Sexuality and the Strong Female Protagonist The strong female protagonist can be viewed as either revolutionary and heroin, or as foolish and immoral. Although Calixta may seem to be a character with endorsed actions because of her boldness, she is criticized by Chopin. In ‘The Awakening,’ the quantity of Edna’s friendships throughout her journey of self discovery reflects the amount of support which is given her actions. As Edna grows as a character, she is eventually narrowed down to a single friendship and then left to herself. Chopin presents an indefensible moral position that she portrays in her prose, seemingly a proponent of the act, but with in depth reading, the action is criticized and weakened. Berkove believes that Chopin’s extraordinary skill is her ability to subtly undercut bold but morally untenable positions that she has sympathetically represented. (188) ‘The Awakening’ was written in the same year as ‘The Storm,’ and displays some similarly sensual content such as Edna’s relations with Alcee and her longing for Robert LeBrun. The main difference in character is that Calixta’s adultery is not premeditated; and Edna, although spontaneous in her own right, clearly intended for something to take place during her encounters. In the primary incident in which Calixta is shown to be lacking in strength, Clarisse seizes control from Calixta in ‘At the ‘Cadian Ball’ by bidding Alcee come with her. In ‘The Storm,’ Calixta’s strength as a character is actually undermined when she defies the confines of her marriage through sexual infidelity in that she gave herself up in a moment of passion without premeditation. Calixta merely has enough power to commit the affair, but to deceive her family into believing that life as normalcy continues. The act was not the result of love originating between Calixta and Alcee, but of intense lust; therefore they are able to continue unchanged as a result of the lack of emotion involved. Calixta, although seemingly in control and strong is fundamentally lacking in strength because of the absence of intent. Contrastingly, Edna is a character that intentionally ventures out on her own to find what she wants rather than stumbling upon it. Both women defy their husbands. Ironically, Edna’s journey seems to be supported by the narrative idealistically more so than Calixta’s. This may be the result of the multifaceted nature of Edna’s development and the contrast of the single nature of Calixta’s affair. Both women experience subtle criticism from the author for the amoral action. Edna is a strong character, stronger than Calixta in that she controls her own journey on several levels of consciousness. The ideals of feminism are not undermined by a strong female character because the bold actions of Calixta do not originate in strength, and those actions of the strong Edna are for the majority supported and reasonable. The stories of ‘The Storm’ and ‘At the ‘Cadian Ball’ involve dynamic characters which Chopin uses in order to embrace and contrastingly criticize the actions of impulsive sexuality; whereas other stories, such as ‘The Awakening’ embrace the exploration of a woman’s sexuality. “Her firm, elastic flesh that was knowing for the first time its birthright….the generous abundance of her passion without guile or trickery was like a white flame.” Chopin is saying that a pure passion is like a ‘white flame’; and a woman’s sexuality is referred to as her birthright. Chopin uses the subtleties to imply her criticism or support of the protagonist’s sexuality as presented in the text. (Chopin, Page 284) In ‘The Storm,’ Chopin mainly criticizes the actions and results which originate from impulsive thinking. From a feminist standpoint, she is criticizing the overly liberal ideal that encourages extramarital affairs; however, during the scene in which Alcee and Calixta are committing adultery, Chopin calls the experiencing of passionate sexual affairs the ‘birthright’ of Calixta’s flesh. It may seem that Chopin is contradicting herself; however, the main concept of the passage is her disapproval of the affair-then the subtle placement of a woman’s right to enjoy sexuality. Chopin is conveying the support of a sexually liberated woman, but within a certain means. White flames are those of the hottest fire, which also consume and destroy everything around it. Calling Calixta’s passion a ‘white flame’ is denoting how deeply and with how much impact a desire can