Abigail Fricke

Mrs Stanford

ENG237

22 October 2019

The Importance of Taking Control of Life

Throughout her many decades of work, Kate Chopin has been known to create powerful

female characters whose situations and circumstances confine them to the traditional gender

roles of their time. Often facing predicaments that challenge these roles, Chopin’s characters are

forced to make difficult decisions in regards to their continued participation in them. The actions

of Calixta, a character who appears in Chopin’s short stories “At the Cadian Ball and “The

Storm”, perfectly display this idea. As “At the Cadian Ball” is considered the less popular

prequel to “The Storm”, readers are first introduced to Calixta within its pages. As the title would

suggest, this novella centers on a Cadian Ball and how the lives of the four main characters,

Alcee Laballiere, Bobinot, Calixta, and Clarisse, were altered through their attendance to it. As

the plot ends when the ball does, “The Storm” resumes the storyline four years later. Despite all

the characters having grown and matured during this time, “The Storm” provides an account of

an adulterous affair between Calixta and Alcee during a terrible rainstorm. Remaining just as

time-sensitive as it was in “At the Cadian Ball” , the plot of this story ends just as the storm

does. Although they have seemingly different storylines, these two short stories have a lot in

common when it comes to the purpose behind them. Most notably, this shared purpose is to

demonstrate the ways in which Chopin is frequently telling women to take control of their lives.

Through the analysis of these texts, however, it can be seen that Calixta’s actions in “At the
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Cadian Ball” struggle to represent this purpose, whereas her actions in The Storm represent it

with ease.

Before the texts can be analyzed, it is important to provide a brief summary of “At the

Cadian Ball” and “The Storm” to ensure that readers not only see the connection between the

two pieces of literature but also so they are aware of the context surrounding the claims being

made within the thesis. “At the Cadian Ball” begins by establishing the four main characters

within the text. Leading off with the males, readers meet Alcee Laballiere and Bobinot first.

Purposely portraying the two as meer opposites, Chopin elucidates Alcee as a rich and handsome

Creole planter and Bobinot as a poor and dull-looking Acadian farmer. She then introduces the

female characters, Calixta and Clarisse. Calixta is merely depicted as a part of the lower-class,

whereas Clarisse receives only the title of Alcee’s cousin. After being introduced, these four can

be seen interacting at the Cadian Ball, a soirée for young Cajun people to find marriage suitors.

While Calixta is the belle of the ball, the only man she truly finds attractive is Alcee. These two

have a romantic past, as they would often sneak into a small town called “Assumption” and share

kisses. Thus, she invites him to sneak off with her and leave the ball entirely so they can reenact

their times in “Assumption”. Meanwhile, Clarisse, having witnessed Calixta and Alcee’s

interaction, follows and asks Alcee to come with her instead, claiming that "something terrible

has happened." Alcee, having originally pursued Clarisse, didn’t hesitate to go with her instead

of Calixta. After guiding him away, she admits that nothing has happened, but that she is in love

with him. The two then run off together, joyous of what this confession means in regards to their

future relationship. Calixta, upon Alcee’s abrupt departure, decides to engage in a relationship

with Bobinot, a man she is not very attracted to, but someone she will settle for. Almost

immediately after she made this decision, a bell rang to symbolize not only the end of the Ball
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but also the end of this short story. As previously mentioned, “The Storm” resumes this storyline

four years later. Within this time, Alcee and Clarisse got married and Calixta and Bobinot got

married. Calixta and Bobinot also had a child named Bibi. The storyline resumes with Bobinot

and Bibi in a store when dark storm clouds begin to appear. Not long after, the sky erupts into a

blur of lightning, rain, and hail. Despite being worried about Calixta, the two decide it’s probably

best for them to wait out the storm in the store. Meanwhile, Calixta is in fact at home and is very

worried about her family. To try and pass time, she quickly goes outside to bring in the drying

laundry so it doesn’t get soaked all over again. While she was doing this, Alcee rides by on his

horse and offers to help her gather the laundry. He then asks if he can wait out the storm in her

house. After agreeing to this, it is quickly revealed that Calixta and Alcee are past lovers and that

while trying to calm each other down during the storm, the two succumbed to lust and made

love. As the storm comes to an end, so does this adulterous act. Alcee then leaves Calixta’s home

happy and content. Not long after, Bobinot and Bibi come home safe but drenched in mud.

