The war on marriage is not frontal assault from outside enemies but a sideways tug-of-war inside each other due to some competing values: between rights and needs, between individualism and community, between fear and hope, between freedom and love. Psychoanalysts, in particular, have played a key role in persuading married people that marriage is primarily for and about adult happiness. Kate Chopin’s’ The Storm is one of the literary works that have been used to explore one of the means that women seek happiness in their live-not necessarily with the husband. This paper employs the Lacanian theory to analyze the psychosocial aspect of the story.
Calixta, the main character in the story, opts to seek sexual satisfaction outside her marriage. She welcomes Alcee to her matrimonial home. She not only enjoys his company but also ends up being involved in sexual activity with him. The story derives its meaning form this incidence because of two important elements. Firstly, the lack of sexual fulfillment within a marriage can cause someone to engage in activities that are detrimental to the stability or rather bond between married couples (Nusselder 112). This is because, as the story unfolds, Calixta expresses that she sought sexual satisfaction outside her marriage because her husband, Bobi, did not satisfy her. She does not hesitate to utilize any opportunity possible to get the satisfaction she needs thus posing a threat to the family-if ever the husband new of the happenings.
According to the Lacanian theory, Calixta is justified to seek sexual satisfaction outside her marriage. The theory posits that desire is grounded in lack and this lack for a female turns out to be a double lack namely the lack of the Other (separation from the primordial object of love) and the lack of the sexual satisfaction that a married woman is supposed to have (Ceullar 106). This results in a form of ego. For Lacan, the ego is always looking for something in the object that refers back to the ego-image. Because of lack or loss, the ego perceives in his/her own image refers back to a loss of love experienced in a relationship. From then on love of self, of the narcistic completion of the self must go through the object (the Other who appears to fill the gap in the imaginary field). The appearance of Alcee reflects Lacanian’s belief that narcissistic self love is not complete without the other who appears to be part of the missing in the ego.
Following the Lacanian theory, the storm symbolizes the lack of sexual satisfaction within the marriage since it disappears after Alcee satisfied her. Lacan’s theory suggests that joy can only be attained after the lack/desire of sexual fulfillment is attained. However, it does not dictate that married women should be tied to their husbands for such. This explains why Calixta does not show any sign of guilt once her family gets home-she welcomes them joyfully. What seems to be immoral and unethical about the story gets a new meaning form the Lacanian theory.
The story depicts some of the instances within the contemporary society which psychologists have sort to explain. As aforementioned, the Lacanian story seeks to explain the main character’s action. The lack of sexual satisfaction creates ‘lack’ and most individuals end up looking for the ‘other’ in attempt to meet their desire.
Works Cited
Ceullar, Pavon. From the Conscious Interior to the Exterior Unconscious: Lacan, Discourse
Analysis and Social Psychology. London, GBR: Karnac Books, 2010. Print.
Nusselder, Andre. Interface Fantasy: A Lacanian Ontology. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2009.
Print.
