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The Storm #1
The Storm
"The Storm" is a short story by the American writer Kate Chopin, written in 1898. It did not appear in print in Chopin's lifetime; it was published in 1969. This story is the sequel to Chopin's At the Cadian Ball.
4 pages, Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1969
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964 people want to read
About the author
Kate Chopin
830 books1,913 followersKate Chopin was an American novelist and short-story writer best known for her startling 1899 novel, The Awakening. Born in St. Louis, she moved to New Orleans after marrying Oscar Chopin in 1870. Less than a decade later Oscar's cotton business fell on hard times and they moved to his family's plantation in the Natchitoches Parish of northwestern Louisiana. Oscar died in 1882 and Kate was suddenly a young widow with six children. She turned to writing and published her first poem in 1889. The Awakening, considered Chopin's masterpiece, was subject to harsh criticism at the time for its frank approach to sexual themes. It was rediscovered in the 1960s and has since become a standard of American literature, appreciated for its sophistication and artistry. Chopin's short stories of Cajun and Creole life are collected in Bayou Folk (1894) and A Night in Acadie (1897), and include "Desiree's Baby," "The Story of an Hour" and "The Storm."
Some biographers cite 1850 as Chopin's birth year.
Some biographers cite 1850 as Chopin's birth year.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 196 reviews
October 23, 2022
There is a tempestuous storm outside, husband and son are stranded in a store, drenched in mud. Calixta, the wife, is back home, busy with the household chores, not disconcerted about the storm or their well-being. The ex-lover drops-by seeking shelter, they share an erotic moment, and disperse! Post that they all live happily ever-after! 😊
All characters remain stolid, irrespective of the events in their lives, or their current situation, the storm!
The husband and wife are proclaimed as dutiful and conscientious, but nothing about their chemistry/biology has been revealed 😊
Omitting the adultery, passion, the story has a strong message of how fulfilment of ignored needs, can infuse new life and make the present more colourful and vivacious!
The storm brings two married people into a transient fleeting affair. With no repercussion, everyone involved (including families) live happily ever after.
Kate Chopin, having composed the concept of extra-marital affair, in the end of 1800s, showcased temerity. Must have been a taboo then!
Calixta, all immersed in her duties as a mom and wife, is introduced as sewing, washing and drying clothes (all mechanically!).
She is an ideal consummate robotic homemaker, looking perfectly after the household.
With the raucous storm outside, she isn't bothered about the menace, and imbibed in her duties. Storm doesn't perturb her.
She has been ignoring a part/desire of her, which comes out perilously. Consumed in house duties, she has been neglecting her own wishes and needs.
Storm is a metaphor for the storm within her. A metaphor for all the desires which have been accumulating within, unnoticed like a volcano.
She is ignorant to the storm outside, like she is ignorant to the tempest within!
Storm has a positive connotation, is purgatory, as it is a cleansing purifying force, leaving her feeling gruntled and elated!
A satisfied happy household, where husband and son buy Calixta’s favorite shrimp. As Calixta, is over-scrupulous about cleanliness, they are scared, fearing if she will allow them inside, as they are drenched in mud.
But she is relaxed and happy, rather turning into a better mother and housewife, post the passing away of the storm!
So is the authoress, promoting extra-marital affairs, for the well-being of the current marriage?
I guess the bigger message is if we constantly ignore our needs at any level- mind body soul, we have nothing left to give. On a bigger note, giving and receiving should be a balanced act for smooth functioning of relationships and life. We tend to get absorbed in our daily-chores and responsibilities, leaving us inanimate, lifeless, like empty coconut husks!
The languid and spiritless Calixta, is all rejuvenated, regenerated and refuelled, post the storm.
Beaming with energy, she is introduced back to her family as a new Calixta, brimming with life and energy, calm and composed!
It is not only the storm of body needs, but at intricate level, all our emotional and mental needs, that need fulfilment, like we all keep bombarding GRs with reviews to satiate our mental needs! :P
I furnish 4 stormy-stars, and subtract one, only wishing if Kate Chopin, could have used a non-profane way of depicting the storm! The parochial bit in me, doesn’t adhere to the blasphemous bit of the storyline, and would have given a big shout-out, for better pristine ways of bringing about such important issues on giving and receiving!
All characters remain stolid, irrespective of the events in their lives, or their current situation, the storm!
The husband and wife are proclaimed as dutiful and conscientious, but nothing about their chemistry/biology has been revealed 😊
Omitting the adultery, passion, the story has a strong message of how fulfilment of ignored needs, can infuse new life and make the present more colourful and vivacious!
The storm brings two married people into a transient fleeting affair. With no repercussion, everyone involved (including families) live happily ever after.
Kate Chopin, having composed the concept of extra-marital affair, in the end of 1800s, showcased temerity. Must have been a taboo then!
Calixta, all immersed in her duties as a mom and wife, is introduced as sewing, washing and drying clothes (all mechanically!).
She is an ideal consummate robotic homemaker, looking perfectly after the household.
With the raucous storm outside, she isn't bothered about the menace, and imbibed in her duties. Storm doesn't perturb her.
She has been ignoring a part/desire of her, which comes out perilously. Consumed in house duties, she has been neglecting her own wishes and needs.
Storm is a metaphor for the storm within her. A metaphor for all the desires which have been accumulating within, unnoticed like a volcano.
She is ignorant to the storm outside, like she is ignorant to the tempest within!
Storm has a positive connotation, is purgatory, as it is a cleansing purifying force, leaving her feeling gruntled and elated!
A satisfied happy household, where husband and son buy Calixta’s favorite shrimp. As Calixta, is over-scrupulous about cleanliness, they are scared, fearing if she will allow them inside, as they are drenched in mud.
But she is relaxed and happy, rather turning into a better mother and housewife, post the passing away of the storm!
So is the authoress, promoting extra-marital affairs, for the well-being of the current marriage?
I guess the bigger message is if we constantly ignore our needs at any level- mind body soul, we have nothing left to give. On a bigger note, giving and receiving should be a balanced act for smooth functioning of relationships and life. We tend to get absorbed in our daily-chores and responsibilities, leaving us inanimate, lifeless, like empty coconut husks!
