C&C revised

Allen Ng
Brackenhoff
English 68
May 10, 2010
C & C
Michael de Montaigne once said, "Marriage is like a cage, one sees the birds outside desperate to get in, and those inside equally desperate to get out." Someone should have explained this to Louise and Calixta before they decided to put on that steel band. In Kate Chopin's two stories, "The Storm" and "The Story of an Hour" the married life is reflected through the eyes of two stay-at-home wives. Louise and Calixta, who both have loving husbands; yet, imagery and irony reveal the theme of their unhappy marriages.
Imagery is vividly used to development the theme of both stories. In “The Story of an Hour”, Louise, a bed-ridden wife is told the tragic news of her husband’s death. After the tears subsided, she peers out the “open square before her house and sees the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life” (1). Naturally, after a loved one’s death, our minds would be mournful and fixated on the dark side of life; yet, Louise sees a fresh new start. “The delicious breath of rain was in the air.” Most people show their true feelings during the rain, which is true in Louise’s case. Even on this gloomy day, her spirit is high and “monstrous” (2) during her release from the unhappy marriage.
In “The Storm”, Kate uses imagery similarly, as a catalyst for her theme. The moment before a “sinister” (1) storm with rolls into the town of New Orleans, Alee Laballiere heads over to visit Calixta, while her husband and son are away. At the peak of the storm, lighting hits a nearby tree and startles Calixta into Alcee’s arms. “The contact of her warm palpitating body… arouses all the old-time inflation and desire for her flesh,” (3) Temptation is aroused between the two, as wind and rain swirls frantically around them. Alcee slowly gives into his lust for Calixta, as he probes her with his sinful eyes, “Her white neck and a glimpse of her full, firm bosom disturbed him powerfully” (3). Nonetheless, Calixta, herself also accepts the sexual immortality, “Her firm, elastic flesh that was knowing for the first time its birthright,” (3). Calixta never feels sexually satisfied in her marriage with Bobinot. Unhappy and displeased, she looks to Alcee for satisfaction. “The generous abundance of her passion, without guile or trickery, was like a white flame.” White is primarily the symbol of purity and cleanliness; however, it is used to describe the imagery of the dirty deed.
Irony is the main bridge that connects these two pieces of writings by Kate Chopin. In “The Story of an Hour”, irony strikes at the very end of the story. Louise is caught by the throat and thrown back into the cage of marriage as her husband enters the house unscratched and unharmed. Being overly joyful about her husband’s death, the sight of him alive ironically kills Louise. “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease—of joy that kills,” (2).
Kate Chopin once again uses the tool of irony throughout the “The Storm”. At the start of every setting, the story begins with an ironic lead-in. Bobinot and Bibi is considered about Calixta as the clouds move in; yet, “Calixta… felt no uneasiness for their safety,” (1). After Calixta and Alcee’s dirty sex scandal, Bobinot and Bibi worry about being presentable to mom, which is a small smug on an already soiled situation. “My! Bibi, w’at will yo’ mama say! You ought to be ashame’… How you got that mud on yo’ collar, Bibi? I never saw such a boy!” (4). Most stories that involve adultery have unhappy endings; conversely in “The Storm” brought happiness to everybody. “So, the storm passed and everyone was happy” (5). Both story used an array of imagery and irony very similarly to progress theme.