Contrasting Friendship Essays

In Edith Wharton’s short story, “Roman Fever,” Grace Ansley and Alida Slade uncover the deception involved in a past romantic rivalry; their confessed secrets alter their perceptions of each other, as well as how they view their own lives. The relationship of these two women is formed through their similarities, although those similarities do not prevent issues between them. However, the depth of their struggle is not established by interactions between the Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley, but rather by their relations with others. Folding two stories into the narrative of “Roman Fever,” Wharton explores the power dynamics and other complexities of female relationships, which are thoroughly exposed through the outside relationships of Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley.

Brocklehurst exhibits a deep strain of enmity. After hearing Mrs. Reed’s lie about Jane, Mr. Brocklehurst remembers it in his attempt to humiliate and discredit Jane at Lowood School. Calling her a “liar” and a “servant of the devil” in front of her new schoolmates and teachers point to little else than utter contempt for Jane. While her name is eventually cleared in front of the school’s population of students and teachers through the efforts of Miss Temple, the efforts of Mr. Brocklehurst to hurt Jane in her time at Lowood School point to little else but enmity.

Roman Fever is a short story written by Edith Wharton. The story is very descriptive with the settings and characters. At the beginning, the reader is introduced to two old friends, known as Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Slade (Wharton, 873). The two widows are in Rome and deal with old wounds from their younger days. The story ends with a jaw-dropping ending, because Mrs. Ansley’s daughter, Barbara, is also Mr. Slade’s daughter (Wharton, 881). Although the ending is a shock, to the audience, Edith Wharton left context clues to foreshadow that Barbara was Mr. Slade’s daughter.

Wharton establishes metaphoric connections about, Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley, to the setting through detailed symbols and representations of their social statuses, references the past and a transitional power shift. These symbols and details establish the relationship and attitudes of both Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley through the setting. Mrs. Slade is portrayed as an affluent woman, who is arrogant about her status among others. The author mentions the Colosseum many times throughout the plot and hints its relation to the conflict of the short story. Lastly, Wharton adjusts the time of day during major events and begs its purpose to be noticed.

In “Roman Fever,” Edith Wharton exemplifies between the two women a comparative and contrasting challenge where one character visions their world with more valuable qualities than the other. For example, Mrs. Slade was feeling inside her mind that Mrs. Ansley will never understand her problems and characteristics. There will always be a misunderstanding and lack of success for both women. Edith Wharton shows Mrs. Ansley empathy for Mrs. Slade who believes that her life is a depressing humiliation: “Sometimes Mrs. Ansley thought Alida Slade was disappointed; on the whole she had had a sad life” (515). The two women create a motivational goal to help achieve a perfect life and live in tranquility with no worries. Both ladies are arguing about

Edith Wharton tells a tale about two old friends who finally reveal secrets which the other did not know. “Roman Fever” takes place in Rome while the two childhood friends come across each other while on vacation with their daughters. The daughters decide to hit the town, thus leaving the old friends to talk about life. The two ladies named Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley start talking about what their daughters are possibly doing. The plot gives us the ladies true thoughts on their companion. Mrs. Slade is envious of Mrs. Ansley’s charm and beauty, and Mrs. Ansley feels pity for Mrs. Slade. Throughout the story Mrs. Slade implies what girls can do while in Rome, for example, Mrs. Slade mentions that lovers would meet at the colosseum, and Mrs.

These women both shared their love for the same guy which was Mrs. Slades husband. Both these women were just talking and one day Mrs. Slade told her friend Mrs. Ansley that she wrote the love note that told Mrs. Ansley to go to the Coliseum late into the night many years ago.

“Roman Fever” written by Edith Wharton, is a short story set in the 1920’s about two women, Alida Slade and Grace Ansley, who have been recently reunited after several years while being on vacation in Rome. When meeting one another, the two begin a conversation with reminiscing their “golden days”. As the story progresses the once seemed as a healthy friendship slowly turns into a friendship that has been disturbed by jealousy and hatred. With each event being exposed in the plot the seemingly “close” friendship, turns into a relationship that becomes infected with jealousy and hatred. Edith Wharton exposes the true feelings that both women have for one another and hidden secrets of their past by creating a contrast between the two characters