The languid and spiritless Calixta, is all rejuvenated, regenerated and refuelled, post the storm.
Beaming with energy, she is introduced back to her family as a new Calixta, brimming with life and energy, calm and composed!
It is not only the storm of body needs, but at intricate level, all our emotional and mental needs, that need fulfilment, like we all keep bombarding GRs with reviews to satiate our mental needs! :P
I furnish 4 stormy-stars, and subtract one, only wishing if Kate Chopin, could have used a non-profane way of depicting the storm! The parochial bit in me, doesn’t adhere to the blasphemous bit of the storyline, and would have given a big shout-out, for better pristine ways of bringing about such important issues on giving and receiving!
July 26, 2022
It was refreshing to read a classic tale about adultery where the heroine does not kill herself.
February 25, 2025
*3.5 stars*
The Storm, written in 1898, wasn’t published until 1969, and it relates the story of Bobint and his four year old son Bibi, and Calixta, Bibi’s mom. Bibi and his father are sheltering at the local store, waiting for an almighty storm to pass.
At home, Calixta, Bibi’s mother barely notices the approaching storm, so busy is she with her sewing. When she finally does, she has to race round the house closing doors and windows. Whilst doing so she sees her former lover Alce approaching, seeking shelter. They begin to reminisce about a day some years ago, spent passionately kissing - and well, one thing leads to another before Bobint and Bibi return home.
The Storm, written in 1898, wasn’t published until 1969, and it relates the story of Bobint and his four year old son Bibi, and Calixta, Bibi’s mom. Bibi and his father are sheltering at the local store, waiting for an almighty storm to pass.
At home, Calixta, Bibi’s mother barely notices the approaching storm, so busy is she with her sewing. When she finally does, she has to race round the house closing doors and windows. Whilst doing so she sees her former lover Alce approaching, seeking shelter. They begin to reminisce about a day some years ago, spent passionately kissing - and well, one thing leads to another before Bobint and Bibi return home.
July 22, 2022
Wow! I was not expecting something like this from a Louisianan woman in the 1890s: writing of flames and flowers like DH Lawrence (who was only 13 years old at the time). No wonder it wasn’t published until the 1960s. This is a carefully structured short story: feminist erotica that shows different viewpoints and avoids moralising.
A few weeks ago, I’d never heard of Kate Chopin. Now I want more.
Norm versus storm
A storm is an exciting intermission in the drudgery of quotidian life. The usual norms are temporarily irrelevant amid the thrill of danger. Hearts race, temperatures rise, things get wet and steamy. A force of nature. We submit, helplessly.
Image: A flower in a storm (Source)
It’s quickly obvious what’s going to happen, but it’s best to read the story (link near the bottom of this review) before clicking the spoiler tag.
See also
• This works as a standalone, but if you want the characters’ backstory, it’s here: At the 'Cadian Ball.
• I reviewed an even shorter Chopin story, The Story of an Hour, HERE. I gave that 5* too.
Short story club
I read this as one of the stories in The Art of the Short Story, by Dana Gioia, from which I'm aiming to read one story a week with The Short Story Club, starting 2 May 2022.
You can read this story here.
You can join the group here.
A few weeks ago, I’d never heard of Kate Chopin. Now I want more.
Norm versus storm
A storm is an exciting intermission in the drudgery of quotidian life. The usual norms are temporarily irrelevant amid the thrill of danger. Hearts race, temperatures rise, things get wet and steamy. A force of nature. We submit, helplessly.
Image: A flower in a storm (Source)
It’s quickly obvious what’s going to happen, but it’s best to read the story (link near the bottom of this review) before clicking the spoiler tag.
See also
• This works as a standalone, but if you want the characters’ backstory, it’s here: At the 'Cadian Ball.
• I reviewed an even shorter Chopin story, The Story of an Hour, HERE. I gave that 5* too.
Short story club
I read this as one of the stories in The Art of the Short Story, by Dana Gioia, from which I'm aiming to read one story a week with The Short Story Club, starting 2 May 2022.
You can read this story here.
You can join the group here.
September 5, 2022
An Affair
The story was written in 1898 but was not published until 1969. This can be easily explained.
The Storm must have been considered a daring story at that time period.
Not only does it deal with the subject of adultery, but also it does not condemn it. The female character in this story, a married woman named Calixta, does not seem to be ashamed of what she has done. Although much is unspoken in this narrative, we may assume that Kate Chopin acknowledges the right of a woman to make decisions herself about her interactions.
The reader may not like it, but they are not entitled to judge.
At the same time, the story invites ambiguity. Suffice to say, we know nothing about the relationship in this marriage. As in another short story by this author The Story of an Hour, we do not know whether or not the husband of the woman is a caring man. I think omitting this information was intentional.
This story is shaped by exhausting heat, sheets of rain, the playings of lightning, the abundance of passion, and uncontrollable emotions.
Calixta is at home alone, busy with sewing and not paying attention to the approaching storm. However, the abrupt change in weather jolts her out of her routine.
She sees the man with whom she has shared some happy moments coming to the porch of her house. He seeks shelter from the torrents of rain. Calixta lets him in.
Their previous feelings are rekindled as the storm is raging outside. The emotional climax coincides with the wildest point of the storm.
So, does the author condone or does she condemn this activity? In my opinion, neither is correct.
I feel like what the author wants to say is that women can be independent and impulsive, too. Also, Chopin comments once again on how skewed social and gender rules can be.
3.5 stars rounded up
Here is the link to the story
https://americanliterature.com/author...
The story was written in 1898 but was not published until 1969. This can be easily explained.
The Storm must have been considered a daring story at that time period.
Not only does it deal with the subject of adultery, but also it does not condemn it. The female character in this story, a married woman named Calixta, does not seem to be ashamed of what she has done. Although much is unspoken in this narrative, we may assume that Kate Chopin acknowledges the right of a woman to make decisions herself about her interactions.
The reader may not like it, but they are not entitled to judge.
At the same time, the story invites ambiguity. Suffice to say, we know nothing about the relationship in this marriage. As in another short story by this author The Story of an Hour, we do not know whether or not the husband of the woman is a caring man. I think omitting this information was intentional.
This story is shaped by exhausting heat, sheets of rain, the playings of lightning, the abundance of passion, and uncontrollable emotions.
