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“The Storm” and Sexual Relationships and Feminist Theory

Kate Chopin was actually born in St. Louis, Missouri, with the name Catherine(Kate)

O’Flaherty on February 8, 1850. “Her mother was actually of French descent which helps indicates why most of her stories takes place in Louisiana. Louisiana is mostly a French area of the country therefore, Kate grew up speaking both French and English.” Kate got married in

1870 to a guy named Oscar. Oscar and Kate lived in a town in Louisiana a small French village in the Natchitoches Parish. Because, of Oscar’s death in 1882 from malaria, she became the responsibility of five children, so that is when she decided to enter the writing business and started writing stories. In her book “The Awakening” the main character Therese Lafime struggles to reconcile her “outward existence” with her “inward life”. Kate Chopin was considered the first woman writer in the country to accept passion as a legitimate subject for serious, outspoken fiction Kate Chopin passed away on August 22 1904 possibly due from a cerebral hemorrhage. In today’s society Kate Chopin is very highly considered and accepted as one of the American’s essential authors.

In Kate Chopin’s story the climax of the story occurs during when the storm arrives and

Alcee, walks up to the house of Calixta. These two Calixta and Alcee haven’t been together for many years. But, during the storm they try to restore their affair to each other, I think it is more that Alcee wants this than Calixta want to get back into a relationship with Alcee since she is happily married. “A lot of authors write about the female role in sexual relationships.” In “The

Storm” by Kate Chopin, this them is further expressed though her use of her plot, symbolism and the climax.” 2

The feminist theory is all about women’s perspectives on different issues in life, which in

Kate Chopin story “The Storm” is exactly what Calixta expresses. For instance, when Alcee arrives at her home during the storm, it is mostly Alcee that wants to have an affair together between them, so in this case Calixta is making her own judgement that she doesn’t want to start a relationship again with Alcee, because Calixta perspective she feels is that she is already happily married and Alcee has a new wife in his life. The second time that Calixta makes perspective is when also deciding on not starting up a romantic relationship with Alcee when, they are alone, in the house during the storm, this perspective turns out to be positive because, at the end of the story it mentions that after what everyone has experienced they all ended up happily at the end of the story, which is good way for it to end. So, Calixta probably took this perspective of not having an affair with Alcee, because she was afraid her husband would find out what they were up to, and then everyone wouldn’t be living happily ever after at end of story.

For instance, when the bolt of lightning struck, Calixta was concerned about her husband

Bobinot and son Bibi so, she rose up and looked out the window and then she put her hands to her eyes, and started crying, and staggered backwards” and somehow at that moment Alcee’s arm’s encircled her (page 121). This part of him putting his arms around her, is more typical of a man response to if a woman falls backward in fear, to try to catch her. But, Calixta thought he was trying to start a relationship with her instead. On page 123 of the story, after Alcee left

Calixta after the storm, he wrote his actually wife named Clarisse a letter. At this time, Clarisse was on vacation and in the letter Alcee wrote to her that she didn’t have to hurry back to town and if she really wanted to she could stay longer. I think he wrote the letter because it mentions right after this on page 123 about letting her stay longer because Alcee is getting on nicely, this he is probably thinking back to when he was together with Calixta during the storm and tried to 3 have an affair with Claixta, but he did mention that he did miss his actually wife Clarisse, even though he was willing to let her stay longer on vacation. So, Clarisse took his word on it and decided to stay a bit longer like he suggested.

Regarding sexual relationships, in an article titled “Understanding Relationships: How to have the Love of Your Life and what to do When Things go Wrong” mentions the following

“every unresolved emotional issue you may have within yourself, that can emerge in your key relationship.” The article by Marjorie Weinzweig, states: “the feminine in us is open-hearted, graceful, compassionate, wise, tender, gentle and sensitive.” This statement means that people tend to view all women as easy going people, and easy to get along with.