Alida Slade, when she was younger, her mother used to “guarded” (123) her throughout the city of Rome. Back when Mrs. Slade was younger, during a winter, she caught a sickness and greatly “delicate throat” (124). Mrs. Slade married Mr. Delphin Slade, a lawyer and a “big coup in Wall Street” where she was lavished with business trips to London, Paris and Rome. While being the wife of Mr. Slade, everyday brought an unexpected and exciting responsibility. When her husband died, being his widow became such a “dullish business” (121) because now she only has to live up to her daughter, Jenny, instead of her husband’s lifestyle. Mrs. Slade had to worry about her husband, and her late son who died at a young age. Now that it was only her and her daughter, which according to Mrs. Slade, Jenny did not need “excessive mothering”

“Roman Fever”, written by Edith Wharton, is a short story with an unpredictable ending. Two “middle aged” widows, Grace Ansley and Alida Slade, have come across each other unexpectedly in a Roman restaurant. The outcome of envy and jealousy on each other began with wanting to conquer one man, Delphin Slade. A conversation has begun once the daughters “leave the young things to their knitting”, later leaving the reader astonished (Wharton 1). In “Roman Fever”, the strained friendship results from the envy and jealousy of one another.

Slade’s thoughts and words as she expands on the theme of Mrs. Slade being extremely competitive and always trying to prove herself to be better than Mrs. Ansley. Soon after the two ladies’ previously mentioned exchange, Mrs. Slade reflects on their pasts together and Edith Wharton shows Mrs. Slade’s thoughts: “The idea of seeing Grace raided was so amusing that (before the move) she launched it at a woman’s lunch. It made a hit, and went the rounds—she sometimes wondered if it had crossed the street, and reached Mrs. Ansley. She hoped not, but didn't much mind” (1387). In this quote, Mrs. Slade revels in the idea of seeing Mrs. Ansley get “raided” meaning that she would have police enter her house and arrest her there. Mrs. Slade finds this thought extremely compelling, as she wants to put Mrs. Ansley in a compromising position, so that she is judged by other people and therefore beneath Mrs. Slade. Specifically, Mrs. Slade was so enamored with the thought of belittling Mrs. Ansley that she even “launched it at a woman’s lunch” wanting to share the idea with as many people as possible. By sharing her joke with other ladies in the community, she embarrassed Mrs. Ansley in front of all of them and therefore lowered her standing in the whole community. Also, Mrs. Slade’s competitive nature is shown to be even more prominent as she “didn’t much mind” if her idea had “crossed the street, and reached Mrs. Ansley” as a significant part of her wanted Mrs. Ansley to be conscious of the reason why she supposedly lost standing in the community. Mrs. Slade wanted Mrs. Ansley to be aware that Mrs. Slade got the best of her, so that she would know that Mrs. Slade was superior to her. In a continuation of Mrs. Slade’s long monologue of reflections, Wharton shows another interesting thought: “No doubt, Mrs. Slade reflected, she felt her unemployment more than poor Grace ever would.” (1387). Although being unemployed is nothing

“Roman Fever” is a realist short story that focuses on the supposed friendship between two women: Grace Ansley and Alida Slade. As the plot progresses however, it becomes abundantly clear that their relationship is more of a loosely knit sham than any sort of real bond. Edith Wharton utilizes the trivial act of knitting within her short story “Roman Fever,” in order to foreshadow the crumbling relationship between Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Slade, as well as hint at the destruction of female relationships as a whole within upper class American society.

In “Roman Fever,” Edith Wharton employs irony to manipulate the reader’s perception of a seemingly innocent conversation between two middle aged women, Alida Slade and Grace Ansley. When reconnecting in Rome, both women reminisce about their past experience there in which secrets first emerged between them. Alida, driven to reconcile the past, attempts to relieve her conscience by confessing that she betrayed and entrapped Grace with a falsified love letter. On the other hand, Grace selectively forgets any semblance of the past, but ultimately reveals her affair with Delphin twenty-five years ago, Alida’s then fiancé, and that they conceived a child, Barbara. The culmination of setting,

“What are friends for?” that phrase keep repeating as my classmates utter these words. I hear it almost every time, am I happy about it? It just seems like I am ‘forced’ to do what my classmates pleased. “What if you do not want to?” that other thought keep repeating as well but sadly no words can express them. In the end, I pick up the load and do the work. Yes, I am held and tied to the wall. What should I do about this? Are they my friends — real friends?

It's always been a great feeling to know a lifetime friend will always be there. I found one, and fortunately, it was in my early days.