burn. By using this image, Chopin is showing the duality of the situation in which Calixta and Alcee spontaneously placed themselves. This duality shows the support of a liberated woman, and the criticism of an adulterous woman. Although Chopin believed in the mentally liberated woman, she did agree with some societal boundaries that were placed, such as the sanctity of marriage. In ‘The Storm’ Calixta and Alcee violate this sacred relationship, and Chopin uses their adultery to convey the limits of a liberated woman. Two main images can be referenced for this criticism. The first is taking place when the storm is about to hit and Calixta realizes she needs to take in the clothing. “She had hung Bobinot’s Sunday clothes to air and she hastened out to gather them before the rain fell.” The second is Bobinot admonishing Bibi, his son, for getting dirty during the storm. “’You ought to be ashame’. An’ that mud on yo’ collar! How you got that mud on yo’ collar Bibi?’ ...Bibi was the picture of pathetic resignation.” (Chopin, Page 282, 285) The true criticism of the extramarital affair comes in through the dialogue and actions of the characters in ‘The Storm.’ Using implications from both selections, Chopin advocates the sanctity of marriage. Primarily, the storm that is taking place in the story must be recognized as a symbol of the sexual infidelity. It, through various means, violates every aspect of Bobinot and Calixta’s home physically, and reaches its most violent stages at the peak of the sexual act itself. The affair and the storm are inextricably intertwined. The first quote, by specifically indicating that the clothes were those worn on a Sunday denotes to them a level of sacredness associated with the day of worship, which is about to be ruined by the approaching storm. Following the adulterous act, the son of Calixta and Bobinot is dirty. In this case, Chopin is using Bibi himself as a symbol of the marriage, where two symbolically become one, and Bibi being the literal biological semblance of two becoming one flesh. The purity of Bobinot and Calixta’s marriage has been dirtied, and to demonstrate the relevance of this fact, Chopin enforces it by using a symbol to convey it. Chopin thus summarizes the marriage as ‘reduced to pathetic resignation.’ The importance that is placed on showing the damage and impurity following the extramarital sex is purporting Chopin’s personal views of the limits of a woman’s liberation.
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Sexuality and the Strong Female Protagonist
The strong female protagonist can be viewed as either revolutionary and heroin, or as foolish and immoral. Although Calixta may seem to be a character with endorsed actions because of her boldness, she is criticized by Chopin. In ‘The Awakening,’ the quantity of Edna’s friendships throughout her journey of self discovery reflects the amount of support which is given her actions. As Edna grows as a character, she is eventually narrowed down to a single friendship and then left to herself. Chopin presents an indefensible moral position that she portrays in her prose, seemingly a proponent of the act, but with in depth reading, the action is criticized and weakened. Berkove believes that Chopin’s extraordinary skill is her ability to subtly undercut bold but morally untenable positions that she has sympathetically represented. (188)
‘The Awakening’ was written in the same year as ‘The Storm,’ and displays some similarly sensual content such as Edna’s relations with Alcee and her longing for Robert LeBrun. The main difference in character is that Calixta’s adultery is not premeditated; and Edna, although spontaneous in her own right, clearly intended for something to take place during her encounters. In the primary incident in which Calixta is shown to be lacking in strength, Clarisse seizes control from Calixta in ‘At the ‘Cadian Ball’ by bidding Alcee come with her. In ‘The Storm,’ Calixta’s strength as a character is actually undermined when she defies the confines of her marriage through sexual infidelity in that she gave herself up in a moment of passion without premeditation. Calixta merely has enough power to commit the affair, but to deceive her family into believing that life as normalcy continues. The act was not the result of love originating between Calixta and Alcee, but of intense lust; therefore they are able to continue unchanged as a result of the lack of emotion involved.