For some people commitment may mean a feeling a romantic relationship that is permanent as stated by (Leik &Leik, 1977; Thibaut & Kelley, 1959) in the article titled

“Generational Differences as a Determinant of Women’s Perspectives on Commitment.” There are gender differences in defining commitments. For example, from the article “Generational

Differences as a Determinant of Women’s Perspectives on Commitment” states the following differences of ideas between men and women towards relationships. “Women have been known to more likely to define their commitment in terms of moral commitment, but this might be different for younger women who might actually believe in romantic relationships and marriage and who have been socialized to sacrifice less.”

The whole thesis of Kate Chopin’s “The Storm” is the actual storm itself, and the whole relationship that Alcee and Calixta have together during the storm. Then the relationship starts to pick up or increase between them. Like, when Calixta got scared when she went to look out the window, and fell backwards. Alcee was there to be able to catch her in his arms to embrace her, this increases the first start of the relationship between them. Then, on page 122 towards the 4 bottom it got more intense when it is talking about how he touched her breast, and then a little further on in that passage it states that her lips lightly touched his forehead. Which give the impression that she really didn’t want to start a relationship since that gives impression that she really didn’t want to kiss him and that it is Alcee that wanted to start the affair with them all over again from where they left off, when they broke up several years earlier.

In the article “Truth and Method: Feminist Standpoint Theory Revisited,” by Susan

Heckman it goes into details how the feminist theory was actually started and where it came from. The power for feminist is how it enables us to connect with everyday life and with analysis of the social institutions that shape life. In an article by Hartstock she says this: “feminism as a mode of analysis leads us to respect experience and differences, to respect people enough to believe that they are in the best possible position to make their own revolution.”From Hartstock viewpoint both men and women create their own realities, which is like in Kate Chopin story

“The Storm” I feel that it is mostly Alcee that wants to start up an affair again so that he has in his mind as his reality and in Calixta viewpoint, she is afraid to start up a relationship again since she is happily married and that is her sense of reality.

The feminist standpoint theory is described also, as female’s experiences at a particular time and place, located within a particular set of social relations. Harstock describes feminist theory as object-relations theory type between male and female experiences in the world. She argues that if material life structures are consciousness, then women’s relationally defined existence structures a life in which dichotomies are foreign and abstract masculinity is exposed as partial and perverse. Originally, the feminist standpoint claimed that the standpoint of women offers a privileged vantage point for knowledge, but, actually if the differences among women occupy many different standpoints and thus inhabit many realities, this thesis has to be 5 reexamined and changed. Even though there is a feminist theory it is ascertain that women are not a unitary group, white, ruling-class. The ruling class now that is defined or referred to as the

“center” is defined as unitary while those on the periphery the “others” are defined as heterogeneous.

Some feminist standpoint theorists have tried to deal with the challenge of difference and its implications for the truth claims of the feminist standpoint. Dorothy Smith defines “women’s actually lived experience” as a category that encompasses the diversity of women’s lives and activities. Which is exactly I feel, Calixta is doing in “The Storm” by when she and Alcee are together alone in the storm she is probably thinking about keeping her husband happy, and that is what happens at the end of “The Storm” that everyone lives happily every happy.

Some feminist view different voices towards what the feminist theory may actually be or mean to them. For instance, people might view that women should live a socially constructed life centered around being more of a housewife type person and let the husband go out and earn a living for the family. This has some women, feeling left out, because they would also want to earn a living to help to contribute to the household needs and supplies, and to pay bills. The feminist theory has many different viewpoints and definitions depending on which person you ask, but as a general standpoint of view, feminist theory is to enable women to have same kind of freedom as men, and be productive more towards household items to be able to earn a living and not be considered a stay-at-home mom.