Calixta is at home alone, busy with sewing and not paying attention to the approaching storm. However, the abrupt change in weather jolts her out of her routine.
It began to grow dark, and suddenly realizing the situation she got up hurriedly and went about closing windows and doors.
She sees the man with whom she has shared some happy moments coming to the porch of her house. He seeks shelter from the torrents of rain. Calixta lets him in.
Their previous feelings are rekindled as the storm is raging outside. The emotional climax coincides with the wildest point of the storm.
So, does the author condone or does she condemn this activity? In my opinion, neither is correct.
I feel like what the author wants to say is that women can be independent and impulsive, too. Also, Chopin comments once again on how skewed social and gender rules can be.
3.5 stars rounded up
Here is the link to the story
https://americanliterature.com/author...
January 30, 2016
2.5 Stars
Well....Well....Well....Lucky storm it appears for Alce and his wife Clarisse, but not so Calixta's husband Bobint.......I don't think???
Kate Chopin sure wrote some strange short stories!
June 22, 2018
"The Storm" by Kate Chopin is a sequel to "At the 'Cadian Ball". We encounter married couples Bobint and Calixta, with four year old son Bibi in tow, and Alcee and Clarisse, five years after the ball. A torrential rain. Bobint and Bibi wait out the storm. They worry about Calixta at home alone. They need not worry. Alcee, passing Calixta's house asks to seek shelter, on her porch, from the driving sheets of rain. Calixta, unnerved by resultant vibrations from a nearby lightning strike, ends up cradled in Alcee's arms.
Although written in 1898, a rainy day tryst was too racy for its time. The story was published in 1969 as part of Kate Chopin's Collected Works.
Although written in 1898, a rainy day tryst was too racy for its time. The story was published in 1969 as part of Kate Chopin's Collected Works.
October 6, 2022
Four pages that describe a sensual encounter and the start of an affair between two old acquaintances. There is a storm that rages outside that equals the intensity of the passion between the lovers.
Chopin writes without taboes, she is advanced for her time, she speaks of sexual gratification from a female perspective with taste and humor. To be read like a desert, slowly, savouring every word, taking small sips like we do with sweet wine.
Thanks @Cecily for introducing me to these short stories.
Chopin writes without taboes, she is advanced for her time, she speaks of sexual gratification from a female perspective with taste and humor. To be read like a desert, slowly, savouring every word, taking small sips like we do with sweet wine.
Thanks @Cecily for introducing me to these short stories.
May 3, 2023
Another unexpected story from Ms. Chopin. I have just learned that this is the sequel to her story “At the ‘Cadian Ball”. Now I will have to read that one.
The tumultuous storm is brewing on the outside while the two married couples in this story are brewing up some extra-marital passions of their own. Chopin’s intense story was written in 1898 but was believed too racy for the time and not published until 1969! Certainly she was a feminist before the term was ever made popular.
She has a way of telling what she wants in so few words and making a huge impact in the process. It seems she is conveying that women can be independent as well as impulsive. The daringness of this story lies in the fact that the actions of these women aren’t condemned but made out to be the woman’s right.
The tumultuous storm is brewing on the outside while the two married couples in this story are brewing up some extra-marital passions of their own. Chopin’s intense story was written in 1898 but was believed too racy for the time and not published until 1969! Certainly she was a feminist before the term was ever made popular.
She has a way of telling what she wants in so few words and making a huge impact in the process. It seems she is conveying that women can be independent as well as impulsive. The daringness of this story lies in the fact that the actions of these women aren’t condemned but made out to be the woman’s right.
December 13, 2011
Der Sturm
Written by: Kate Chopin
Der Sturm
Characters:
Bibi
Bobinot
Calixta
Alcee
Bibi und Bobinot erwischt in einen Sturm und entscheiden, in ein Geschäft zu bleiben, anstatt zu versuchen, nach Hause gehen.
Calixta war allein zu Hause. Alcee ein alter Liebhaber kamen in für Schutz vor dem Sturm. Alcee und Calixta beschlossen, Vorteil aus der Situation zu nehmen und hatten Sex.
Nach dem Sturm endet Alcee geht nach Hause. Er schreibt seiner Frau einen Brief, ihr zu sagen, gibt es keine Notwendigkeit, nach Hause zu eilen, alles wird in Ordnung sein.
Bibi und Bobinot nach Hause gekommen. Sie ist froh, sie zu sehen. Calixta hat das Abendessen vorbereitet, und sie essen, wie normal.
Written by: Kate Chopin
Der Sturm
Characters:
Bibi
Bobinot
Calixta
Alcee
Bibi und Bobinot erwischt in einen Sturm und entscheiden, in ein Geschäft zu bleiben, anstatt zu versuchen, nach Hause gehen.
Calixta war allein zu Hause. Alcee ein alter Liebhaber kamen in für Schutz vor dem Sturm. Alcee und Calixta beschlossen, Vorteil aus der Situation zu nehmen und hatten Sex.
Nach dem Sturm endet Alcee geht nach Hause. Er schreibt seiner Frau einen Brief, ihr zu sagen, gibt es keine Notwendigkeit, nach Hause zu eilen, alles wird in Ordnung sein.
Bibi und Bobinot nach Hause gekommen. Sie ist froh, sie zu sehen. Calixta hat das Abendessen vorbereitet, und sie essen, wie normal.
October 20, 2020
3,5*
Um conto que, pelo título, não se podia adequar mais a estes últimos dias. “The Storm” é uma temporal que se abate subitamente sobre a casa de Calixta, mas também um tumulto de emoções que vive no seu interior. Não é dos melhores contos de uma das minhas autoras americanas preferidas, mas, de todos os que li, é de longe o mais escaldante, razão pela qual só foi publicado décadas após a morte de Kate Chopin.
"Bonté!" she cried, releasing herself from his encircling arm and retreating from the window, "the house''ll go next! If I only knew w'ere Bibi was!" She would not compose herself; she would not be seated. Alcée clasped her shoulders and looked into her face. The contact of the warm, palpitating body when he had unthinkingly drawn her into his arms, had aroused all the old-time infatuation and desire for her flesh.
