Summary of: The Kaleidoscope of Truth: A New Look at Chopins The Storm - Essay Example

Stein, Allen. “The Kaleidoscope of Truth: A New Look at Chopin’s ‘The Storm’.” American Literary Realism 36 Fall 2003 51-64. Bibliography Entry Stein, Allen. “The Kaleidoscope of Truth: A New Look at Chopin’s ‘The Storm’.” American Literary Realism 36.1 (Fall 2003): 51-64.Summary In the article “The Kaleidoscope of Truth: A New Look at Chopin’s ‘The Storm” Allen Stein tries to justify the accidental meeting and subsequent affair between Alcee and Calixta as a spontaneous reflection of passion that was there in both the characters.

He analyses the theme of sexuality in “The Storm” from the perception of a common observer who could understand the influence of natural, situational and emotional circumstances on human beings and their tendency towards sexuality. Allen focuses on Calixta as a complete woman persuaded by usual human instinct as well as a housewife who wishes to see her husband and son back home safe from the storm; however he tries to justify the reason behind the circumstances from the perspective of Chopin.

Allen throughout his analysis never justifies the sexuality between Calixta and Alcee as precise, but relates it with that of an emotional outburst from a mundane lifestyle, a desire to fulfill expectations from loved ones, hence he carries his argument supporting Calixta and Alcee as not intentionally or lustfully united. Calixta has been portrayed as a worried wife taking care of her domestic duties. Her expectations to see her child and husband back home safely, her responsibility and care could be seen when she picks up her husband’s cloth put out for drying before being spoiled by the storm, etc.

illustrates the perfect woman in her. On the whole Calixta has been depicted as a symbol of purity; therefore Allen tries to validate her sexuality as unintentional throughout the article. As per the story her intuition towards sexuality is not actually purposeful but it is of an emotional tendency forced by her longing for love towards Alcee. Allen is successful in pointing out the reasons for Calixta’s sexuality such as Alcee’s admiration towards her which her husband does not have.

Allen could notice the balance made by Chopin between the aspect of society and sexuality hence the character of Calixta feels happy once she finds her husband and son back home and enjoys dinner with a loud laugh. Allen observes the laughter of the family during dinner as a symbolic representation of Calixta’s desires being fulfilled; whereas, there remains an unintentional attitude towards what has happened. The only controversial feature is Calixta’s attitude towards Alcee without being interrupted by her familial responsibilities carries with it several explanations pertaining to a partial justification but never holds a stubborn explanation, feels Allen.

After referring to various critical appraisals of many authors Allen states the sexuality of Calixta with Alcee as unpremeditated. The conflicting ideas towards the sexuality with an outsider without considering the child has been very well reviewed by Allen, and hence Allen was able to come to a conclusion that every human being is locked by his own instincts which might force him at some instant where the notion of positive or negative impact would remain unanswered. Above all Allen’s identification of Calixta’s sexuality as personal freedom and domesticity as personal responsibility reveals his support for Calixta for being entangled in a situation unanswerable.

In spite of being kind, sober and good hearted Calixta’s attitude towards sexuality clearly reflects upon her longing for freedom which situation creates. The final part of the story is yet another challenging work for Allen for analyzing, for example Allen tries to beautifully focus on the aftermaths of sexuality being ignored by the author Chopin. The scope of several questions being raised concerning the reaction of society, such as acceptability of affair among Calixta’s husband and son, and the impact of sexuality on Alcee’s love for his wife.

Allen tries to capture the essence of Alcee’s character by focusing on his admiration towards Calixta which remains the same as he admired when they were young. The fact that both Alcee and Calixta have true love free of lust has been highlighted by Allen in a fantastic way. Hence their sexuality becomes a justifiable at that moment. Allen’s attempts to search for a strong justification of Calixta’s situation further raises support for Calixta and hence the portion of unanswerable controversies does not appear to be a vast thing.