“Living together” will be defined as a sexual relationship between two persons which is accompanied by the following features as stated in the article by Marjorie Weinzweig both parties of the people involved in the relationship no matter if gay or not should share equal amount of responsibility to the household chores. As well during the relationship each partner for 6 people living together should be able to have commitments towards each other in the relationship, that means having trust and faith toward the other person in the relationship. Which

I Calixta was thinking about having trust and faith towards her husband by not starting up a type of affair with Alcee, even though Alcee really tried to urge a sexual relationship between them during the storm. However as mentioned in article by Marjorie Weinzweig, that are many different definitions to describe “living together:” like for instance it can only actually mean a couple of roommates living together in an apartment, or even college roommates sharing a dorm on campus. As Marjorie Weinzweig describes “living together” is when the couple no matter if gay or whatever, share equal responsibilities in household expenses, child raising if any children, and equal contribution to household chores. All these elements combine makes what is called

“living together” for two people.

Women typically tend to view men in the household as the like “king of the household” the one that goes out to make a living while the women are just stuck at home, doing household chores and raising their children on their own. I think that is one issue that spark the feminist or started the feminist movement theory because of how these women felt, they didn’t have any say in the relationships, household work or even be allowed to go out to earn a living they had to stay at home instead to take care of things around the house instead while husbands were at work.

And in Kate Chopin “The Storm,” that is how Bobinot was viewed as the “king of the household” since, he was sent out to the store and was stuck there during a storm, instead of

Calixta his wife.

Women, feel that if it was only allowed for husband to work and they had to be stay-at- home moms then they would feel like they are not making any type of contribution to the household, and they may even feel as though they are their husband slaves. The reasons some 7 women feel they may be their husbands’ slaves is because they are required to do all the housework, cooking, and raising their children while the husbands are out raising all the money.

This is another perspective issue in feminist theory that women feel they should be able to work outside the home, so they can also make money to contribute to the household expenses as well as too be able to have spending money for their own to use on things they want to get on their own without asking husbands to borrow money. But typically, in a good mutual relationship usually the partners have a joint account that both partners can have access to at any time this including the wife, even if she doesn’t contribute anything to the income coming in since that is the men decision and how men feel towards women’s lives as to how women are brought up to be. Men believe in their minds that women from seeing their own mothers, should be mothers to their children and do all work around the house and the men should be the dominant player or money maker in the family. This is all what started the feminist theory theses different perspectives by different people on the ways women should be brought up and how they should be contributing to the household by staying at home instead of going out to work, and be with the children. But, in today’s society that isn’t how it is most instances now a day it is reversed the female in the household is out working earning a living while the man is being the “stay-at- home” father, and house worker instead.

As in Kate Chopin story “The Storm” Bobinot was probably viewed as like the “king of the household” since he was sent out the store with their son, while Calixta stayed at home.

Calixta probably viewed herself as a typical housewife instead that had to stay at home, but after

Bobinot and Bibi returned home after the storm and Alcee left, and wrote his actually wife that lovely letter telling her to stay longer. The story actually had a good ending that no one got hurt 8 by anything and it resulted in everyone living happily ever after, just like a fairy tale story ending when they say and they lived happily ever after. 9

Works Cited

Addelson, Kathryn Payne. "Feminist Philosophy and the Women's Movement." Wiley 9.3

(1994): 216-24. Print.

Chopin, Kate. "The Storm." Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing.

N.p.: n.p., n.d. 120-23. Print.

Hekman, Susan. "Truth and Method: Feminist Standpoint Theory Revisited." Chicago Journals

22.2 (1997): 341-65. Print.

Kate Chopin International Society. St. Louis: Kate Chopin International Society, 2015. Print.

Peet, David. "Understanding Relationships: How to Have the Love of Your Life and What to Do

When Things Go Wrong." Positive Health (2005): 14-16. Print.

Stark, Marcella. "Generational Differences as a Determinant of Women's Perspectives on

Commitment." Adultspan Journal 11.2 (2012): 112-22. Print.

Weinzweig, Marjorie. "Should a Feminist Choose a Marriage-Like Relationship?" Hypatia 1.2

(1986): 140-60. Print.