Um conto que, pelo título, não se podia adequar mais a estes últimos dias. “The Storm” é uma temporal que se abate subitamente sobre a casa de Calixta, mas também um tumulto de emoções que vive no seu interior. Não é dos melhores contos de uma das minhas autoras americanas preferidas, mas, de todos os que li, é de longe o mais escaldante, razão pela qual só foi publicado décadas após a morte de Kate Chopin.
"Bonté!" she cried, releasing herself from his encircling arm and retreating from the window, "the house''ll go next! If I only knew w'ere Bibi was!" She would not compose herself; she would not be seated. Alcée clasped her shoulders and looked into her face. The contact of the warm, palpitating body when he had unthinkingly drawn her into his arms, had aroused all the old-time infatuation and desire for her flesh.
July 9, 2022
This very short story is a meditation on the development of a thunderstorm and what happens when the storm bursts. Let’s just say we’re not only talking about the weather.
What I love about Chopin is her spare style. She projects so much feeling, just by showing us one precise moment after another.
Kate Chopin paid dearly for her frank writing--in scandal and rejection from society. I wish she could have known that her work would outlive all of that.
What I love about Chopin is her spare style. She projects so much feeling, just by showing us one precise moment after another.
Kate Chopin paid dearly for her frank writing--in scandal and rejection from society. I wish she could have known that her work would outlive all of that.
December 7, 2013
Calixta, a young wife, is alone at home working with her sewing machine. Her husband and young son are away and decided not to come home yet to let the approaching storm pass. A former admirer Alcee passes by the house as the wind and rain begin to grow strong. He asks, and is allowed, inside.
They both recall one Christian Feast Day, the Assumption, when they were still both single and had kissed and kissed passionately. This remembrance after the storm has led them to another kiss, and more--
"The generous abundance of her passion, without guile or trickery, was like a white flame which penetrated and found response in depths of his own sensuous nature that had never yet been reached.
"When he touched her breasts they gave themselves up in quivering ecstasy, inviting his lips. Her mouth was a fountain of delight. And when he possessed her, they seemed to swoon together at the very borderland of life's mystery."
Written in 1898. Kate Chopin only wanted to say that women also like to fuck, same as men. But this, so obvious and is taken for granted now, sounded like a heresy then and got her into a storm of troubles.
They both recall one Christian Feast Day, the Assumption, when they were still both single and had kissed and kissed passionately. This remembrance after the storm has led them to another kiss, and more--
"The generous abundance of her passion, without guile or trickery, was like a white flame which penetrated and found response in depths of his own sensuous nature that had never yet been reached.
"When he touched her breasts they gave themselves up in quivering ecstasy, inviting his lips. Her mouth was a fountain of delight. And when he possessed her, they seemed to swoon together at the very borderland of life's mystery."
Written in 1898. Kate Chopin only wanted to say that women also like to fuck, same as men. But this, so obvious and is taken for granted now, sounded like a heresy then and got her into a storm of troubles.
July 7, 2022
"The Storm" is the sequel to Kate Chopin's earlier story, "At the 'Cadian Ball." Although it was written in 1898, "The Storm" was not published until 1969 due to its racy nature.
Calixta is at home feeling worried because her devoted husband and her son have been caught in a severe storm. Alcee, a married planter who lives nearby, rides up asking if he can take shelter during the storm. The story starts innocently, but Alcee and Calixta shared a passionate, but unconsummated, attraction in the past. Their rekindled passion increased as the storm raged.
Kate Chopin was an early feminist before the word was even coined. She often wrote about women having an identity other than being a wife, mother, and homemaker. Other concerns were self-fulfillment and feminine sexuality.
Chopin has shown her readers four realistic characters with various attitudes toward their marriages. The ending is ambiguous, but gives suggestions about where this brief affair could be heading. The last sentence can be read ironically: "So the storm passed and every one was happy."
Calixta is at home feeling worried because her devoted husband and her son have been caught in a severe storm. Alcee, a married planter who lives nearby, rides up asking if he can take shelter during the storm. The story starts innocently, but Alcee and Calixta shared a passionate, but unconsummated, attraction in the past. Their rekindled passion increased as the storm raged.
Kate Chopin was an early feminist before the word was even coined. She often wrote about women having an identity other than being a wife, mother, and homemaker. Other concerns were self-fulfillment and feminine sexuality.
Chopin has shown her readers four realistic characters with various attitudes toward their marriages. The ending is ambiguous, but gives suggestions about where this brief affair could be heading. The last sentence can be read ironically: "So the storm passed and every one was happy."
July 29, 2022
The fact that it took more then seventy years for this short story to get published is probably a good sign of the times it was written. Kate Chopin wrote the story in 1898, but it is surprisingly erotic, and unjudgemental for that time. I've only read two of her short stories, but if they are something to go by, then she was among the better short story writers of the time.
May 12, 2024
She stood there with Bobinôt’s coat in her hands, and the big rain drops began to fall.
[...]
. . .she rolled up a piece of bagging and Alcée helped her to thrust it beneath the crack.
This 1898 short story is a cheeky bit of erotica (the excerpts above are hints of what is to come), and was unpublished during the author's lifetime. It must have been viewed as far too explicit, especially in its frank treatment of sexuality and — especially unforgivable — the suggestion of female sexual desire.
I confess, Kate Chopin is new to me; I've heard her name before but somehow confused her with a modern writer. After a bit of research it appears she was a modern writer — one who was ahead of her time.
This is a follow-up to the story "At the 'Cadian Ball"; it is not necessary to read both but the first does provide another glimpse at a previous episode in the lives of the same characters.
[...]
. . .she rolled up a piece of bagging and Alcée helped her to thrust it beneath the crack.
This 1898 short story is a cheeky bit of erotica (the excerpts above are hints of what is to come), and was unpublished during the author's lifetime. It must have been viewed as far too explicit, especially in its frank treatment of sexuality and — especially unforgivable — the suggestion of female sexual desire.
I confess, Kate Chopin is new to me; I've heard her name before but somehow confused her with a modern writer. After a bit of research it appears she was a modern writer — one who was ahead of her time.
This is a follow-up to the story "At the 'Cadian Ball"; it is not necessary to read both but the first does provide another glimpse at a previous episode in the lives of the same characters.
