Passion in Kate Chopin's The Storm

Kate Chopin’s “The Storm,” presents a view of passion as an emotion separate from love. It creates the feeling that passion is an intense, burning emotion, but different from love in that passion is more mysterious. It is not about intimacy, and it is not about an involved relationship for the purpose of living a happy life together. Passion is an ardent drive, an escape, the fulfillment of fantasy, and it is as mysterious as it is intense. 

“The Storm,” presents an affair between a married man and a married woman, whom had known each other in the past. The affair is portrayed as a necessary escape from reality, the fulfillment of lusts felt in years past. The storyline forms the feeling that the affair was necessary in order to maintain satisfaction in their own marriages. The author’s general attitude is that everyone needs an escape, in one way or another, at certain times in their relationships. Whether it is to simply take a breath of fresh air in solitude, to take a break from the redundancy of married life, or to satisfy lusts, the overall attitude toward the affair is that it is part of a bigger picture in which all parties, though obviously unspoken amongst themselves, need a short break.