Chopin’s short stories all contain sexual nature in their themes. A theme which at the time was not often written about so directly in literature. In “The Storm” a woman has an affair with an old fling while her husband and child are in town taking cover from a nasty storm. The storm itself metaphors much of the happenings during the passionate encounter. It acts as a sexual awakening which she seems to have long since forgotten. When the husband and child return she greets them warmly, the text saying, “the three seated themselves at table they laughed much and so loud that anyone might have heard them as far away as Laballière's.” It seems the affair rejuvenated her for the better stating, “So the storm passed and every one was happy.” Affairs in stories were uncommon at the time, but unprovoked and unpunished ones were unseen.
In “Desiree’s Baby” an orphan grows up and has a child with a well to do young man. When the baby is born it has dark skin and Desiree is chastised for possibly being part black. The theme of interracial relations is not uncommon in literature at the time (we see this in both Douglass and Jacobs’ narratives) but this story dives deeper into the emotions and shame this brought back then. Desiree runs away into a bayou, while Armand later finds out he is the one who was part black. The text never specifically says this is the first time he finds out about it. The proof seen in his baby may of surfaced the shame he felt of being part black in an upper class, white society. Chopin’s stories were very edgy for her time and were generally denied publication in national magazines and news papers but were important towards the relaxing the tabooness of sex in America.
hey carson - i liked how you brought up that Chopin's stories were edgy and that a lot of writers didn't talk about the subjects that she did, like sex. We see that her stories weren't published until years after she wrote them, which like you said, is probably because of the edginess of her stories. good post!
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