Calixta is elated that they are safe and decides to cook them up a large supper to celebrate.

Meanwhile, Alcee writes his wife a letter to tell her that he misses her while she is away

traveling for work. Clarisse is moved by this thoughtful gesture, even though she does feel a

sense of freedom being separated from her husband. In the end, though, everyone truly seems

happy and satisfied with the days’ events.

Calixta’s actions in “At the Cadian Ball” struggle to represent Kate Chopin’s overarching

purpose of “women taking control of their lives” in numerous ways. This can most clearly be

seen when analyzing her relationship with Alcee Laballiere during the story. Despite having

never officially dated, Calixta and Alcee’s interaction during the Cadian Ball clearly showcased

that the two conducted a relationship that went beyond the labels of just “friends”. During the
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beginning of the Ball, for example, they were displaying acts that one could say represented a

form of flirting. The text reads,

They were acting like fools. He had attempted to take a little gold ring from her finger;
just for the fun of it, for there was nothing he could have done with the ring but replace it
again. But she clenched her hand tight. He pretended that it was a very difficult matter to
open it. Then he kept the hand in his. They seemed to forget about it. He played with her
earring, a thin crescent of gold hanging from her small brown ear. He caught a wisp of
the kinky hair that had escaped its fastening and rubbed it with the ends of it against his
shaven cheek (Chopin).

If Calixta and Alcee were just simply friends, then this type of behavior would not have been

appropriate. But as Chopin went on to say a few lines later, “They talked low and laughed softly,

as lovers do” (Chopin). This line from the text clearly puts into words how Calixta and Alcee’s

actions proved that they were more than friends. What the text does not put into words, though,

is an explanation as to why Calixta, after Clarrise confessed her true feelings, settled for Bobinot

instead of following her heart and fighting for Alcee. Was it because she felt as if she couldn’t

compete with Clarrise? Or maybe because she was afraid of receiving backlash within her

relationship due to the difference in economic status between her and Alcee? It’s impossible to

ever truly know the answer to this question, as Calixta remains a fictional character. However,

what we do know, though, is that the act of Calixta resigning herself to marry Bobinot instead of

staying and fighting for Alcee shows perfectly how her actions made an unsuccessful attempt to

represent Chopin’s theme of “women taking control of their lives”. This idea can clearly be

understood, as the act of simply choosing to settle for Bobinot instead of challenging Clarrise for

Alcee shows that Clarrise was in control of the situation and not Calixta.

Calixta’s actions in “The Storm” represent Kate Chopin’s overarching purpose of

“women taking control of their lives” in a multitude of ways. This can most clearly be seen when

analyzing the time Calixta and Alcee spent together during the storm. As previously mentioned,
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the two succumbed to lust and made love during the storm as an attempt to calm each other

down. Not only did this “attempt to calm each other down” work in the regards that the two were

left laughing and smiling afterward, but it also brought back feelings and memories from the

Cadian Ball. These feelings and memories are represented in the part of the text that reads, “The

contact of her warm, palpitating body when he had unthinkingly drawn her into his arms, had

aroused all of the old-time infatuation and desire for her flesh”(Chopin). Here, readers are able to

begin the grasp just how strong of a connection Calixta and Alcee have, as just the touch of her

skin is enough to bring back feelings and memories from years ago. Regardless, though, this

circumstance of inappropriate adultery perfectly showcases how Calixta’s actions within this

story represent Chopin’s overarching purpose of “women taking control of their lives”. This can

be seen through the sole idea that Chopin writes in the context that women, specifically Calixta,

feel unhappy and repressed in marriage. As a result, Calixta’s tryst with Alcee is representative

of her taking control of her life and happiness, as, like previously mentioned, she was left

laughing and smiling afterward.

