The Relevance of Edith Wharton’s Roman Fever to the Modern World

“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

2. I think that Roman's purpose was to contrast the American and Bolivian cultures and recognize that one cannot overcome the other, a person can be a part of two different lifestyles and still categorize one’s self with each. In Roman's piece she regularly relates her Bolivian side with her mom and her American side with

"Roman Fever" at first strikes the reader as the simple, rather dull story of two middle aged women sitting on a veranda. The inactiveness of the situation appears to be evident in Mrs. Slade's comment, "Well, I don't see why we shouldn't just stay here", reflecting

means Daisy’s death from Roman fever also suggests her death from sociality. Besides, by not

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

Opposites don’t always attract. In Edith Wharton’s “Roman Fever”, the two main characters seem to be almost complete opposites of each other. In fact, it can be argued that they are actually foils of each other. Foils in literature are described as “a foil is a character that shows qualities that are in contrast with the qualities of another character with the objective to highlight the traits of the other character” (LiteraryDevices Editors). Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Slade seem to at first be foils of each other, but only on the last page and in the finale act of the story do we see that Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Slade may not be so different after all.

serious threat to the community. Skeptical Roman authorities finally helped put an end to the continued persecution of unfortunate or disliked community members.

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.

Although the isolation that defines much of Jane Eyre’s life seems only alienating, it also proves to be enriching, for Jane uses that isolation as a basis to truly appreciate the love she discovers when her family is revealed to her after she gains a large inheritance from a distant relative. She would not have been able to truly find and value the love in her family if not for the despair experienced early in life, as that despair led her to her family. She uses her loneliness to gather strength when it is most needed, allowing her to totally heal from the trauma of the red-room and enjoy the eternal warmth her new loving life

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

The short story, “Roman Fever” illustrates the shocking relationship between two women, Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Slade, by a chance meeting in Rome. As the story opens the two women are sitting on the terrace of a Roman restaurant that has an astonishing view of the Colosseum and other Roman ruins. While the women sit in silence and enjoy the tranquil view from the terrace they notice their daughters down below running off to spend a romantic evening with two young men. This triggers Mrs. Slades memories of her and Mrs. Ansley’s quixotic adventures in Rome as young adults and their first encounter with “Roman fever”. Wharton uses the term Roman fever to illustrative the women’s past relationship that is embedded with destruction,

Pneumonia is an illness of the lower respiratory tract in which the lungs become inflamed and congested and alveolar spaces are filled with fluid and cells-polymorphs and lymphocytes (Mandell L.A). It is an inflammatory condition of the lung and it is one of the most serious infections, causing two million deaths annually among the young and elderly. Pneumonia is the largest killer, accounting for 28% to 34% of all child deaths below five years of age in low-income countries and is an important cause of mortality in the elderly in high-income countries (Suárez).

“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.

“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.

In this passage from the novel, Jane begins to understand what will become of her if she gives into the consuming passion that she often feels: