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The protagonist of the story, Calixta is Bobinôt’s wife, Bibi’s mother, and Alcée Laballière’s former girlfriend. The story details Calixta’s transformation from overworked, “over-scrupulous” housewife to a cheerful, reinvigorated woman, which is the result of a chance sexual encounter with Alcée. When Alcée spontaneously drops by the house in search of shelter from the thunderstorm while Bobinôt and Bibi are out, the two former lovers use the opportunity to briefly rekindle their love affair. Before she has sex with Alcée, Calixta is stressed out from all of her household duties. She’s introduced sewing clothes for her family, so focused on her work that she hardly realizes a storm is approaching. In contrast, Alcée remembers that, in her youth, Calixta was a passionate young woman. As they have sex, Alcée watches Calixta let go of her stress, and she rediscovers the passion of her youth. For the first time in the story, Calixta appears happy—smiling, laughing, and feeling pleasure. Through sex with Alcée, Calixta re-engages with the sensual part of her personality, which allows Calixta to act as a generous and loving person to both herself and Alcée. Furthermore, after Calixta has sex with Alcee, Calixta is far more thoughtful and pleasant towards family, highlighting the story’s overarching claim that love only breeds more love.
Calixta Quotes in The Storm
The The Storm quotes below are all either spoken by Calixta or refer to Calixta. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Part 1 Quotes
“Mama’ll be ’fraid, yes,” he suggested with blinking eyes.
“She’ll shut the house. Maybe she got Sylvie helpin’ her this evenin’,” Bobinôt responded reassuringly.
“No; she ent got Sylvie. Sylvie was helpin’ her yistiday,” piped Bibi.
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With dark clouds gathering overhead, Bobinôt decides that he and his young son Bibi will stay at Friedheimer’s general store to wait out the thunderstorm. From this conversation, readers know that Bibi’s mother and Bobinôt’s wife, Calixta, will be home alone during the storm. With the men of the family in public and the wife alone at home, the placement of these family members mirrors the restrictive gender norms of the time. Specifically, marital and gender norms dedicated that women stay at home, leaving the public facing business to men. This short exchange also displays Bobinôt’s clueless and Bibi’s attentiveness. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explic
Part 2 Quotes
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. But she felt very warm and often stopped to mop her face, on which the perspiration gathered in beads. She unfastened her white sacque at the throat.
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In the previous section, Calixta’s husband Bobinôt and child Bibi assume that, with a storm on the horizon, Calixta will be worried sick about her family. However, that’s not the case: Calixta is too preoccupied with housework to even notice the presence of an incoming thunderstorm. With her family at the store, Calixta is at home tending to her family's clothes. According to the strict gender norms of the time, this is where Calixta belongs. She's even wearing the clothes of a proper lady: a “sacque” or a multi-layered gown that buttons up the neck, covering most a woman’s body. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore c
“My! what a rain! It’s good two years sence it rain’ like that,” exclaimed Calixta as she rolled up a piece of bagging and Alcée helped her to thrust it beneath the crack.
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Driven indoors by the intensifying rain, Alcée and Calixta find themselves alone for the first time since before their marriages, and prepare to endure the storm. Chopin’s description of the two in this scene foreshadows their impending sexual encounter and, in doing so, indicates that stamping out sexual desire isn’t as easy as closing and fortifying a door to keep the rain out. As an allegory for the sex between Alcée and Calixta, this stage of the thunderstorm here reflects the growing sexual tension between the two former lovers. In this sense, readers may reasonably infer the ways the characters Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaqu
He pushed her hair back from her face that was warm and steaming. Her lips were as red and moist as pomegranate seed. Her white neck and a glimpse of her full, firm bosom disturbed him powerfully. As she glanced up at him the fear in her liquid blue eyes had given place to a drowsy gleam that unconsciously betrayed a sensuous desire.
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The storm grows stronger outside, causing Calixta to feel anxious for her family’s safety, and Alcée steps in to comfort her with a hug. But as he holds her, tension about the violent thunderstorm shifts into highly charged sexual energy. With their bodies touching and her chest on display, Alcée finds himself increasingly attentive to Calixta’s good looks. When their eyes meet, Calixta shows signs of arousal, indicating to Alcée mutual sexual attraction. Chopin suggests that Calixta's good looks carry a wild, natural quality: her lips juicy like fruit, her blue eyes like water, and her skin humid like Southern Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore
Part 3 Quotes
“Oh, Bobinôt! You back! My! but I was uneasy. W’ere you been during the rain? An’ Bibi? he ain’t wet? he ain’t hurt?” She had clasped Bibi and was kissing him effusively.
Bobinôt’s explanations and apologies which he had been composing all along the way, died on his lips as Calixta felt him to see if he were dry, and seemed to express nothing but satisfaction at their safe return.
“I brought you some shrimps, Calixta,” offered Bobinôt, hauling the can from his ample side pocket and laying it on the table.
“Shrimps! Oh, Bobinôt! you too good fo’ anything!” and she gave him a smacking kiss on the cheek that resounded. “J ’vous reponds, we’ll have a feas’ to-night! umph-umph!”
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As Calixta’s husband and son return home through the mud after the storm, they both dread Calixta’s reaction to their mud-soaked clothes, expecting that she will be very upset. However, relaxed and reinvigorated from sex with Alcée, Calixta greets her family with affection, which they clearly find surprising. Bobinôt finds himself at a loss for words, as all of the “explanations and apologies” that he had been composing on the walk home “died on his lips.” Clearly, Calixta’s transformation from uptight to easygoing is the result of her brief affair. Without any idea about the affair, Bibi and Bobinôt’s lives Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus temp
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Calixta Character Timeline in The Storm
The timeline below shows where the character Calixta appears in The Storm. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 1
...the two will return home after the storm passes, Bibi wonders aloud if his mother, Calixta, will be okay at home. Bobinôt responds that Calixta will be okay as she has...
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Bobinôt purchases a can of shrimp for Calixta, as they’re her favorite. As the storm begins to descend on the general store, Bobinôt...
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Part 2
Back at home, Calixta is hard at work “sewing furiously.” The house is stuffy and uncomfortably warm, causing sweaty...
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As rain begins to fall, Alcée Laballière arrives on horseback. The sight of Alcée surprises Calixta: she’s barely seen him “since her marriage, and never alone.” In need of shelter from...
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...protection from the intense rain, so, with “water beat[ing] down in driving sheets” he and Calixta take refuge inside the house. As Alcée and Calixta work together to fortify the door...
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Although Calixta is now “a little fuller of figure” than she was before her marriage five years...
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With the widow and doors fortified, Alcée takes a seat while Calixta tidies nervously, declaring: “If this keeps up, Dieu sait! if the levees goin’ to stand...
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Holding Calixta in his arms reminds Alcée of their past as young lovers and awakens his longing...
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With the thunderstorm at its peak, Calixta and Alcée find themselves in the “dim, mysterious chamber” and lie together. The couple’s sexual...
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Part 3
...resignation.” They reach the house and “[prepare] for the worst,” ready to be scolded by Calixta, the ”over-scrupulous housewife.”
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However, to Bobinôt and Bibi’s surprise, Calixta responds with joy at their arrival. Bobinôt finds himself at a loss for words; he...
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