lightning that initiated their physical contact. Even her mouth is a "fountain of light," another comparison of Calixta to water. As they finish, "The growl of the thunder was distant and passing away." As their passion ebbs, so does the storm.

Alcée ends up writing to his wife that she can extend her visit to friends and family, and she is glad to receive his letter. "Devoted as she was to her husband, their intimate conjugal life was something which she was more than willing to forego for a while." Evidently, his love-making has something in common with a storm as well, and she is happy to escape it for a while. Thus, while other characters, including Calixta's husband and son, try to escape or hide from the storm, it seems that Calixta and Alcée figuratively embrace it when they embrace each other. They welcome the intensity that others try to avoid.

Kate Chopin's short story "The Storm" depicts both a literal storm and a storm of passion between two lovers. As such, the plot and the setting, or the actual storm itself, definitely reflect one another. 

When the story begins, Bobinot and Bibi are at a store expecting a rain storm to start any minute; meanwhile, Calixta, who is Bobinot's wife and Bibi's mother, is at the house. Calixta goes outside to bring in the clothes that were drying on the line and sees Alcee riding his horse; it is implied that the two had feelings for each other in the past, but Calixta "had not seen him very often since her marriage." Alcee asks if he can come sit on the porch until the storm passes, and she agrees. As the storm progresses, the tension between the two characters rises, as well. Alcee brings up a past rendezvous in Assumption. The narrator tells us,

for in Assumption he had kissed her and kissed and kissed her; until his senses would well nigh fail, and to save her he would resort to a desperate flight. If she was not an immaculate dove in those days, she was still inviolate; a passionate creature whose very defenselessness had made her defense, against which his honor forbade him to prevail. Now—well, now—her lips seemed in a manner free to be tasted, as well as her round, white throat and her whiter breasts.

Contrasting that moment in the past, it seems to Alcee now that Calixta will be more willing to answer his kisses; he turns out to be correct. After this, the narrator's description is very sensual. The characters don't even pay attention to the storm outside. Their passionate encounter is a storm in its own right. When the storm ends, order is restored. Alcee leaves. Bobinot and Bibi return, and normal family life resumes. 

The setting is a tumultuous storm that comes in suddenly and takes over the small house, then disappears as quickly as it came, leaving a sunshine-filled day in its stead.  This reinforces the plot because M'sieur Alcee also comes into the story like a storm, awakening stormy emotions and passions within Calixta, and their affair is a tumultuous and brief episode in her life, before things return back to normal.  Afterwards, she is happy and carefree, laughing and kind, just like the cleared storm leaves sunshine in its path.

The bedroom is another element of setting that reinforces the plot; "The door stood open, and the room with its white, monumental bed, its closed shutters, looked dim and mysterious".  Chopin's mentioning of the bedroom is not accidental, it is a foreshadowing of the coming affair, and, the mention of mystery alludes to the wondering of what being together would be like.  That mystery is soon answered, and she becomes "a revelation in that dim, mysterious chamber".  So, what was a mystery is now a revelation.

Those are a couple elements of setting that reinforce the plot.

The setting of “The Storm” by Kate Chopin plays a central role in the story in much the way a character would. The story, which was written in 1898, takes place in a small, southern Louisiana town. While the protagonist Calixta’s husband and young son are forced to wait out a strong thunderstorm in the local store, she is left alone in her small home. The child worries about his mother.

They were at Friedheimer's store and decided to remain there till the storm had passed. They sat within the door on two empty kegs. Bibi was four years old and looked very wise.

Her husband buys her a treat of canned shrimp for their dinner in case she needs soothing.

Bobint arose and going across to the counter purchased a can of shrimps, of which Calixta was very fond.

As she sits at her sewing machine, Calixta is oblivious to the impending storm until the winds begin to whip.

She sat at a side window sewing furiously on a sewing machine. She was greatly occupied and did not notice the approaching storm.

She runs out to take in the washing so her husband’s clothing does not get wet. While she is outside her former acquaintance, Alce Laballire, appears and the storm forces him into her home. The storm plays a catalyst to their repressed sensual emotions. The author describes the scene in the small house pointing out the large white bed as a central focal point for what is to happen next.

The door stood open, and the room with its white, monumental bed, its closed shutters, looked dim and mysterious.

Chopin describes the ferocity of the storm as the two consummate their unrequited love with fearless abandon. The close quarters of the home, and storm allow the couple, although married to others, to respond to deep-seated sexual needs. As the storm abates, their tryst comes to an end.

Meanwhile, Calixta is in an uncharacteristically jovial mood as she welcomes her husband and son home after the storm passes.

