as men and women. However, Judith Butler, American philosopher and gender theorist, argued that gender is socially constructed - women are not born feminine and men are not born masculine. Rather, these gender “categories” are constructed by one’s society (Tyson 82). This indicates that it is possible for there to be a difference between ones “sex” as the anatomical difference between male and female bodies, and “gender” as the meanings attached to the bodily differences, also known as one’s gender identity. Judith Butler, in her short story, Gender Trouble, illustrates how the culture of one’s society centers around the idea of recognizing the body as strict binary oppositions between male and female that one is either “naturally male” or “naturally female”: 

The little boy learns that his crying is not masculine; he must grow into his masculinity by imitating the behavior designated as “male” to the point that such behavior becomes “second nature”. The little girl learns that some ways of acting make her a tomboy, and she is encouraged to dress the part of femininity. (Butler 2486)

This quote demonstrates the idea of a patriarchal center, and if one does not fit into one category, an extreme amount of pressure would consume their lives The idea of strict binary oppositions which is what dominates one’s political and social life. Butler believed that the categories should be loosened, relaxing on the fixation of gender identify. By doing so, we would be partaking in Derrida’s concept of free-play within the system. We would “destabilize the naturalized categories of identify and desire” – not to obey the imposed morality, but to be responsible for and construct our own view of sex and gender within society (Butler 2487). 

The Storm illustrates gender conformity when Bibi and Bobinot are out in town to purchase shrimp during the storm. When the store began to rumble, Bibi was trying to act strong and tell his father he was not afraid. Today, it is normal for a four year old boy to be afraid when a storm is approaching, Bibi was conforming to the gender categories set for him at the time as a result of his biological sex. 

The Storm illustrates a wealth segregation between Calixta and Alcee. They were unable to get married because they were of two different racial classes, which is why Calixta married Bobinot. This was a marriage of convenience because women were told to take what they were offered. In the public and private life, women were subject to their husbands. Women did not have any agency to go and look for something better, since their sole purpose was to please their husband. Within a marriage, the sole purpose of sexual encounters was reproduction. Couples were able to achieve sexual harmony and for others, it just caused stress because of the different meanings it held for both of them. Some husbands and wives would even sleep in separate beds so they did not give in to temptation. Giving into ones’ lust was “unnatural” and if men had intercourse with women they would be robbed of their physical power (D’Emilio & Freedman 69). A couples’ economic success determined the success of a marriage compared to the romantic partnership. Moreover, there was a difference between the upper class and working class. There was an idea of the self-made man: Gentlemen had to control their sexual appetites in order to succeed. If you were in the upper class, that meant you had to train yourself to channel your desires, because both masturbation and intercourse could destroy both body and mind. gain, a demonstration of how the sex/ gender system centered the patriarchal model. 

Chopin illustrates how Alcee, an upper class male, could not control his sexual desires. Exemplified in The Storm, Alcee began to have a bigger issue was he was looking at how morality affects him personally, not how it affected the society: 

Her lips were as red and moist as pomegranate seed. Her white neck and a glimpse of her full, firm bosom disturbed him powerfully. As she glanced up at him the fear in her liquid blue eyes had given place to a drowsy gleam that unconsciously betrayed a sensuous desire. He looked down into her eyes and there was nothing for him to do but to gather her lips in a kiss. (Chopin 559)

 Since Alcee was upper class, he was praised for withholding his sexual desire, since it would make him even more successful in life. Yet, he gave in to the temptation and felt as though he had “no choice”. In this time, everyone was taught that a women had to please her husband - sex was right on top of the list of chores with washing the dishes and bearing children. Not only does this storm destroy the characters’ belongings, it destroys the trust and faith in which marriages are based on, causing a rupture of the structure. This quote decenters the naturalized male/ patriarchal model where men hold all the power but also undermines the constructed femininity held by society while realizing that women may have desires just as men do. 

Women were viewed as property to men - if damaged, they would not be of value anymore. If a women had sexual relations with anyone other than her husband, that would cause her value to diminish. Since women in the nineteenth century had to depend on men for stability, they chose not to engage in such acts. As a result, women were said to be passionless. Some of these women believed that since men had to control their sexual appetite and should not engage in this as well, this made them more equal to them. Yet, equality did not uphold. The only passion women believed to feel were love of the home, children, and of domestic duties they had. A woman’s lust must lay dormant, only to be awakened, perhaps, by their husband (D’Emilio & Freedman 70). As demonstrated by Nancy Cott in Passionless, “If women were to act modest and sexually passive, and also act without affectation, then, logically, they must be passionless” (Cott 226). This plays into how people thought of women based on the way they acted - based on how they conformed to their gender categories. 

