Feminism

➢ Kate Chopin “The Storm”

 Anglo-American Feminism:
Concept

- They are interested in literary realism, which views

literature as a series of representations of women’s
lives and experiences which can be measured against
reality.

- The life, experience, and characterization of Calixta and

Clarisse are to be considered representative of women’s
lives, actions, and thinking.
 Theme

- Female sexual desires and adultery

- Radical theme for female writer.

 Image of the Woman:
Calixta
“Calixta, at home, felt no uneasiness for their safety. She sat at a
side window sewing furiously on a sewing machine. She was
greatly occupied and did not notice the approaching storm.”

“‘Shrimps! Oh, Bobinôt! you too good fo‟ anything!” and she gave
him a smacking kiss on the cheek that resounded, “J’vous
réponds, we‟ll have a feas‟ to-night! umph-umph!’”

- Domestic wife playing the role assigned to her by the

society: (Angel)
 Image of the Woman:
Calixta
“They did not heed the crashing torrents, and the roar of the
elements made her [Calixta] laugh as she lay in his [Alcee]
arms.”

“The generous abundance of her passion, without guile or trickery,

was like a white flame which penetrated and found response in
depths of his own sensuous nature that had never yet been
reached”

- Rebellious woman who is fully indulged in the illicit act of

sexual interaction: (Monster)
 Image of the Woman/ Role Reversal:
Calixta

“Bobinôt was the embodiment of serious solicitude as he

strove to remove from his own person and his son’s the
signs of their tramp over heavy roads and through wet
fields … Then, prepared for the worst—the meeting with
an over-scrupulous housewife, they entered cautiously at
the back door.”

- Calixta seems to be in the position of power which

opposes the order designated for her as a woman.
 Image of the Woman:
Clarisse

“Devoted as she was to her husband, their intimate conjugal

life was something which she was more than willing to
forego for a while.”

- Being a loving wife does not mean that freedom is

not required for the woman.
 Image of the Woman/Characterization:
Calixta & Clarisse

• Neither Calixta nor Clarisse is a simple one dimensional

character. They are complex characters that do not fit
into the perfect image the is drawn for the women of
their time.
 Chopin’s Stance

“Her firm, elastic flesh that was knowing for the first time its
birthright, was like a creamy lily that the sun invites to
contribute its breath and perfume to the undying life of the
world”.

▪ Chopin does not comment against the illicit sexual interaction

in the story.

▪ This “silence” seems to imply that she is rooting for women

seeking the fulfillment of their sexual desires. She even
romanticizes the act as if it is the natural course of action.
According to Showalter, What Was Our
Approach?

▪ Images of Women Criticism: Critical attention was

given to books by male writers in which influential or

typical images of women were constructed

Or

• Gynocriticism: Switched its focus from attacking male

versions of the world to exploring the nature of the

✓
female world and outlook, and reconstructing the lost

or suppressed records of female experience

 The Story According to Elaine
Showalter’s Phases of Women’s Writings:

1. Radical theme (female sexuality)

2. Challenging the normalized image of the woman
3. Written in 1898

The feminist phase (1880-1920)

 The Story According to Elaine
Showalter’s Phases of Women’s Writings:

1. Published in 1969 (posthumously)

2. The woman as a floating sign (domestic, loving,
caring /adulterous, feared at home)
3. Female character experimenting with her life

The female phase (1920-present)

 The Woman as a Sign

▪ The story presents female characters as both:

The angel + The monster,

The domestic + The rebellious,

The loving + the adulterous

Female characters are defiant to fixation

(Floating signs)