Unhealthy Relationships in "The Storm” and “The Story of an Hour” (Essay Sample)

An honest and sincere relationship is the key to a healthy marriage. In the short stories, “The Storm” and “The Story of an Hour,” the protagonists of both stories, Calixta and Louise Mallard, are in unhealthy marriages that causes them to act impulsively. In both short stories, author Kate Chopin demonstrates that the women were put into difficult situations because of their oppressive marriages, as well as experieced feelings of independence following a traumatic experience, and a then a sense of freedom. 

The definition of an oppressive marriage is, “a pattern of coercive, controlling and punishing behaviors whereby one spouse seeks to control and dominate the other.” This is a very common problem in society today. This issue is depicted and explored in two of Kate Chopin’s short stories: “The Storm” and “The Story of an Hour”. In “The Storm”, the protagonist Calixta is in a shaky marriage with her husband Bobinôt. While her husband and son are out of town, a dangerous thunderstorm ends up passing by Calixta’s home and traps her inside. Right as it starts to rain, an old friend of Calixta’s, Alcée Laballière,  asks if he can stay in her house until the storm passes. She agrees and realizes after spending time with him that she does not have a healthy marriage with Bobinôt. Although upset and nervous with Bobinôt and her son gone, after her time with Alcée she concludes that she was “willing to bear the separation a while longer—realizing that [her] health and pleasure [was] the first thing to be considered” (Chopin 6). Because her husband has assigned her chores that she cannot leave, this keeps her at home and helps her gain awareness of her unhealthy and oppressive marriage. This realization leads her to the decision to secretly cheat on her husband with Alcée. In a critical essay about “The Storm”, author Ira Mark Milne elaborates on the different themes that are prevalent in the short story, specifically the theme of marriage and the complications that can come with it. Milne states Calixta was put in a situation where she was "unable to openly communicate with [her] husband and discuss [the] negative feelings regarding [her] married relationship” (Milne 11). Calixta acts impulsively with the decision to cheat on her husband and in the hopes of freedom from her of her controlling husband. Similarly, the protagonist of  “The Story of an Hour”, Louise Mallard, is also in an oppressive marriage. Louise Mallard has a heart problem which requires the people around her to be very careful. She is told that her husband died in a train accident at the beginning of the story and is very upset by this news. She loved her husband but was weighed down by the pressure of her marriage. She locks herself in her room and weeps, but realizes this his death means freedom of her responsibilities and “she had loved him—sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter!” (Chopin 2). Independence and oppression will no longer burden her. The literary essay by Scott D. Emmert evaluates the psychological effects of Louise’s shaky marriage in “The Story of an Hour”. Emmert writes about how Louise experienced "a kind of violence, one directed against the emotions" (Emmert 55). The oppression Louise dealt with was a psychological variation that put her under a lot of pressure. 

The women in both of the short stories became very independent as the plots progressed. Independence is defined as being free from another's authority. In “The Storm”, while left on her own at home, Calixta makes the decision to become an independent person who makes her own choices without being influenced by her husband. In the story, Alcée meets up with Calixta and instantly falls back in love with her. He states that she “was a little fuller of figure than five years before when she married; but she had lost nothing of her vivacity” (Chopin 2). Wanting independence and less control drove her decision to cheat on her husband. A literary analysis essay written by Lisa A. Kirby, a professor in the English department at Collin College,  discusses “The Storm”. Kirby specifically speaks about the role of Calixta and her actions. In the short story, Calixta differs from the "traditional societal expectations of gender and marriage" (Kirby 48). The idea of Calixta going against societal norms and being an independent woman was very uncommon in that time period. Comparably, Louise Mallard from “The Story of an Hour” also becomes very independent when she learns that her husband has died in a railroad disaster. Initially she is upset by the news of her husband's death, but once she thinks about all of the responsibilities his death freed her from, her mindset changes. She looks past the negatives and sees many “years to come that would belong to her absolutely” (Chopin 2). Louise’s new mindset and thought process about her husband’s passing causes her to feel independent and content with her new life. In Scott D. Emmert’s analysis of “The Story of an Hour” and other short stories written by Kate Chopin, he focuses on Louise's actions and thoughts following the news of her husband’s death, and concludes that “the female characters in stories by Chopin and other women naturalists discover these forces much closer to home in their bedrooms, kitchens, and drawing rooms, in both the biological and gender limits particular to a woman's experience” (Emmert 55).  This closely relates to Louise because she experiences feelings of being trapped in her chores and responsibilities around the house due to her husband controlling her, but his death frees her from this trap present in her marriage to him.

The two women were freed of their marital responsibilities and much of their stress as they made the choice to escape their unhealthy relationships. Freedom is defined as not being under the control or in the power of another. In the short story “The Storm” Calixta chooses to have an affair with an old friend, Alcée Laballière. This action caused Calixta to feel free and independent. When she spent time with Alcée she would laugh so “much and so loud that anyone might have heard” (Chopin 6). This is because she was free to make her own choices and enjoy herself rather than trying to do everything her husband asked. In a literary analysis essay written by Ira Mark Milne, the author speaks about the different themes in the short story “The Storm”. One of the ideas discussed is marital responsibilities and unhealthy relationships. Milne claims that when Alcée and Calixta are together she enjoys not having the pressure of marriage, as well as enjoys the freedom “indicating her lack of guilt or remorse for her actions” (Milne 10). This shows that Calixta is released from her oppressive marriage with her husband Bobinôt. Similar to “The Storm”, the protagonist of “The Story of an Hour”, Louise Mallard, experiences the same feelings of freedom once she escapes her relationship with her husband due to his death. Although she was very upset initially about her husband's death, she soon realizes she is freed of the tough and laborious responsibilities that she experienced due to her marriage. When she was locked in a room when everyone thought she was mourning her husband's death, instead she was repeatedly whispering to herself “‘Free! Body and soul free!’” (Chopin 2). She felt relief  that her husband had died because it took pressure off of her and gave her time to rest. An English professor at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, Scott D. Emmert writes in a literary analysis how Kate Chopin created a concept of relief and freedom in Louise’s life following her husband's death. Emmert declares that Chopin communicates these ideas by “dramatiz[ing] the biological imperatives that circumscribe human behavior” (Emmert 55). Chopin makes Louise’s feelings and actions very exaggerated and obvious to get the overarching themes to connect with the reader.

In conclusion, a healthy relationship or marriage is very difficult to achieve because of many factors and emotions a person can feel. The protagonist in the short story “The Storm”, Calixta, and the protagonist of “The Story of an Hour”, Louise Mallard, both struggle in an oppressive relationship leading them to have feelings of independence following a traumatic experience. In turn, they ultimately experience a sense of freedom.