An Analysis of Edith Wharton's Short Story 'Roman Fever'

“Roman Fever” is successful in revealing a darker side of interpersonal interactions and the lust for the role of the superior in relationships. It conveys this message by showing the transfer of

Roman Fever" is an outstanding example of Edith Wharton's theme to express the subtle nuances of formal upper class society that cause change underneath the pretense of stability. Wharton studied what actually made their common society tick, paying attention to unspoken signals, the histories of relationships, and seemingly coincidental parallels. All of these factors contribute to the strength and validity of the story of Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley.

The Flames of Rome by Paul Maier is a documentary-fiction that has not only brought to life the evolution of Christianity in Rome but has also painted a clear picture of what it was like to live in Rome at the time. Understanding the Roman’s way of life and reasoning behind their actions plays a major role in the reasoning for Maier writing this book. The Flames of Rome is equivalent to reading a textbook but Maier makes it much more enjoyable and intriguing by adding plausible details of his own. Maier’s portrayal of the death of Claudius Caesar, in chapter nine of the novel, closely follows the primary sources of Tacitus and Suetonius but also loosely follows that of the secondary sources. It is important to compare Maier’s version to other

Edith Wharton’s “Roman Fever” and Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” are the result of two “realistic” writers wishing to change the perspectives of how women should be viewed and treated. In “The Story of an Hour,” Chopin writes about Mrs. Mallard who is a woman desperate for her own thoughts and identity, at the time this concept was untraditional and not accepted. Like Chopin, in “Roman Fever” Wharton calls emphasis to the hidden secrets and feelings held by women at the time. In her writing, Chopin uses various literary devices to play an important role in conveying her message, these devices are also used by Wharton in “Roman Fever.” Irony is a predominant literary device used in both of these works, for example when Chopin states “When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease—of joy that kills” (1611). This is ironic because the reader knows she didn’t die of joy, but rather from seeing the glimpse of her husband and knowing she had lost the freedom she so desired. The first sign of irony Wharton uses is in the title, “Roman Fever,” which is an old name for malaria. However, that’s only the surface meaning as the deeper meaning symbolizes Mrs. Slade’s disease-like jealousy she has hidden for years over Mrs. Ansley. Both Edith Wharton and Kate Chopin were very influential authors of the time and brought out suppressed issues in their works to be acknowledged and challenged by society.

In Henry James’s “Daisy Miller” and Edith Wharton’s “The Other Two,” the narrators each disclose the complications of their party’s social formalities during circumstances within their own society. In both short stories, Winterbourne and Waythorn try to figure out their adored ones character and motives but for different reasons. In “Daisy Miller,” it’s noticeable that Mr. Winterbourne ends up longing for Daisy Miller as he tries to fully categorize the character she’s carelessly ruining. While in “The Other Two,” the narrator examines a society of how a married couple, Waythorn and Alice, adjust to an awkward

James' manipulation of appearances in Daisy Miller as well as other character's notions of these appearances provides us with a novella of enigmatic and fascinating characters. Daisy, the most complicated of these ambiguities, is as mysterious as she is flirtatious. James gives her a carefully constructed enigmatic quality that leaves the reader wondering what her motivations were and who she truly was. He structures the novella in such a way as to stress the insights that the supporting characters provide into Daisy's character, weather accurate or erroneous. Despite their questionable reliability, they allow James to make commentary on both European and American cultures and social class.

     Grace’s motives seem to be fairly simple, as they are based mostly on a love interest of Mr. Kinnear. Mr.

Throughout “Roman Fever” Grace is a woman of very few words. She seems to keep a majority of her thoughts to herself, unlike Alida. Mrs. Ansley is compared to her late husband as the couple being “Museum specimens of old New York.” (389) “Grace Ansley was always old-fashioned,” (388) Alida articulates at one point. Nonetheless, another example of irony is revealed considering Grace happens to be conservative, yet unveiling her past defeats moral code. Wharton displays Mrs. Ansley and her daughter having a stronger bond than Mrs. Slade and her daughter by presenting the fact Grace knew the girls’ plans for the night while Alida is left in the dark. Toward the conclusion of the story, Mrs. Ansley derives from her shell and makes her thoughts known to Mrs. Slade as to what actually happened the night she arrived at the Colosseum. After she reveals one of her most cherished memories, “Mrs. Ansley rose, and drew her fur about her. ‘It is cold here. We’d better go… I’m sorry for you,’ she said as she clasped the fur about her throat.” (397) Grace seems to be kind of sympathetic to Alida’s pathetic attempt to rid of

These two stories exemplify the epitome of women’s repression in the male-dominated society of the late nineteenth century by conveying the feelings of