While it has been argued that Calixta’s actions throughout “At the Cadian Ball” and

“The Storm” made different attempts to represent an overarching purpose presented by Kate

Chopin, some might argue that Calixta's actions were merely that of a promiscuous woman and

not of someone trying to take control of their life. Despite being shown in both novellas, this idea

is most clearly represented in the commentary between the background characters of “At the

Cadian ball”. For example, a portion of the text reads, "There has even been a breath of scandal

whispered about her [Calixta] a year ago when she went to Assumption with Alcee"(Chopin).

From this, it can be noted that Calixta’s reputation is, at best, problematic and similar to that of a

woman who frequently fools around with men. In addition, Calixta is shown laughing at the Ball
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with her friends when Bobinat arrives and readers are told, "Madame Suzanne, sitting in a

corner, whispered to her neighbor that if Ozéina were to conduct herself in a like manner, she

should immediately be taken out to the mule-cart and driven home. The women did not always

approve of Calixta"(Chopin). From these descriptions and ones not even mentioned, it is easy to

see that Calixta’s actions were deemed inappropriate and rather promiscuous to some. Despite

this, her actions can actually be shown to illustrate more how she was attempting to take control

of her life, rather than act in a tantalizing manner. This can be realized when analyzing Calixta’s

decision to marry Bobinot later on in “At the Cadian ball”. If Calixta wished to act in a way that

portrayed her as a promiscuous woman, then settling down and deciding to marry a poor,

Acadian farmer would have been the last thing she would have done. Instead, she would have

found a wealthy and good-looking replacement for all the men in her life and would’ve begun

pursuing a relationship with them. As these things didn’t happen, though, it is now just clear to

see how her actions can actually be shown to illustrate more how she was attempting to take

control of her life, rather than act in a promiscuous or inappropriate manner.

When analyzing the work of Kate Chopin, it can be noticed that her characters often

share a lot of similarities; they’re usually powerful females whose situations and circumstances

trap them in the traditional gender roles of their time. These females often face predicaments that

challenge these roles, and as a result, they are forced to make difficult decisions in regards to

their continued participation in them. Calixta, a character who appears in Chopin’s short stories

“At the Cadian Ball and “The Storm”, is a perfect example of one of these characters. Readers

are first introduced to Calixta within the pages of “At the Cadian Ball”, as it is considered the

less popular prequel to “The Storm”. As the title would suggest, this novella centers on a Cadian

Ball and how the lives of the four main characters, Alcee Laballiere, Bobinot, Calixta, and
 Fricke 7

Clarisse, were altered through their attendance to it. As the plot ends when the ball does, “The

Storm” resumes the storyline four years later. Despite all the characters having grown and

matured during this time, “The Storm” provides an account of an adulterous affair between

Calixta and Alcee during a terrible rainstorm. Remaining just as time-sensitive as it was in “At

the Cadian Ball” , the plot of this story ends just as abruptly the storm does. Although they have

seemingly different storylines, these two novellas share a lot of similarities when it comes to the

purpose behind them. Most notably, this shared purpose is to demonstrate the ways in which

Chopin is frequently telling women to take control of their lives. Through the analysis of these

texts, however, it can be seen that Calixta’s actions in “At the Cadian Ball” struggle to represent

this purpose, whereas her actions in The Storm represent it with ease. It can be seen that

Calixta’s actions in “At the Cadian Ball” struggle to represent this purpose when examining the

fact that she resigned herself to marry Bobinot instead of staying and fighting for Alcee.

Furthermore, her actions in The Storm represent this purpose with ease as Calixta put forth all of

her feelings and lust for Alcee and made love to him during a rainstorm. Despite being deemed

inappropriate and useless, Calixta’s actions within both of these novellas provide a powerful

lesson for readers. As Chopin showed that Calixta’s emotions and overall well-being were

greatly affected by her inability and ability to take control of her life, it is crucial that readers

begin to realize that their life truly begins once they decide to take control of what happens to

them within it.

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Works Cited

Chopin, Kate. “The Storm by Kate Chopin.” The Storm P.D.F, 1898,

http://www.lonestar.edu/departments/english/chopin_storm.pdf.

Chopin, Kate. “At The Cadian Ball by Kate Chopin.” At The Cadian Ball P.D.F, 1892,

https://englishcaddy.org/short stories/CADIANBALL.pdf.