The Storm does not place its emphasis on the adultery committed between Calixta and Alcee as a crime, but rather the connection between the two. Chopin strives to emphasize what happens to women- and to men- when the sex/gender system marginalizes them by misrepresenting and misunderstanding women as passionless. Just as the storm takes both characters by surprise, the emotional storm of sexual fulfillment takes Calixta by surprise. Once it is passed is when she realizes this arousal, this orgasm as occurred. She states that a discomfort that causes her to loosen her collar, which can indicate she is talking about the feeling caused by the climax, as well as the discomfort as a result of her marital life. It is imagined that Calixta and Bobinot only have a sexual relationship for the purpose of procreation, or if not for procreation, within the social norms. In the beginning of the story, it states that Bobinot is child-like, thus allowing us to assume that Bobinot is not a skilled lover. Anne Koedt, author of The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm, stated that “What we must do is refine our sexuality. We must discard the ‘normal’ concepts of sex and create new guidelines which take into account mutual sexual enjoyment” (Koedt 1). What this means is that women should be able to feel passion and desire, and enjoy the same fulfillment as men. When Calixta is with Alcee, sex and desire both come together - instead of having sex for procreation, they have sex in a more interesting may, stimulating her clitoral. Chopin refers to the end of the storm and the end of the climax: “They did not heed the crashing torrents, and the roar of the elements made her laugh as she lay in his arms” (Chopin 559). By describing the storm during the affair, Chopin is symbolizing that their passion is equal to the intensity of the storm. There is irony in this part of the story because Chopin continues to remind the reader that the storm is scary and destructive, but in the end, that fear ends up disappearing and is fully replaced by desire. 

Bibi and Bobinot arrive home with the shrimp, and Calixta goes right back into her gender categorized duties. The storm had passed and everyone was happy. The ending arouses the reader because there is no moral rectitude of any kind - leaving us without any moral markers. The reader, based on a center, believe that someone is supposed to be punished, and questions how everyone is happy. However, Chopin demonstrates that it does not have to be that way. There is no longer any natural, transcendentally-signified, correct perspective on sex and gender. Rather, we must take charge of our own lives, as we are in the position of the bricoleur. 

A bricoleur is someone who uses the tools at hand, that is, those that are already there across different structures that can be raided from and borrowed from creatively. They are used with trial and error, not hesitating to change whenever deemed necessary. When in a relationship to a “ruined” or “less coherent” heritage, it is said that every discourse is bricoleur (Derrida 920). Not only is it as an intellectual activity, but also as a mythopoeic activity. 

There are two modes of interpretation of structure, sign, and free-play - Rousseauist and Nietzchean. One seeks for an origin which is free from free-play and from order of the sign. The other, Nietzchean, is no longer turned towards the origin, and affirms free-play. Derrida recommends that there is any question of choosing because each seems trivial and that we must first find a common ground (Derrida 926). He suggests only glimpsing on conception, formation, gestation and labor. Although, he leans more towards the childbearing business. 

The Storm, by Kate Chopin, suggests that its readers respond by finding a common ground before choosing their side. From the character’s actions, we can see that Calixta does not blindly accept the traditional gender roles she possesses. Of course they cannot be rejected, however, she resists in her own way. Today, women are able to rediscover their feminine urges, and have the right over their body and the relations they choose to have. Love and intimacy is more important and now influence marriage. Rather than marrying someone who you may fall in love with, you now marry once you are in love. Chopin proves to the readers that adultery does not always have to have negative consequences. Calixta and Alcee do not regret their affair, and they do not treat it as an accident - it was just a moment of passion from the past. This story de-naturalizes the passionless female as it portrays a married woman in a sexual encounter that allows her to fulfill her desires. Chopin illustrates that the marital harmony was restored when everyone was happy, but readers will continue to wonder if it is true happiness or instead submission to accept what society deems fit. At first glance, everyone may see happy and as if order is restored, however, it is artificial and based on deception. The Storm suggests that there is no longer a transcendental-signified perspective on sex and gender. Thus, proving that the constructed patriarchy and femininity held by society is fragile and vulnerable to change.