July 8, 2022
“So the storm passed and everyone was happy.”
July 12, 2022
Typical Chopin. Fun to read.
August 16, 2022
There wasn’t much to this short story. As a matter of fact, there was absolutely nothing to this short story. Risqué for it’s time, I guess, but not even remotely interesting or rememberable.
July 9, 2017
Marriage and unfulfilled desires cost. Freedom, class, and oppression brews weathered forces until an unearthed storm approaches.
Alce and Calixta are former lovers from different classes. They separate because of the narrow structure of their community. Both marry more "suitable" partners. Fate crashes their suitability when the two meet again. During a storm, he helps her complete her chores.
Yet, when the storm hovers and strengthens...
The natural force (i.e. sexuality) cannot be withstood despite our best intentions to make ourselves whole. While their partners are away, the ex-lovers play. Calixta gives her heart and body to her former lover for the storm's duration, as Alce does to her. She reconnects with the being she surrendered while marrying her husband, Bobint and birthing her child.
When Alce leaves and her husband returns, Calixta's spirit brightens and she returns to the life she had prior to the storm as a reborn soul.
Alce writes his wife a letter, asking her about her time away in Biloxi. He tells her not to rush back. Perhaps, he'll scurry to have more fun. Who knows?
Meanwhile, his wife, Clarisse feels joy upon reading her husband's letter. For she feels whole again after re-living her maiden days before she married her husband.
"So the storm passed and everyone was happy."
Chopin's not advocating adultery. But, she discusses the for fulfillment within marriage as the institution's known to harbor distress and repetition after a while. As food for thought, she details a need for women to gain and protect a sense of self without losing whom they are for their husband and children.
As she writes, all one needs is a storm to brew to behave otherwise...
Alce and Calixta are former lovers from different classes. They separate because of the narrow structure of their community. Both marry more "suitable" partners. Fate crashes their suitability when the two meet again. During a storm, he helps her complete her chores.
Yet, when the storm hovers and strengthens...
The natural force (i.e. sexuality) cannot be withstood despite our best intentions to make ourselves whole. While their partners are away, the ex-lovers play. Calixta gives her heart and body to her former lover for the storm's duration, as Alce does to her. She reconnects with the being she surrendered while marrying her husband, Bobint and birthing her child.
When Alce leaves and her husband returns, Calixta's spirit brightens and she returns to the life she had prior to the storm as a reborn soul.
Alce writes his wife a letter, asking her about her time away in Biloxi. He tells her not to rush back. Perhaps, he'll scurry to have more fun. Who knows?
Meanwhile, his wife, Clarisse feels joy upon reading her husband's letter. For she feels whole again after re-living her maiden days before she married her husband.
"So the storm passed and everyone was happy."
Chopin's not advocating adultery. But, she discusses the for fulfillment within marriage as the institution's known to harbor distress and repetition after a while. As food for thought, she details a need for women to gain and protect a sense of self without losing whom they are for their husband and children.
As she writes, all one needs is a storm to brew to behave otherwise...
May 24, 2025
What struck me most about this short story--besides the lovely, precise, observant writing--was the abundant loving care and tender domesticity. Even within a story about a single illicit passion outside a marriage, Chopin's brilliance is she doesn't pass judgement any more than she passes judgment on a sudden, potentially damaging storm.
Humans naturally do loving dutiful things. They also naturally do impulsive things given the just right circumstances. And sometimes rather than being made miserable by it, they will be made refreshed.
The storm passed without any damage, leaving behind only the much needed quench of a long thirst and the invigorating nitrogen injected by the electricity.
A beautifully written story. From 1898!
Humans naturally do loving dutiful things. They also naturally do impulsive things given the just right circumstances. And sometimes rather than being made miserable by it, they will be made refreshed.
The storm passed without any damage, leaving behind only the much needed quench of a long thirst and the invigorating nitrogen injected by the electricity.
A beautifully written story. From 1898!
July 9, 2022
This is an excellent short story juxtaposing the passion and intensity that two people can experience while both being attached to other partners.
The author describes a looming storm that causes her husband and son to be unable to reach home, a perfect setting for Calixta who is alone in the house to reunite with her lover.
Metaphorically the storm, lightning and flooding become the perfect image of threat to their normal lives and houses while the affair between Calixta and Alcée if it were revealed could threaten their marriages.
“If this keeps up, Dieu sait if the levees goin' to stan it!”in everyday life.
I appreciated the fact that Calixta's husband is a nice man and that she does have a lot of affection for her son. The affair with Alcée is her sexually repressed side, the one where she can lose her reason, express her sensual desires. The writing style is subtle and the changes of POV created a good tension between scenes.
There is much to take away from this short story!
The author describes a looming storm that causes her husband and son to be unable to reach home, a perfect setting for Calixta who is alone in the house to reunite with her lover.
Metaphorically the storm, lightning and flooding become the perfect image of threat to their normal lives and houses while the affair between Calixta and Alcée if it were revealed could threaten their marriages.
“If this keeps up, Dieu sait if the levees goin' to stan it!”in everyday life.
I appreciated the fact that Calixta's husband is a nice man and that she does have a lot of affection for her son. The affair with Alcée is her sexually repressed side, the one where she can lose her reason, express her sensual desires. The writing style is subtle and the changes of POV created a good tension between scenes.
There is much to take away from this short story!
Read
July 7, 202210/10
What beautiful symmetry!
What beautiful symmetry!
April 10, 2019
If you ever think that you're in an awkward situation, know that my American Lit professor read this sex scene out loud in class :) Nothing could've prepared me for the uncomfortable air in that room.
September 25, 2022
A slightly, and surprisingly naughty short story from an 18th Century author I would like to read more of.
A storm gives two people the chance to explore feelings they probably shouldn’t have……
A storm gives two people the chance to explore feelings they probably shouldn’t have……
August 14, 2022
This story, the second I’ve read by Kate Chopin, is about the unfaithfulness of Calixta, with an old flame, Alcée, when he unexpectedly drops in for shelter during a storm.
Calixta’s husband, Bobinôt, is away from home with their four year-old son, Bibi.
Alcée’s wife, Clarisse, and their babies are also away from home, and Alcée writes to Clarisse that they need not hurry back; though he misses them, he can “bear the separation a while longer”. Ha, ha!
