"The Storm

In reading "The Storm" by Kate Chopin it first appears that Calixta is a normal housewife very involved with performing her wifely duties. But while she is a devoted wife and mother she has passions of her own with Alcee Laballiere that erupt again when he gets caught in the same storm and takes cover at Calixta's house while her devoted husband and son are away in town. After reading the story a second time I realized that the title, "The Storm", may mean the stormy relationship (affair) that she has with Alcee. When Alcee and Calixta do bow to tempation, that just like the clouds of a storm dissipate and the sun comes out, their regular lives also become happier after their "sensual" needs are fulfilled. They obviously have a past but I believe that it didn't work out between them in the long term because of the different social classes that they belonged to. Alcee's words aren't slang as they appear in the text, however, Calista's are, and it appears that she is uneducated. Maybe society wouldn't allow them to be together so this affair has to exist in private to fulfill their desires while carrying on a "normal" family life within their social status. In the second paragraph of part II it reads, "She had not seen him very often since her marriage and never alone." This leads me to believe that either Bobinot didn't trust her in the presence of Alcee or she didn't trust herself. Another reference to an ongoing affair is in part II as well, "...against which his honor forbade him to prevail." This is in reference to them being together in Assumption, and from what I gather in this paragraph is that Alcee was married at that time and Calista either was or wasn't married at that time as well. They obviously have a passion together that they don't have between their own spouses and appears that when they satisfy this passion their regular family lives prosper emotionally. I think its too simple to just say that bad equals good in this story because obviously having an affair is morally wrong, however, it seems to work for all involved in this story. Even Alcee's wife makes a reference to being free or having a desire for being away from Alcee when she says, "...their conjugal life was something which she was more than willing to forego for a while." Typically when you are away from someone you love completely you miss them and want to come back in a timely manner. This statement kind of makes it seem like she is a bit happier when she is away and that she is okay to be away for a long period of time. Maybe they had an "arranged" marriage, and that is why Calixta and Alcee did not marry. The story is ironic in the fact that Bobinot is the only character happy with his life and not tempted by desire to pursue anyone other than his wife Calixta. His only simple desire is to make Calixta happy with a can of shrimps purchased from the store in town when he and Bibi arrive back home. They also take good care that they are somewhat clean from the muddy walk home.