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Love is an intense feeling of tender affection and compassion or a passionate feeling of romantic desire and sexual attraction. Through love, two people are united. In Raymond Carver's "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" and Kate Chopin's "The Storm," different views of marriage are explored. However, Carver provides the most realistic view of marriage.
The way Chopin presents Calixta's loveless marriage makes the marriage unrealistic. In the storm, Chopin demonstrates a woman's sexual restraint during a marriage. By society's standards, a woman was expected to be faithful and chaste. Like Calixta, most women were burdened with household duties. Chopin states, "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" (724). Calixta's marriage is controlled by society's expectations to be a good housewife. The storm acts as the society by confining Calixta's passion inside her home. Thus, Calixta devotes herself to the work at home. As the wind approaches, "...she seized Bobinot's vest" (725). By seizing Bobinot's vest, she is submitting herself to marital and social restrictions. Regardless, she rebels when Alcée visits. She puts away "the lengths of a cotton sheet which she had been sewing" (725). By putting away her sewing materials, Calixta puts away society's limitations and marriage confinement. Calixta, therefore, allows herself to go with her sexual desires. Despite her affair with Alcée, Calixta maintains her marriage with Bobinot. Upon her husband's return, she exclaims, "Oh, Bobinot! You back! My! But I was uneasy. W'ere you been during the rain?" (727). Strangely, Calixta carries on her marriage without guilt after her affair with Alcée. The sexually liberated view Chopin reflects, makes Calixta's marriage unrealistic.
The marriage between Mel and Terri is most realistic. Through Mel's definition of love, he makes known its contribution in their marriage. Mel states, "Physical love, that impulse that drives you to someone special, as well as love of the other person's being, his or her essence, as it were. Carnal love and, well, call it sentimental love, the day-to-day caring about the other person" (745). At the same time that he defines the different types of love, he describes his own experience in his marriage. As in any marriage, the husband and wife are drawn to each other through their passion and compassion for one another. Mel then describes the function of love. He states, "...the other person, would grieve for a while, you know, but then the surviving party would go out and love again, have someone else soon enough. All this, all of this love we're talking about, it would just be a memory" (746). Through his statement, he describes his philosophy on marriage. Calling love "a memory," he establishes love as a temporal warm feeling. People continue to reestablish love in their lives by remarrying. The reason for marriage is to fill a person's feeling of emptiness.
Because the two short stories were written a century apart, there are differences in the marriages. "The Storm" was written during the nineteenth century when more restrictions were put on women. As expected of women, Calixta is a housewife. In contrast, "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" was written during the twentieth century when women were given more privileges. Thus, the attention of the woman's role is not focused in Terri's marriage, rather the love that contributes in her marriage.
Love is an intense feeling of tender affection and compassion or a passionate feeling of romantic desire and sexual attraction. Through love, two people are united. In Raymond Carver's "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" and Kate Chopin's "The Storm," different views of marriage are explored. However, Carver provides the most realistic view of marriage.
The way Chopin presents Calixta's loveless marriage makes the marriage unrealistic. In the storm, Chopin demonstrates a woman's sexual restraint during a marriage. By society's standards, a woman was expected to be faithful and chaste. Like Calixta, most women were burdened with household duties. Chopin states, "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" (724). Calixta's marriage is controlled by society's expectations to be a good housewife. The storm acts as the society by confining Calixta's passion inside her home. Thus, Calixta devotes herself to the work at home. As the wind approaches, "...she seized Bobinot's vest" (725). By seizing Bobinot's vest, she is submitting herself to marital and social restrictions. Regardless, she rebels when Alcée visits. She puts away "the lengths of a cotton sheet which she had been sewing" (725). By putting away her sewing materials, Calixta puts away society's limitations and marriage confinement. Calixta, therefore, allows herself to go with her sexual desires. Despite her affair with Alcée, Calixta maintains her marriage with Bobinot. Upon her husband's return, she exclaims, "Oh, Bobinot! You back! My! But I was uneasy. W'ere you been during the rain?" (727). Strangely, Calixta carries on her marriage without guilt after her affair with Alcée. The sexually liberated view Chopin reflects, makes Calixta's marriage unrealistic.
The marriage between Mel and Terri is most realistic. Through Mel's definition of love, he makes known its contribution in their marriage. Mel states, "Physical love, that impulse that drives you to someone special, as well as love of the other person's being, his or her essence, as it were. Carnal love and, well, call it sentimental love, the day-to-day caring about the other person" (745). At the same time that he defines the different types of love, he describes his own experience in his marriage. As in any marriage, the husband and wife are drawn to each other through their passion and compassion for one another. Mel then describes the function of love. He states, "...the other person, would grieve for a while, you know, but then the surviving party would go out and love again, have someone else soon enough. All this, all of this love we're talking about, it would just be a memory" (746). Through his statement, he describes his philosophy on marriage. Calling love "a memory," he establishes love as a temporal warm feeling. People continue to reestablish love in their lives by remarrying. The reason for marriage is to fill a person's feeling of emptiness.
Because the two short stories were written a century apart, there are differences in the marriages. "The Storm" was written during the nineteenth century when more restrictions were put on women. As expected of women, Calixta is a housewife. In contrast, "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" was written during the twentieth century when women were given more privileges. Thus, the attention of the woman's role is not focused in Terri's marriage, rather the love that contributes in her marriage.
