Themes and Symbols in "The Storm"

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Mariah Polen Cooper—379 ENG 111-41F—JE #1 5 September 2012 Themes and Symbols In Kate Chopin’s story, “The Storm,” sex plays a crucial part. Well, to be more specific, adultery. She uses this story as a platform to further her opinion on sexuality and marriage. Chopin believes that marriage is constricting to both people and that there is nothing wrong or untraditional with having verboten sexual encounters. Women in the 1800’s were dominated by their husbands and expected to be submissive in every way. After Kate’s real life husband died, she decided to voice her opinion on this topic. Sometimes the rules and morals that society or religion teaches us, isn’t really what we want for our own lives. Especially when it comes to sex, romance or love there are a lot of different opinions. Certain cultures may teach that sex (of any form) before marriage is not wrong while others believe that our morals change as society allows it to. There are always new beliefs and philosophies being introduced. Chopin wants to open the eyes of the world and convince us that passion shouldn’t be just for marriage and that adultery is good because it can strengthen a relationship. Coming from a more conservative Christian background, I don’t agree with her ideas. Some people believe that society as a whole looks down on people who are simply “different.” The author's general attitude is that everyone needs a way of escape, at certain times in his or her relationships. The story can leave you with a somewhat uncomfortable feeling, as it presents the sense that the affair is not only justifiable, but actually makes everything better. Chopin tries to make the adulterous act acceptable by saying that Calixta’s marriage was bad and she needed to find pleasure elsewhere. This narrative is sexually explicit, but it is also entirely unashamed and unapologetic. There is no sense of
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