This seems somewhat hypocritical. He is getting on nicely with his wonderful freedom, which enables him to have sexual relations with a former love. (Of course he doesn’t write the latter.)
Clarisse, who is revelling in “the pleasant liberty of her maiden days” is more than willing to “forego her intimate conjugal life for a while”.
Is she too having a bit on the side?
In my view, Kate Chopin is hinting that in married relationships we often seem to be loving and solicitous, but it is not genuine, insincere, rather.
Calixta’s husband, Bobinôt, is away from home with their four year-old son, Bibi.
Alcée’s wife, Clarisse, and their babies are also away from home, and Alcée writes to Clarisse that they need not hurry back; though he misses them, he can “bear the separation a while longer”. Ha, ha!
This seems somewhat hypocritical. He is getting on nicely with his wonderful freedom, which enables him to have sexual relations with a former love. (Of course he doesn’t write the latter.)
Clarisse, who is revelling in “the pleasant liberty of her maiden days” is more than willing to “forego her intimate conjugal life for a while”.
Is she too having a bit on the side?
In my view, Kate Chopin is hinting that in married relationships we often seem to be loving and solicitous, but it is not genuine, insincere, rather.
August 28, 2013
Having already read this piece, imagine my discomfort at having my literature teacher read this aloud as an example of how to do a close reading.... She was practically winking and elbow nudging at all the "Freudian symbols", particularly when she insinuated that the big drops of rain is a symbol of Calixa's female secretions.... ew. And then pelvic thrusting in front of the class when the French guy throws himself into a rocking chair....
October 14, 2013
The story begins with two characters, Bobinot along with his four-year-old son Bibi. Only after they arrive at a store called Friedheimer for shopping does an unexpected storm begin, and hence they decide to remain inside till it fades away. Meanwhile, as the storm howls, Bobinot’s wife, Calixta, being at home, is anxious for their well-being. Riding a horse along her house, a man called Alcée, Calixta’s ex-lover, comes across her as it starts raining, so he is compelled to have her house as a shelter. While the storm gets stronger, Calixta tries to collect the laundry, and Alcée helps her. Both then go inside the house. Observing how violent the storm is, the wife becomes more and more uneasy, and Alcée attempts to alleviate her worries. Thereupon, they find themselves involved into a sexual intercourse in the absence of her husband Bobinot. The storm which starts withering away makes them interrupt what they have been doing, and thus Alcée has to abandon the place. Later on, Alcée sends his wife a lovely letter. When Bobinot and Bibi get home, everything seems ordinary, and the story ends with everybody being happy.
Kate Chopin’s title, I believe, has not been selected at random, for it connotes the emergence of chaos with which the story is fraught form the storm’s beginning to its end. Unlike Dorothy Parker’s “The Last Tea” which does not contain the protagonists’ names, the characters of “The Storm” are French and amazingly symbolic. Bibi, being the four-year-old kid, undoubtedly refers to the word baby that symbolizes innocence and curiosity to discover the world. On the other hand, Bobinot literally means the reel but figuratively is when the former spins; that is, the process of leaving the house and going shopping is a turn he has made, and hence he on no account can see what is happening in his house while he is absent. If we direct our vision towards the name of the wife, Calixta, we should consider that its Greek origin is Kallistos, the most beautiful person. She is indeed irresistible; that is why there are many erotic descriptions of her, which make her ex-lover, Alcée, resurrect their sexual relationship they once have had. Last but not least, Alcée, as a name, actually refers to a type of flower named hollyhock which has the ability to produce large seeds and which can resist the heat of the sun that makes other plants dry and ultimately die. In conformity with the short story’s events, Alcée succeeds in seducing Calixta, ending up having sexual intercourse with her. In other words, similarly to the fruitful flower, if he had not had the required qualities, such as manhood and fertility, she would have resisted his charm, let alone the sexual intercourse.
The storm and male-female relationship are extremely prominent elements in the story. It is evident that there are three ordered phases: pre-storm, mid-storm and post-storm. And each period constructs the plot. The quote “the leaves were so still” indicates that things at first are serene; however, when the storm begins, the family’s steady life changes. Bobinot and his son are away from house and can under no circumstances go back, for the storm howls and strengthens. The former seems to love his wife Calixta to whom he buys a can of prawns to which she is amazingly addicted. “Calixta, at home, felt no uneasiness for their safety. She sat at a side window sewing furiously on a sewing machine.” From the previous quote, it is obvious that all her behavior unquestionably shows that never would she have got involved in an adulterous relationship. Nevertheless, Alcée’s coming is going to change her situation from loyalty to disloyalty. Calixta and her ex-boyfriend have lost sight of each other since she has got married, that is, five years, which might have been futile for her to forget Alcée. The fact that he is not erased from her memory, let alone her heart, is at first seen from her startled voice, which elaborates she has had a questionable relationship with him. Apparently, as it heavily rains, Alcée does not want to seem insolent, and hence remains outside the house. But due to the perpetual rain, he has no choice but to go inside. Entering the house, therefore, signifies the intrusion into a family’s private life. Even the bedroom door which provokes sexual intercourse has been open.
“Alcée flung himself in a rocker and Calixta nervously began to gather up from the floor the lengths of a cotton sheet which she had been sewing.” It seems that Calixta is captured by anxiety which makes the reader wonder why she is nervous in the presence of Alcée if she already loves her husband Bobinot. It is amazingly plain that there can be some remnants of love that are still kept in her heart as well as Alcée’s. Accordingly, Alcée’s presence and Bobinot’s absence make a decisive step which probably might blight her marriage life. As the first drops of rain fall, Calixta is carrying Bobinot’s coat which is about to get wet. The rain will then set aside Calixta and bobinot, whom the coat represents, and the new arriver, Alcée, controls the situation instead of her real husband; tossing away the coat signifies abandoning her husband and breaking the norms. Of course, when she goes to “the window with a greatly disturbed look on her face,” Alcée follows her and starts gazing provocatively at her shoulders, which are to resurrect the love or the sexual story of their past. Little do we, as readers, realize that Calixta, too, desires the deviant sexuality with her ex-lover. Nevertheless, she unleashes an unexpected cry as she staggers backward where Alcée is standing, and thus he has now the opportunity to hug her. Her behavior that suddenly eases for Alcée to do what he has in mind is very uncanny, and it is somehow baffling to believe her tears, let alone her backward step, which might be intended. “The contact of her warm palpitating body when he had unthinkingly drawn her into his arms had aroused all the old-time infatuation and desire of flesh.” The flesh─ being entirely the human body when considering its physical and sexual needs, rather than the soul─ matters more than love that is supposedly shared between Calixta and Bobinot. The accumulation of her apprehension becomes acute, whereupon she needs to be relaxed, and alleviating her pain might lead to sexual activity. Calixta and Alcée unconsciously go through mere looking and slight touching, whereupon sexual interaction. At this moment of time, passion for each other makes them blind to everything else, and hence we are invited by Kate Chopin to witness a whole scene of fleshly pleasure, which Bobinot probably could not have guaranteed his wife.