Deceit runs rampant in the lives of these two women leaving behind a path of destruction, just as Roman fever did though Rome. Frightened she was going to lose her fiancé, Mrs. Slade took vengeance on Mrs. Ansley constructing a plan that would expose Mrs. Ansley to night of cold that sickens her, therefore, separating her from Delphin. In this plan, Mrs. Slade writes a letter to entice Mrs. Ansley to go to the Colosseum to meet Delphin thinking he would not know of the letter and never show up. Even after constructing this deceitful arrangement and causing Mrs. Ansley to get sick, Mrs. Slade still pretended to be her friend for the next twenty-five years. In the end, after all her plotting and deceit it appeared her happiness with Delphin only came from her social status due to his Fame, not from love. Consequently, Mrs. Slade became irrationally jealous as she allowed the hurt to simmer for decades causing her to envy the lifestyle of Mrs. Ansley. Mrs. Slade even devolves deep feelings of resent towards Mrs. Ansley’s daughter, Barbara, because she

“Roman Fever” is a short story written by Edith Wharton in 1934. The story is about two old friends Alina Slade and Grace Ansley reconnecting. Alina and Grace run into each other while on a trip to Rome with their daughters. The two women grew up in Manhattan and were childhood friends. A romantic rivalry led Alina to get feelings of jealousy and hatred against Grace. In the first part of the story, the two women talk about their daughters and each other's lives. Eventually, Alina reveals a secret about a letter written to Grace on a visit to Rome long ago. The letter was addressed from Alina’s fiancé, Delphin, inviting Grace to meet at the Colosseum. Alina had written the letter, to get Grace out of the way of the engagement by disappointing her when Delphin didn’t show up. Grace is upset at this revelation, but reveals that she was not left alone at the Colosseum. She had responded to the letter, and Delphin went to meet her. Alina eventually states that Grace shouldn’t pity her because she won by marring Delphin while Grace had nothing but a letter Delphin didn't even write. Then, Grace reveals that she had Barbara, Grace’s daughter, with Delphin. “Roman Fever” uses a lot of dramatic irony and has many events that contribute to thematic conflict. Wharton uses the letter Alina writes to Grace to trigger all the deception between them, which shows readers that when people are being deceitful with one another nobody wins. Alina sends the letter to Grace to get her out of the picture, but it gives Grace the chance at Delphin that she wouldn’t have gotten otherwise, and Grace takes advantage by writing back to Delphin without Alina’s knowledge. Both characters are keeping secrets about their relationships with Delphin and they both think that they won when neither of them did.

The setting of the story was in a Roman restaurant, where down you can see the “glories of the Palatine and the Forum” (Wharton 1). Wharton’s placement of the setting enhances the readers understanding that in the short story the two women are living in a “patriarchal civilization” where women are being forced to compete for their social statuses (Rankine 1). The two protagonists envy and jealousy begin over one man. Mrs. Slade feared that Mrs. Ansley would steal Delphin from her because “I was afraid; afraid of you, of your quiet ways, your sweetness…your…well, I wanted you out of the way” (Wharton 9). She then developed an idea to eliminate the competition, which shows how jealous of Mrs. Ansley she was. Mrs. Slade uses a similar method that Mrs. Ansley’s great aunt, Harriet, used on her sister to get her out of the way, because “they were in love with the same man---“. Harriet confessed before she

In 1878, Henry James wrote, Daisy Miller, a novella about a young American girl and her travels in Europe. Daisy Miller is a complex short story with many underlying themes such as appearance versus reality, knowledge versus innocence, outward action versus inward meditation, and Nature versus urbanity. In this short story, one is left to judge whether Daisy Miller, the main character of the story, is “a pretty American flirt” or a misunderstood, modern young woman. By probing into the complexities and contradictions of Daisy’s character, it is obvious that Ms. Miller is merely a misunderstood young woman.

Pride and Prejudice is one of the most popular novels written by Jane Austen. This romantic novel, the story of which revolves around relationships and the difficulties of being in love, was not much of a success in Austen's own time. However, it has grown in its importance to literary critics and readerships over the last hundred years. There are many facets to the story that make reading it not only amusing but also highly interesting. The reader can learn much about the upper-class society of this age, and also gets an insight to the author's opinion about this society. Austen presents the high-society of her time from an observational point of view, ironically describing human behavior. She describes what she sees and adds her own

Septimus’s is viewed in society as a man who suffers from trauma from the war versus Clarissa, who is described and an elegant woman that loves lavish parties and hanging around her friends. Having both of the characters, Clarissa Dalloway and Septimus Smith, Virginia Wolfe presents how two different sides of society, the upper class and the middle class, can have and face very similar pressures. Each scene describing their outlooks from within Virginia’s eyes show a very similar effect on the people who dwell within themselves.