Characterization Essay Samples

Wives are depicted as faithful, hard working, caring, and loving. Their responsibilities include taking care of the husband and children before they go to school and work, then waiting for them to come home. Wives are confined to perfunctory activities that there are times when they no longer think about the things that will give them satisfaction and happiness. In the story of Kate Chopin entitled The Storm, a very good example of a woman who longs for something to satisfy her needs is Calixta, the wife of Bobinot. They have a son named Bibi. Calixta is a wife who needs to fulfill her sexual desires, which she can’t get from her husband.
The start of the story gives a premonition of how neglected Calixta is in some aspects of her marriage life. She is sewing furiously, which means that all of her disappointments could have been transferred on to her household chores. Another instance in the story, which proved that Calixta was not happy with her marriage was when she let Alcee, her former lover, stay in the front gallery of her home. Being a decent wife and woman, letting a man stay in her house when she was alone meant something. Considering that Calixta and Alcee had a past relationship, Calixta was probably thinking of other things that could happen between them while her husband and son were out in the storm.
The sign that Calixta was expecting something from Alcee was also seen in the way she kept the house tidy while Alcee was inside the house. She nervously gathered all the cotton sheets she was previously sewing as if getting ready to do something with Alcee.
Although Calixta did not intend to be so emotional and portray that she was quite weak from worrying about the house being hit by lightning, Alcee sensed it. Alcee went to her to touch her hair and examine her red lips and her full and firm bosom.
Her weakness was fully revealed when she let Alcee kiss her full on the lips. This rekindled the love between them. Their love did not die even if they were both already married. Alcee said “Do you remember- in Assumption, Calixta?” (4). The dialogue meant that he did not forget their kisses in the past and that he still felt the love they shared during those times.
Finally, the next scenes in the story were evidences that showed how Calixta longed for this moment with Alcee. Calixta did not mind the torrent outside the house and did not remember the worry she previously felt for her husband and son. She let her repressed feelings for Alcee get the better of her. She rested on Alcee’s open arms. She was even compared to the darkness of the room because she glowed with happiness. When she lay on Alcee’s arms, it was a revelation of the feelings she still had for him. It was a discovery of a new feeling that she has not felt with Bobinot.
Another strong indication that Calixta wanted to be fulfilled sexually was when she let Alcee fondle her breasts and when she let him kiss her over and over again. Calixta also kept on caressing the muscular body of Alcee, which revealed that she liked what the man was doing to her.
Robert Wilson, author of Feminine Sexuality and Passion, said that Calixta was giving hints to Alcee that she was not happy with her marriage to Bobinot ( par. 5). He explained that when Calixta talked somewhat excitedly about her life with Bobinot while getting the clothes hanging outside, it helped to reveal the tension in her marriage life with Bobinot. The grabbing of the pants of Bobinot by Alcee symbolized the subverting factors that held Calixta in that house and with Bobinot.
Bernard Kolowski, author of The Awakenings: The Story of Kate Chopin Revival, said that Alcee and Calixta were reaching for each other impulsively (par. 4). They tried to seize the moment for what they wanted and needed -- what for them was life itself, a lust for life itself, with an ecstatic acceptance of what the moment was offering them, with trust, peace, and hope. This statement of Kolowski exemplifies that in every storm, there is a rainbow. Literally, from the story, while the storm was ongoing, the two main characters were able to meet their greatest fear, which was to again feel the love that they had for each other. After the storm, both were happy again and looked forward to another encounter. The anticipation of another intimate encounter was shown when Alcee smiled at Calixta with a beaming face and Calixta looked at him and laughed out loud. Another evidence of this anticipation was when Alcee wrote to her wife, Clarisse, that they could still extend their vacation if they wanted. This was a clear indication that the two were still planning to see each other and were preparing for it.
When a woman does not feel that her marriage is fulfilling, she might commit an act of infidelity against her husband. One of the fulfillments of being married is being sexually satisfied with one’s spouse. However, if it does not satisfy either the wife or the husband, then it can lead to problems that will result in an ugly glitch in their marriage.

Works Cited

Chopin, Kate. “The Storm.” Freewebs.com. Webs, n.d. web. 13 Feb. 2015 <
http://www.freewebs.com/lanzbom/The%20Storm.pdf>.
Koloski, Bernard. Awakenings: The Story of the Kate Chopin Revival. Baton Rouge:
Louisiana State University Press, 2009. Print.
Wilson, Robert. Feminine Sexuality and Passion: Kate Chopin’s ‘The Storm’.
The University of British Columbia; 1992. Web. 12 Feb. 2015
<http://www.interchg.obc.ca/rw/eng304-1.htm>