"Oh, Bobint! You back! My! But I was uneasy. W'ere you been during the rain? An' Bibi? he ain't wet? he ain't hurt?" She had clasped Bibi and was kissing him effusively. Bobint's explanations and apologies which he had been composing all along the way, died on his lips as Calixta felt him to see if he were dry, and seemed to express nothing but satisfaction at their safe return.

Her lover returns to his home where he writes a letter to his wife telling her it is acceptable for her to stay away for a while longer.

Alce Laballire wrote to his wife, Clarisse, that night. It was a loving letter, full of tender solicitude. He told her not to hurry back, but if she and the babies liked it at Biloxi, to stay a month longer. He was getting on nicely; and though he missed them, he was willing to bear the separation a while longerrealizing that their health and pleasure were the first things to be considered.

In her small home, the storm within her has passed as Calixta is a woman fulfilled by a chance, passionate sexual act. After the storm, nature is renewed and glowing as are the lovers who move seamlessly back into their roles in the sleepy Louisiana town.

”The Storm” by Kate Chopin takes place in southern Louisiana.  It is possible to tell the setting  based on the hints in the story. There is a story that is a prequel to this story: "At the Cadian Ball." This story introduces the characters and the first meeting for Alcee and Calixta occurs in it.

The setting of the story is recognizable as southern Louisiana for several reasons:

• There are two kinds of people that have French heritage who live in southern Louisiana---the Acadians who are descendants of French-American exiles from Acadia, Nova Scotia. Calixta and Bobinot are Acadians.  The other French people are the Creoles, descendants of French settlers in Louisiana. Alcee and his wife are Creoles.  Despite the shared French heritage, the Creoles and the Acadians do not mix.  The Acadians are considered to be of a lower social class than the Creoles.  Society mores would not tolerate the two classes crossing the social boundaries.  
• Many of Chopin’s stories take place in this area of Louisiana.
• The way the characters speak relates to their French heritage.
• The reference to the levees would imply that the town is near to New Orleans which uses levees to control the water which comes in from the Gulf of Mexico.

The title of the story---“The Storm”---has both a literal and figurative meaning. 

The literal meaning applies to the storm that takes place during the story.  It keeps Bobinot and the boy in town until the storm is over.  The storm places Alcee inside the house with Calixta which creates the opportunity for their brief liaison. 

The figurative meaning applies to the storm within the lovers who have had an unrequited love affair since the story previously mentioned.  They have history.

"Do you remember in Assumption, Calixta?" he asked in a low voice broken by passion. Oh! she remembered; for in Assumption he had kissed her and kissed and kissed her; until his senses would well nigh fail, and to save her he would resort to a desperate flight.

As the storm moves in, Calixta and Alcee move closer to each other until they can no longer restrain themselves.  Their love making follows the crescendo of the storm, and their brief respite comes when the storm wanes.

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 birthright

The question that is not answered for the reader comes from the power of Alcee’s and Calixta’s connection.  Is this the only time that she will stray from her marriage promise to Bobinot? Or is the inner turmoil too much to hold back?

The spouses of the two lovers seem blithely oblivious to the affair.  Hopefully, for the children, Alcee and Calixta will focus on their marriages.

Kate Chopin was well ahead of her time.  She often pushed the limits of sexual affairs.  Often, she questioned society’s limitations on women.  Most of her female protagonists struggle under the repression of an unwanted marriage or a husband who is too restrictive. 

Several of her stories were not initially published because of their subject matter.  Eventually, society caught up with Chopin, and she is considered one of the first feminist writers.

The storm could be seen as a metaphor for the intense passion that rages between Alcée and Calixta. Like the storm, their love is wild and uncontrollable, but ultimately isn't destined to last. As with the most passionate and intense of relationships, the storm is capable of great destruction. In this particular case the storm has acted as a catalyst for the potential destruction of two marriages by driving these young lovers into each other's arms.

One gets the impression that this illicit affair is destined to end in tears, that there will be many more storms ahead, both literal and figurative. The question remains as to how Alcée and Calixta will find shelter in the midst of such emotional turmoil, or even whether such shelter will even exist. Under the circumstances it's unlikely in the extreme that they will be able to break free from the restrictive social mores of their class and find a haven of peace in which they can commit themselves to each other on a more permanent basis.

The cyclone that strikes in Kate Chopin's story "The Storm" is the objective correlative of the storm of emotions that occurs with Calixta and Alcée. It also provides the occasion for Alcée to take shelter and it is the impetus to their highly emotional encounter.

The setting of the cyclone in Chopin's story contributes greatly to the plot because Bôbinot and Bibi are unable to return home for some time until the storm abates. Also, during this storm Alicée Laballière rides in at the gate of Calixta's home and asks if he may take shelter until the storm abates. His presence in her home when Calixta is in a state of high emotion and all alone places this man and woman again into a situation much like the highly charged one at the 'Cadian ball a few years ago:

He looked down into her eyes and there was nothing for him to do but to gather her lips in a kiss. It reminded him of Assumption.
"Do you remember--in Assumption, Calixta?" he asked in a low voice broken by passion. Oh! she remembered; for in Assumption he had kissed her and kissed and kissed her....

