Kate Chopin’s writings were not as long as most that we have read in class, but had just as much detail as a longer story such as “Swallow barn” had. The two main stories that we read were “At the Cadian ball” and “The storm” These two stories were similar in many senses, but also had contrasting points. All three of these stories dealt with different relationships and the dysfunction that came along with them.
Chopin’s “At the Cadian ball” was a drama-filled experience for Bobinot, Calixta, Alcee, and Clarisse. This first story is the set up to what will become in the future, two marriages. This story is an introduction to each of the main characters’ personalities and gives the reader an understanding the wants of each of the characters. Alcee has a crush on Calixta, and she feels the same way but knows that Alcee is not good for her, and that she should be with someone like Bobinot. Bobinot likes Calixta throughout everything, and Clarisse has feelings for Alcee. There is a love square going on in this story, and there is no definite say as to who will end up with whom. It got very confusing at times reading about this, trying to keep up with who wanted to be with whom, but when I read “The storm” it was made very clear that Calixta ends up marrying Bobinot, and Alcee ends up marrying Clarisse. Bobinot and Calixta both fall in love with one another, but when first reading about their relationship I felt it was a one way relationship. I felt that Bobinot was in love with Calixta, but Calixta was only with Bobinot because she was supposed to get married and stay within her “kind.” I feel that later in “The storm” this point was proven even further when Calixta has an affair with Alcee when he comes to her house. Alcee comes to Calixta and Bobinot’s house while Bobinot is out with Bibi and Alcee comes on to Calixta and she doesn’t stop him. This led me to believe that she wanted to be intimate with Alcee, almost as if she needed some sense of closure from their flirtatious relationship in “At the Cadian ball.” When I first read about this affair I was very displeased. However, after discussing it in class, it was more a sense of closure for Calixta, and this was what she really wanted, even if she knew it wasn’t right for her, it was something that was always in the back of her mind. Calixta was living in a time where you were supposed to do what was right, not what you wanted. Therefore, I feel as though Calixta was doing what she was supposed to, by marrying Bobinot, and tried to make the best of it.
Overall I found Kate Chopin’s stories very interesting than most. All of them were short and an easy read, but had a lot of detail in the few pages of the stories. In all of Chopin’s stories that we read there was a twist to them by the end and left the reader thinking. There were a lot of different situations going on at the same time, and Chopin made her stories very interesting to read.
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4 comments:
Kathryn,
I think you made a really good point when you said “All of them were short and an easy read, but had a lot of detail in the few pages of the stories.” Chopin did such a wonderful job of immersing her readers in the culture without cluttering her story with lengthy and unnecessary descriptions. I think this was to Chopin’s great advantage, because it allowed the reader to get a sense of setting without bogging them down to the point where they couldn’t get to know the characters and the story itself.
You brought up a great point early on in your blog-that about Chopin's stories being short but containing more detail than a lot of other stories we have read this semester, most notably, "Swallow Barn." I found this incredibly refreshing. Instead of a bland, redundant description of physical but non-living items such as the land or the plantations, she describes people-how they talk, what they eat, how they dress, what their personalities are like. I found this to be much more interesting and pleasant to read than "Swallow Barn" and "The Fall of the House of Usher." I found it to be more interesting to analyze description of the characters rather than inanimate objects.
Kathryn,
I agree with how you said there was much detail, as I thought that being able to picture the scenes of the story made the reading go much faster. "At the Cadian Ball" definately was hard to follow as to who was with who, and the Storm definately cleared it up, even though it left me wondering why they would be with someone who made them unhappy. But the point you made about it being more of a closing for Calixta definately made sense, especially when you refered to how they were in a time when you did what was right, not what you wanted. Good analysis :)
I feel exactly the same way you do about how Calixta was only doing waht she was doing with Alcee because she needed closure. Personally I could never do something like that if I was married it's simply disgusting, but I can see where she's comig from. I hate that after her escapade with Alcee when Bobinot and Bibi return she acts like nothing has happened and just goes on living her life. What I don't understand is if she is that unhappy in the relationship with Bobinot then why stay with him. Move on even though she's never going to have anything better. Stop toying with Bobinot's heart.
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