When Is a Storm More Than a Storm
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- Category: English: Authors
- Date Submitted: 07/10/2011 03:02 PM
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When Is a Storm More Than a Storm?
Abstract
Storms are a mighty force of “Mother Nature”. Last week a tornado ripped through Joplin, Missouri. It destroyed many homes and the total death toll is still unknown today. Storms of passion, sexuality, and whims can be just as strong and deadly. The storms known as crimes of passion prove just that statement. Katherine O’Flaherty, better known as the author Kate Chopin wrote a story The Storm in 1898. It was not published until seventy years later according to Kennedy and Gioia (2005/2010, p. 108). Could a story titled The Storm written by a woman in America during the late 1890’s be a metaphor for anything other than an actual storm? Or could it be a metaphor of a woman’s natural sexual passion and the storm that often ensued when that passion was unleashed in the constraints of the 1898 society? Let us look at these questions while we examine this story, The Storm.
When Is a Storm More Than a Storm?
Did Kate Chopin write a story about a weather storm or something else in her short story The Storm (Chopin, 1898/2010)? A storm is often associated with a weather event, or turmoil, conflict, and uneasiness. Could the title The Storm be a metaphor for this form of a storm? Storms are a natural occurring event in nature. Nature is often referred to as a feminine nature in the commonly used term “Mother Nature”. Could the title of The Storm be a metaphor seen as something symbolic of female nature of passion, sexuality, and whim? Many readers wonder which metaphor the title is intended to be. This story has two main characters, Calixta and Alcee.
Calixta and Alcee had a relationship in the past. The relationship ended, with both characters marrying more suitable partners. Yet, there is still a lingering passion between the two. The story opens with a storm’s approach. Calixta’s husband, Bobinot, is unaware of the approaching storm on page 108 (Chopin, 1898/2010) as he waits the storm out in a general store with...
Abstract
Storms are a mighty force of “Mother Nature”. Last week a tornado ripped through Joplin, Missouri. It destroyed many homes and the total death toll is still unknown today. Storms of passion, sexuality, and whims can be just as strong and deadly. The storms known as crimes of passion prove just that statement. Katherine O’Flaherty, better known as the author Kate Chopin wrote a story The Storm in 1898. It was not published until seventy years later according to Kennedy and Gioia (2005/2010, p. 108). Could a story titled The Storm written by a woman in America during the late 1890’s be a metaphor for anything other than an actual storm? Or could it be a metaphor of a woman’s natural sexual passion and the storm that often ensued when that passion was unleashed in the constraints of the 1898 society? Let us look at these questions while we examine this story, The Storm.
When Is a Storm More Than a Storm?
Did Kate Chopin write a story about a weather storm or something else in her short story The Storm (Chopin, 1898/2010)? A storm is often associated with a weather event, or turmoil, conflict, and uneasiness. Could the title The Storm be a metaphor for this form of a storm? Storms are a natural occurring event in nature. Nature is often referred to as a feminine nature in the commonly used term “Mother Nature”. Could the title of The Storm be a metaphor seen as something symbolic of female nature of passion, sexuality, and whim? Many readers wonder which metaphor the title is intended to be. This story has two main characters, Calixta and Alcee.
Calixta and Alcee had a relationship in the past. The relationship ended, with both characters marrying more suitable partners. Yet, there is still a lingering passion between the two. The story opens with a storm’s approach. Calixta’s husband, Bobinot, is unaware of the approaching storm on page 108 (Chopin, 1898/2010) as he waits the storm out in a general store with...