Comparison of Kate Chopins Stories

Women from Louisiana’s pre-civil war Creole and Cajun societies were of a special ilk. On the outside, many were confined by the color of their skin or their social class. They were thought to be simplistic, however, author Kate Chopin reveals otherwise. Women of the South were not delicate flowers they were much more. In Chopin’s short stories: “The Storm” and “Story of an Hour,” she illustrates the common thread that runs between married women in the South, their married lives, and their lust for more.

In Chopin’s stories there are strong sociological differences between women of color and white women. Differences are the reason that Calixta could not originally marry Alcee. She is a woman of “color” and in an excerpt from “The Storm” her style of speaking indicates that she is of a lower class “’It this keeps up, Dieu sait if the leaves goin’ to stand it’” (859). Alcee Laballière is more refined, which is reflected in his gentler way of speaking, “‘May I come wait on your gallery till the storm is over, Calixta?’” (858). Asking to come in would be considered presumptuous and even rude. These traits draw the line between the two classes even clearer. Mrs. Mallard, due to her higher class, would never have believed her self as free if she were in Calixta’s position. Her psychological freedom would never been an issue if she did not have her husband’s money to fall back on. “She could see in the open square before her house” (Story of an Hour 862). The fact that Mrs. Mallard could see into the square outside her home, indicates that she did not live on a distant farm like Calixta. If Calixta’s husband were to pass, she would have to worry about how she would support herself and that struggle would bring her no freedom at all.

Often, women do not marry for love. They marry for other securities. In “The Storm,” Bobinôt has provided Calixta with a lovely home. Chopin sets the scene “There they were in the dinning room- the sitting room- the general utility room. Adjoining was her bed room, with Bibi’s couch along side her own. The door stood open, and the room with its white monumental bed, its closed shutters, looked dim and mysterious” (Story of an Hour 859). It is obvious that Bobinôt cares for her because after the storm he offers a gift out of kindness, “’ I bought you some shrimps Calixta,’” (861). It is clear that Calixta is not married for shrimp, but for the securities that a husband brings.

A woman in the 1800’s would, many times, will go directly from her father’s home to her husband’s. Often, the marriage is arranged for some sort of profit. The young woman has little choice as to marrying or not. This makes love an after thought. Louise in “Story of an Hour” reflects that she loved her husband- sometimes but with the new presences of self assertion little else mattered (863). Often, after the marriage has taken place, then love grows. “She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead” (Story of an Hour 863). Louise’s husband treated her well, and she would weep for his death, but it is clear that she did not love him with the affection thought mandatory in a marriage today. Chopin gives the reader more insight into Calixta’s marriage with the homecoming of Bobinôt. “Calixta felt him to see if he were dry, and seemed to express nothing but satisfaction at their safe return” (The Storm 861). Calixta also reflected the gentle love one had for a man that she had married for security.

The women portrayed in Chopin’s stories have a strong desire for more. Women wanted independence from the men that ruled their lives. In “Story of an Hour,” Mrs. Mallard’s thoughts race through her, “There would be no one to live for her during those coming years: she would live for her self. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose private will upon a fellow creature” (863). Mrs. Mallard’s thoughts progress further: “’Free! Body and soul free!’ [Louise] kept whispering” (863). While Mrs. Mallard’s position is clearly expressed in the text, Calixta expresses her feelings of freedom from her desires with laughter, “He turned and smiled at her with a beaming face; and she lifted her pretty chin in the air and laughed aloud” (The Storm 860). Other women want a love that they can not obtain. The man Calixta wants is taken, and she as well. When Alcee Laballière wrote to his wife, Clarisse, that night it was a loving letter, full of tender solitude (The Storm 861). Unfortunately, he revealed to the readers that he cared not for his wife’s pleasure but the time to perhaps visit Calixta again. In Clarisse’s response though devoted to him as she was, their conjugal life was something that she was more than willing to forge for a while, so that she may restore the pleasant liberty of her maiden days (861). What Calixta and Alcee had between them was a lust that they didn’t have with their own partners. Although both husbands love their wives dearly, the women desire more.

Despite the social differences in Kate Chopin’s characters, the women shared the same desires. Chopin’s themes, controversial for their time, are universal. Times have changed and women are still faced with similar circumstances to those in her stories. While women are not viewed as delicate flowers any more, the lust for love and life remain strong.

 

Works Sited

Chopin, Kate “The Storm.” Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers.
Ed. John Schilb and John Clifford. 2nd. Ed. Bedford/St. Martin’s.
858 – 861.

Chopin, Kate “Story of An Hour.” Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers.
Ed. John Schilb and John Clifford. 2nd. Ed. Bedford/St. Martin’s.