Theme Of At The Cadian Ball By Kate Chopin

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Love Conquers Lust and love are very different things but they are commonly confused. Kate Chopin’s “At the ‘Cadian Ball” and “The Storm” are centered in the nineteenth century in Louisiana. Although they both have the same main characters the two stories are mainly about Alcee and Calixta’s relationship with one another. These stories are about Calixta and her confusion over her feelings for Alcée, but in the end love conquers. Belonging mostly to the lower class, Cajuns have always had a conflict relation to the upper class formed mostly of Creoles(Guarino, Sabrina) which is seen in the distaste Bobinôt has for Alcée in the first story “At the ‘Cadian Ball” . In this story the reader is first introduced to Bobinôt who is day dreaming about Calixta, the “Spanish vixen”(p.1265). Bobinôt is an Acadian farmer and therefore is not very wealthy, but he is completely in love with Calixta despite her scandalous nature. Calixta is the girl that all of the men are attracted to. She is exotic due to the fact that she had Cuban blood in her from her mother. Calixta has a past with Alcée and thinks that she loves him. Alcée is a Creole planter and very wealthy. The girls swoon over him for he is rather handsome. He is attracted to Calixta, but does not love her, he only lusts for her. He does however love his mother’s goddaughter Clarisse. Clarisse is the opposite of Calixta; she is well rounded, wealthy and rather respectable. During the ball scene in “At the ‘Cadian

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