When the sexual intercourse and the storm end, the sun shines, and the grass glistens wet after the rain. Calixta feels neither shame nor remorse, but absolute gladness. “He turned and smiled at her with a beaming face; she lifted her pretty chin in the air and laughed loud” . This expresses her enjoyment from the momentary experience against which she bumps up. Both are satisfied because they have revived an inner feeling which has just come out of a five-year hibernation. And this evidently explains that Alcée offers irreplaceable pleasure which Bobinot apparently is unable to guarantee. When the sun appears again, everything is back to normal. We can, therefore, deduce that the storm and sun are widely significant; the first connotes “violent sexual encounter” while the second refers to “ordinary, happy life”.
“Bobinot”s explanations and apologies which he had been composing all along the way died on his lips as Calixta felt him to see if he were dry.” Bobinot seems to be fearful of his wife whom he considers overscrupulous. Perhaps the former, due to his excessive love for Calixta, lacks manhood which commonly most women are fond of. Alcée that night sends a flattering letter to his wife, Clarisse, suggesting that she, along with the babies, may remain as long as she desires in Biloxi; “and though he missed them, he was willing to bear the separation a while longer─ realizing that their health and pleasure were the first things to be considered.” His letter is somehow questionable; he is perhaps planning to get again a glimpse at Calixta while his wife and children are away. There are abundant proofs, such as Alcée’s smile and Calixta’s loud laugh, which can indicate that both are willing to meet several times. The kernel of the story is seen in this sentence: “So the storm passed and everyone was happy.” Happiness emerges at the end of storm, which represents the end of problems, too. Indeed, everyone—Calixta, Alcée, or Bobinot— seems happy. In other words, the sexual intercourse gives both Claixta and Alcée a pleasure that is irreplaceable, whereas Bobinot is satisfied since his wife does not rebuke him as he has expected for making his clothes, as well as Bibi’s, dirty.
Apparently, in this short story, one can notice that Kate Chopin shows Calixta as a disloyal wife. However, it is evident that her inevitably sexual desire, which intertwines with the storm, eventually cannot be stopped or precluded.
Kate Chopin’s title, I believe, has not been selected at random, for it connotes the emergence of chaos with which the story is fraught form the storm’s beginning to its end. Unlike Dorothy Parker’s “The Last Tea” which does not contain the protagonists’ names, the characters of “The Storm” are French and amazingly symbolic. Bibi, being the four-year-old kid, undoubtedly refers to the word baby that symbolizes innocence and curiosity to discover the world. On the other hand, Bobinot literally means the reel but figuratively is when the former spins; that is, the process of leaving the house and going shopping is a turn he has made, and hence he on no account can see what is happening in his house while he is absent. If we direct our vision towards the name of the wife, Calixta, we should consider that its Greek origin is Kallistos, the most beautiful person. She is indeed irresistible; that is why there are many erotic descriptions of her, which make her ex-lover, Alcée, resurrect their sexual relationship they once have had. Last but not least, Alcée, as a name, actually refers to a type of flower named hollyhock which has the ability to produce large seeds and which can resist the heat of the sun that makes other plants dry and ultimately die. In conformity with the short story’s events, Alcée succeeds in seducing Calixta, ending up having sexual intercourse with her. In other words, similarly to the fruitful flower, if he had not had the required qualities, such as manhood and fertility, she would have resisted his charm, let alone the sexual intercourse.
The storm and male-female relationship are extremely prominent elements in the story. It is evident that there are three ordered phases: pre-storm, mid-storm and post-storm. And each period constructs the plot. The quote “the leaves were so still” indicates that things at first are serene; however, when the storm begins, the family’s steady life changes. Bobinot and his son are away from house and can under no circumstances go back, for the storm howls and strengthens. The former seems to love his wife Calixta to whom he buys a can of prawns to which she is amazingly addicted. “Calixta, at home, felt no uneasiness for their safety. She sat at a side window sewing furiously on a sewing machine.” From the previous quote, it is obvious that all her behavior unquestionably shows that never would she have got involved in an adulterous relationship. Nevertheless, Alcée’s coming is going to change her situation from loyalty to disloyalty. Calixta and her ex-boyfriend have lost sight of each other since she has got married, that is, five years, which might have been futile for her to forget Alcée. The fact that he is not erased from her memory, let alone her heart, is at first seen from her startled voice, which elaborates she has had a questionable relationship with him. Apparently, as it heavily rains, Alcée does not want to seem insolent, and hence remains outside the house. But due to the perpetual rain, he has no choice but to go inside. Entering the house, therefore, signifies the intrusion into a family’s private life. Even the bedroom door which provokes sexual intercourse has been open.
