Well, if you need help in identifying differences between
the two characters, clearly a major difference between Calixta and Desiree is the way
that Desiree is faithful to her husband and Calixta gives in to her desire and has an
affair. Although Calixta is presented as a loving wife and mother through her concern
for her husband and child, this concern masks the way that she has yielded to temptation
with Alcee. Our overwhelming impression of Calixta is that of a sensuous creature driven
by passion:
They did not heed the crashing torrents, and the
roar of the elements made her laugh as she lay in his arms. She was a revelation in that
dim, mysterious chamber; as white as the couch she lay upon. Her firm, elastic flesh
that was knowing for the first time its brithright, was like a creamly lily that the sun
invites to contribute its breath and perfume to the undying life of the
world.
Note the explicitly
sexual images that are used to describe Calixta. She is definitely depicted as a
creature of passions and of desires.
Desiree, on the other
hand, is depicted as a modest and loving wife and mother, whose only desire is to please
her husband. Note how she is described:
What Desiree said was true. Marriage, and later
the brith of his son, had softened Armand Aubigny's imperious and exacting nature
greatly. This was what made the gentle Desiree so happy, for she loved him desperately.
When he frowned she trembled, but loved him. When he smiled, she asked not greater
blessing of God.
Thus Desiree
is presented as a woman whose life is built around her husband and pleasing him. This is
very different from the blatantly sensual way in which Calixta is presented. Thus, when
we compare these two protagonists, it seems that Chopin is deliberately presenting one
as becoming more sexually in touch with herself. Desiree, by contrast, is presented as
the model wife, which of course heightens our sympathy for her in the way that she is
treated by Armand and her eventual fate.
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