closing windows and doors." Although this scene can be seen as a woman simply going about her daily tasks, it is filled with sexual undertones. As the storm within Calixta approaches, she feels warm and begins to perspire and must loosen the neck of her blouse. This is very much a moment of sexual arousal for Calixta and although she is not completely aware of what is happening, she is clearly uncomfortable and tries to stop it by closing the windows and doors. However, it is too late because Alcee arrives at this moment. This is the moment when it seems as though the actual storm and the storm within Calixta converge with a great intensity. The storm envelopes them and the house and they must "put something beneath the door to keep the water out.The rain beat upon the low, shingled roof with a force and clatter that threatened to break an entrance and deluge them there." The force and intensity of the storm here foreshadows the actual sexual act that is soon to come.
Once Calixta is aware of the sexual desires she is feeling, she immediately becomes nervous and tries to distract herself with watching the storm and thinking about her husband and child. However, it seems like her entire surroundings are sexually charged and she cannot escape it, "She wiped the frame that was clouded with moisture. It was stiflingly hot.A bolt stuck a tall chinaberry tree.the crash seemed to invade the very boards they stood upon." She soon gives in to her desires and finds a satisfaction that she had never experienced before. Her body was "knowing for the first time its birthright." Chopin here is making a controversial statement that was unheard of in her time. Women were not supposed to exhibit any type of sexual desire or pleasure. They were expected to be pure and chaste, even as wives and mothers. However, Chopin refers to sexual desire and fulfillment as a birthright, one that every woman is entitled to and one that every woman of her time had to suppress.
