Thesis: In "The Tempest" and "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin, the wives seem to share the disgusting qualities of selfishness, infidelity and confusion.I. The most common element found in both literary texts is that both women seem to be very selfish. In "The Story of an Hour," Mrs. Mallard appears to be overcome with joy at her husband's death.B. Like Mrs. Mallard, Calixta, the wife of "The Storm", is also immensely selfish.II. The second most obvious theme in both stories is their unfaithful commitment to the sacrament of marriage.A. Mrs. Mallard has never been unfaithful physically, but mentally and emotionally she has lost herself in the idea of ​​her new life without her husband.B. In opposition to Mrs. Mallard, Calixta acted on her emotions and became physically unfaithful.III. In addition to selfishness and infidelity, both women give the perception of confusion.A. Mrs. Mallard's confusion begins with a feeling of "sudden, wild abandonment," but then, shortly thereafter, she begins to experience strange feelings of relief.B. Calixta also feels confusion when "Alcée's arm surrounds her..." and "...pulls her spasmodically towards him." The DeceptionIn Kate Chopin's "The Tempest" and "The Story of an Hour," the common theme of each short story is the deception of marriage. "The Storm" involves two married couples in which a woman, Calixta, and a man, Alcée, from each marriage have an affair with each other. Calixta has a baby with her husband and Alcée's family is in Biloxi. The story takes place at Calixta's house when Alcée asks to stay with her until the storm has passed, while her son and her husband are away...... middle of paper ...... he should be honored and is horrible to see marriage as some kind of joke and waste of time. In conclusion, the women in both stories experienced two very different situations but overall they were dealing with the same things. Selfishness plays a role in their thoughts and actions, and infidelity plays a role in the overall happiness of their marriages. Since both selfishness and infidelity control their thoughts and emotions, they become confused and lose all control of the situation. Basically, it's shocking to see how lightly things are taken into consideration and how the loss of a loved one doesn't affect people as it should. Works Cited The Story of an Hour Kate Chopin Internet www.bedfordstmartins.com/literature The Tempest Kate Chopin Literature The Human Experience, Eighth Shorter Edition, Richard Abcarian and Marvin KlotzPage 750-754