Kate Chopin's
In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" and "The Storm," the implied attitude for each short story is the corruption of marriage. In each story both wives share the same soiled qualities of being concerned only with themselves, deceiving their husbands and acting indecisively. Selfishness played a role in their thoughts and actions and unfaithfulness played a role in their overall attitude toward their marriages. "The Story of an Hour" involves The Mallards, a married couple. When Mrs. Mallard is informed of her husband's death, she falls apart into tears. After crying in her chair for a bit she began to feel different. As Chopin states, " There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it fearfully." (13) Different in that her attitude changes from being sad about her husband's death to being fearful about feeling happy of her newfound freedom. In the end of the story a twist comes into play as Mrs. Mallard walks toward the stairs only to find the front door to open and her husband standing there healthy and alive.
Calixta showed no disgrace for her earlier actions and Mrs. These women felt that there freedom, emotions, and desires were far more important than being a loving, devoted wife who would give up sacrifices for the happiness of her husband. Alcee has a family who reside in Biloxi and Calixta has a small boy with her husband. The attitude of marriage in the beginning of these two stories seemed satisfying for these women. Mallard had died of a heart disease, the kind that kills from joy. Calixta took action upon her feelings and became physically unfaithful. Calixta has sexual relations with Alcee during the storm because she knew that her son and husband would not be home until the storm has passed. The affair starts during a terrible storm when Alcee asks Calixta if he could stay at her house till the storm passes. Mallard basically left her husband alone just to be free. She says nothing and shows no shame. "(33) Here Chopin shows the reader that Calixta questions her attraction to be with Alcee but eventually she gave in to her selfish thoughts and desires. This was before they had a chance to express themselves in their independence whether it was sexually or personally. Both women experienced two different situations but generally had the same attitude toward marriage in each circumstance. Mallard deep down wanted to put aside her selfish thoughts, she ended wanting to rejoice more in them with the idea of her brand new independence.
Common topics in this essay:
Story Storm,
Chopin Mallard,
Alcee Calixta,
Biloxi Calixta,
Alcee Alcee,
Calixta Mallard,
attitude marriage,
newfound freedom,
relations alcee,
husband's death,
implied attitude,
played role,
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Acceptance Essays