This memory ignites their emotions and personal storms erupt inside the two. These maelstroms of physical passion are so strong that neither of them "heed[s] the crashing torrents." In fact, the "roar of the elements" makes Calixta laugh as she lies in the arms of Alicée. But, once their passions are spent, much like a storm that passes, Alicée rides away. Shortly thereafter, Bôbinot and Bibi arrive home. When Calixta sees them, she springs up, elated that they are safe and excited that Bôbinot has brought shrimp. Then they sit at the table and enjoy their shrimp dinner, laughing and talking loudly and joyously. 

In a similar fashion, the storm inside Alicée has also abated. Upon his return home, he writes his wife, Clarisse. In his letter he instructs her to enjoy herself and remain in her home city of Biloxi a month longer if she wishes because his family's health and pleasure are of the most importance.

It is with a double meaning that Chopin writes the last sentence:
            "So the storm passed and every one was happy." 

Kate Chopin's setting of the area around New Orleans, Louisiana, is an area rich in French and Spanish heritage, and Calixta, an Acadian, possesses the strong passions that match the turbulent weather of her environment.  In fact, the storm that rises in the sky is a metaphor for the rising passions of the two main characters, Calixta and Monsieur Alcee, two people who have met each other previously. Although their encounter was charged with passion, the gentleman Alcee was forbidden by his honor to "prevail" upon her innocence at that time.

Now, however, caught in the violent storm alone after two years, the violence of their passions--heretofore unrealised--explodes in a maelstrom fo emotion,

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....The generous abundance of her passion, without guile or trickery, was like a white flame which penetrated and found response in depths of his own sensuous nature that had never yet been reached. 

And, just as the tempest subsides, Calixta and Alcee are both refreshed as is nature by the rains. Clearly, the passions of the two lovers parallels the turbulent energy of the storm, that rises and ebbs. Indeed, the setting of the tropical environment of Louisiana with its cyclones and tempests is essential for the moments of violent emotions and renewed passions ignited in the lovers.

The setting, especially the big storm that brews and breaks during the story, contributes to the plot in a number of ways. First, the storm keeps the protagonist, Calixta's, husband and son away from home. Bobinot and Bibi have gone to the store in town, on foot because the story takes place in the late nineteenth century, and so they cannot leave until the storm blows over. This means that Calixta is at home alone, which she needs to be in order for the remainder of the plot to unfold.

Secondly, the storm in the physical setting is what drives Alcee Laballiere, Calixta's former beau, to seek shelter at her house. He is on horseback, again due to the time period. He cannot safely continue his journey past her house with the torrential rains, thunder, and lightning. In order for his liaison with Calixta to take place, they must be alone together, and they have "never [been] alone" since her marriage took place. The storm provides this opportunity.

Thirdly, the storm seems to provide the emotional impetus needed to push Calixta and Alcee together. At first, he tries to keep his physical distance from her, but soon they have to work together to keep the water out. While they both look out the window, lightning strikes just outside, frightening Calixta. In response, "Alcee's arm encircled her, and for an instant he drew her close and spasmodically to him." This physical contact, necessitated by Calixta's response to the storm, initiates their sexual liaison and leads to the climax of the story.

The setting of this story seems to be Louisiana during the late nineteenth century, as most of Chopin's works are. The French-Creole names of the main characters are a good clue to this. More specifically, however, the bulk of the story takes place during a massive storm with terrible winds, thunder and lightning, and sheeting rain.

This aspect of the setting seems especially meaningful given the simultaneous figurative storm of passion that the plot relates. It is, in fact, the storm that keeps the husband and son of the protagonist, Calixta, away from home when they take shelter at a local general store and that drives her former beau, Alcée Laballière, to seek shelter in her house which he is passing when the storm breaks.

Just as the gale gathers force and grows more intense outside, so do the emotions of Calixta and Alcée inside. It is "stiflingly hot," and her body is "warm, palpitating"; her eyes are a "liquid blue" filled with a "drowsy gleam" (words that seem to connote a wetness, like the rain coming down outside). Inside the home, they do not "heed the crashing torrents" of the rain outside, and they give in to a storm of "passion" inside." As the rain poured down, Calixta's mouth became "a fountain of delight." In short, the intensity with which the ex-flames return to one another matches the intensity of the physical setting outside. This is why the setting is so symbolic of their intense but short-lived passionate interlude, and then it is back to regular life when the storm passes.