Calixta, although seemingly in control and strong is fundamentally lacking in strength because of the absence of intent. Contrastingly, Edna is a character that intentionally ventures out on her own to find what she wants rather than stumbling upon it. Both women defy their husbands. Ironically, Edna’s journey seems to be supported by the narrative idealistically more so than Calixta’s. This may be the result of the multifaceted nature of Edna’s development and the contrast of the single nature of Calixta’s affair. Both women experience subtle criticism from the author for the amoral action. Edna is a strong character, stronger than Calixta in that she controls her own journey on several levels of consciousness. The ideals of feminism are not undermined by a strong female character because the bold actions of Calixta do not originate in strength, and those actions of the strong Edna are for the majority supported and reasonable.
The stories of ‘The Storm’ and ‘At the ‘Cadian Ball’ involve dynamic characters which Chopin uses in order to embrace and contrastingly criticize the actions of impulsive sexuality; whereas other stories, such as ‘The Awakening’ embrace the exploration of a woman’s sexuality. “Her firm, elastic flesh that was knowing for the first time its birthright….the generous abundance of her passion without guile or trickery was like a white flame.” Chopin is saying that a pure passion is like a ‘white flame’; and a woman’s sexuality is referred to as her birthright.
Chopin uses the subtleties to imply her criticism or support of the protagonist’s sexuality as presented in the text. (Chopin, Page 284) In ‘The Storm,’ Chopin mainly criticizes the actions and results which originate from impulsive thinking. From a feminist standpoint, she is criticizing the overly liberal ideal that encourages extramarital affairs; however, during the scene in which Alcee and Calixta are committing adultery, Chopin calls the experiencing of passionate sexual affairs the ‘birthright’ of Calixta’s flesh. It may seem that Chopin is contradicting herself; however, the main concept of the passage is her disapproval of the affair-then the subtle placement of a woman’s right to enjoy sexuality. Chopin is conveying the support of a sexually liberated woman, but within a certain means.
White flames are those of the hottest fire, which also consume and destroy everything around it. Calling Calixta’s passion a ‘white flame’ is denoting how deeply and with how much impact a desire can burn. By using this image, Chopin is showing the duality of the situation in which Calixta and Alcee spontaneously placed themselves. This duality shows the support of a liberated woman, and the criticism of an adulterous woman.
Although Chopin believed in the mentally liberated woman, she did agree with some societal boundaries that were placed, such as the sanctity of marriage. In ‘The Storm’ Calixta and Alcee violate this sacred relationship, and Chopin uses their adultery to convey the limits of a liberated woman. Two main images can be referenced for this criticism. The first is taking place when the storm is about to hit and Calixta realizes she needs to take in the clothing. “She had hung Bobinot’s Sunday clothes to air and she hastened out to gather them before the rain fell.” The second is Bobinot admonishing Bibi, his son, for getting dirty during the storm. “’You ought to be ashame’. An’ that mud on yo’ collar! How you got that mud on yo’ collar Bibi?’ ...Bibi was the picture of pathetic resignation.” (Chopin, Page 282, 285) The true criticism of the extramarital affair comes in through the dialogue and actions of the characters in ‘The Storm.’ Using implications from both selections, Chopin advocates the sanctity of marriage.
Primarily, the storm that is taking place in the story must be recognized as a symbol of the sexual infidelity. It, through various means, violates every aspect of Bobinot and Calixta’s home physically, and reaches its most violent stages at the peak of the sexual act itself. The affair and the storm are inextricably intertwined. The first quote, by specifically indicating that the clothes were those worn on a Sunday denotes to them a level of sacredness associated with the day of worship, which is about to be ruined by the approaching storm. Following the adulterous act, the son of Calixta and Bobinot is dirty. In this case, Chopin is using Bibi himself as a symbol of the marriage, where two symbolically become one, and Bibi being the literal biological semblance of two becoming one flesh. The purity of Bobinot and Calixta’s marriage has been dirtied, and to demonstrate the relevance of this fact, Chopin enforces it by using a symbol to convey it. Chopin thus summarizes the marriage as ‘reduced to pathetic resignation.’ The importance that is placed on showing the damage and impurity following the extramarital sex is purporting Chopin’s personal views of the limits of a woman’s liberation.
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