"A Rose for Emily" and "The Storm" Comparison

In the stories, “The Storm” and “A Rose for Emily” the two main characters, Calixta and Emily, go with men outside of marriage. Calixta is married and has an affair while Emily is not married and is involved with Homer. In the story “The Storm” by Kate Chopin, Calixta is forced to stay in the house with Alcee because of the rainstorm while Babinot and Bibi are stuck at the store. Calixta was so worried and frightened by the storm that Alcee took it upon himself to comfort her. “She would not compose herself…Alcee clasped her shoulders…” (Chopin 20).They used to be old lovers and this reunion brought back memories. “The contact of her warm, palpitating body…had aroused all the old-time infatuation and desire for her flesh” (Chopin 20). This fascination helped them take their desires to the next level, an affair, all while the storm was hammering down on the house. Once they were through, so was the storm. “He stayed cushioned upon her, breathless, dazed, enervated…” (Chopin 27). And the “growl of thunder was distant and passing away” (Chopin 28). Everything was over, Alcee left and Babinot and Bibi returned home. Everyone’s lives went back to how they were, as if nothing had happened. Meanwhile, in the story “A Rose for Emily”, by William Faulkner, Emily gets involved with a man named, Homer, both un-married but obviously together. The whole town watched their relationship unravel. “Presently we began to see him and Miss Emily on Sunday afternoons driving in the yellow-wheeled buggy…” (Faulkner 30). The townspeople always felt sorry for Emily. The whole town would be in whispers about everything she did. As Emily was with Homer she seemed very happy and content. Emily was buying Homer gifts, “a man’s toilet set in silver, with the letters H.B. on each piece” (Faulkner 45). And “she had bought a complete outfit of men’s clothing” (Faulkner 45). But the couple was not married and the town’s women began talking about how Miss Emily was setting a bad example for