“Alcée flung himself in a rocker and Calixta nervously began to gather up from the floor the lengths of a cotton sheet which she had been sewing.” It seems that Calixta is captured by anxiety which makes the reader wonder why she is nervous in the presence of Alcée if she already loves her husband Bobinot. It is amazingly plain that there can be some remnants of love that are still kept in her heart as well as Alcée’s. Accordingly, Alcée’s presence and Bobinot’s absence make a decisive step which probably might blight her marriage life. As the first drops of rain fall, Calixta is carrying Bobinot’s coat which is about to get wet. The rain will then set aside Calixta and bobinot, whom the coat represents, and the new arriver, Alcée, controls the situation instead of her real husband; tossing away the coat signifies abandoning her husband and breaking the norms. Of course, when she goes to “the window with a greatly disturbed look on her face,” Alcée follows her and starts gazing provocatively at her shoulders, which are to resurrect the love or the sexual story of their past. Little do we, as readers, realize that Calixta, too, desires the deviant sexuality with her ex-lover. Nevertheless, she unleashes an unexpected cry as she staggers backward where Alcée is standing, and thus he has now the opportunity to hug her. Her behavior that suddenly eases for Alcée to do what he has in mind is very uncanny, and it is somehow baffling to believe her tears, let alone her backward step, which might be intended. “The contact of her warm palpitating body when he had unthinkingly drawn her into his arms had aroused all the old-time infatuation and desire of flesh.” The flesh─ being entirely the human body when considering its physical and sexual needs, rather than the soul─ matters more than love that is supposedly shared between Calixta and Bobinot. The accumulation of her apprehension becomes acute, whereupon she needs to be relaxed, and alleviating her pain might lead to sexual activity. Calixta and Alcée unconsciously go through mere looking and slight touching, whereupon sexual interaction. At this moment of time, passion for each other makes them blind to everything else, and hence we are invited by Kate Chopin to witness a whole scene of fleshly pleasure, which Bobinot probably could not have guaranteed his wife.
When the sexual intercourse and the storm end, the sun shines, and the grass glistens wet after the rain. Calixta feels neither shame nor remorse, but absolute gladness. “He turned and smiled at her with a beaming face; she lifted her pretty chin in the air and laughed loud” . This expresses her enjoyment from the momentary experience against which she bumps up. Both are satisfied because they have revived an inner feeling which has just come out of a five-year hibernation. And this evidently explains that Alcée offers irreplaceable pleasure which Bobinot apparently is unable to guarantee. When the sun appears again, everything is back to normal. We can, therefore, deduce that the storm and sun are widely significant; the first connotes “violent sexual encounter” while the second refers to “ordinary, happy life”.
“Bobinot”s explanations and apologies which he had been composing all along the way died on his lips as Calixta felt him to see if he were dry.” Bobinot seems to be fearful of his wife whom he considers overscrupulous. Perhaps the former, due to his excessive love for Calixta, lacks manhood which commonly most women are fond of. Alcée that night sends a flattering letter to his wife, Clarisse, suggesting that she, along with the babies, may remain as long as she desires in Biloxi; “and though he missed them, he was willing to bear the separation a while longer─ realizing that their health and pleasure were the first things to be considered.” His letter is somehow questionable; he is perhaps planning to get again a glimpse at Calixta while his wife and children are away. There are abundant proofs, such as Alcée’s smile and Calixta’s loud laugh, which can indicate that both are willing to meet several times. The kernel of the story is seen in this sentence: “So the storm passed and everyone was happy.” Happiness emerges at the end of storm, which represents the end of problems, too. Indeed, everyone—Calixta, Alcée, or Bobinot— seems happy. In other words, the sexual intercourse gives both Claixta and Alcée a pleasure that is irreplaceable, whereas Bobinot is satisfied since his wife does not rebuke him as he has expected for making his clothes, as well as Bibi’s, dirty.
Apparently, in this short story, one can notice that Kate Chopin shows Calixta as a disloyal wife. However, it is evident that her inevitably sexual desire, which intertwines with the storm, eventually cannot be stopped or precluded.
July 10, 2022
This is the first female author we are reading in our GR short story group where we read one story a week and have amazing discussions- it is easy when we read stories like this.
“The Storm” is a perfectly written little story. Four people’s perspectives -two married couples-are packed in a four page story. A storm passes over their parish in Louisiana, a cyclone, and everyone must hunker down in the nearest place of safety. Two married people —not to each other— end up spending the storm together and having an affair. These two have a history,an unconsummated passionate tangle of feelings. They leave each other after the storm happy and easy going with their spouses. Chopin tells us all this and more in such beautiful descriptions, and not one word seems out of place. And yet, she is not explicit about what it all means—What is she saying about marriage and affairs?
I love stories that make us think about these things rather than giving us straightforward facts and expressing clearly what is right or wrong. Give me ambiguity and subtlety and vagueness, even contradictions are ok! Messiness in stories as in life if well written always welcome!
As I thought about it and looked at what Chopin gave us, I saw 2 people who are happier after they stray from their marriage. I saw their affair as finally letting the chaotic passion pass through them as the chaotic storm is passing over and cleansing everything as it goes. The cleansing that might take place in a Church.
Do you remember —in Assumption, Calixta?
They have gotten it out of their system, as we would say today. Now they pass this “happiness” onto their spouses and families.
It’s short- recommended.
“The Storm” is a perfectly written little story. Four people’s perspectives -two married couples-are packed in a four page story. A storm passes over their parish in Louisiana, a cyclone, and everyone must hunker down in the nearest place of safety. Two married people —not to each other— end up spending the storm together and having an affair. These two have a history,an unconsummated passionate tangle of feelings. They leave each other after the storm happy and easy going with their spouses. Chopin tells us all this and more in such beautiful descriptions, and not one word seems out of place. And yet, she is not explicit about what it all means—What is she saying about marriage and affairs?
I love stories that make us think about these things rather than giving us straightforward facts and expressing clearly what is right or wrong. Give me ambiguity and subtlety and vagueness, even contradictions are ok! Messiness in stories as in life if well written always welcome!
As I thought about it and looked at what Chopin gave us, I saw 2 people who are happier after they stray from their marriage. I saw their affair as finally letting the chaotic passion pass through them as the chaotic storm is passing over and cleansing everything as it goes. The cleansing that might take place in a Church.
Do you remember —in Assumption, Calixta?
They have gotten it out of their system, as we would say today. Now they pass this “happiness” onto their spouses and families.
It’s short- recommended.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 11, 2017
"Her firm, elastic flesh that was knowing for the first time its birthright, was like a creamy lily that the sun invites to contribute its breath and perfume to the undying life of the world."
No mistaking what is taking place during the storm, and that sometimes folks marry the wrong partners.
No mistaking what is taking place during the storm, and that sometimes folks marry the wrong partners.
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