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Explanation and Analysis:
“The Storm” is a short story that belongs in the category of “regionalist literature.” Regionalism emerged as a literary movement after the Civil War, as writers sought to document and celebrate the unique cultures, dialects, and geographies found in their specific regions of the United States. Writers like Mark Twain documented the specific cultures of the southeastern United States, while Chopin focused more on Acadian and Creole communities in Louisiana. This comes across in her attention to her characters’ particular dialects and her depiction of the Louisiana region’s complex relationship with coastal storms.
This story can also be considered a work of early feminist literature because of the way that Chopin positively depicts a married woman having an extramarital affair. Chopin does not have the narrator judge or condemn Calixta’s actions and, rather than “punishing” the character with negative consequences for her infidelity, Chopin has Calixta end up happier than ever. In fact, as the last line of the story states, “Every one was happy,” including Bobinôt (Calixta's husband), Alcée, and Alcée’s wife Clarisse. It is notable that, because Chopin was writing stories about sexual liberation many decades before such literature was in vogue, she did not seek to publish this story, assuming that it was too racy or controversial for most editors and publishers.
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