With such a phenomenal last line, it is no wonder Wharton’s story was and is so popular. It has attracted a great deal of critical attention as well for its astonishing narrative devices. Armine Kotin Mortimer’s insightful article on this subject offers much for contemplation. She writes that the story is like the tip of an iceberg with the massive bulk of it submerged. This is an apt comparison, for the first-time reader of the story has a great deal of work to do as they read about the events unfolding in the present and has to piece together what the women are discussing about the past. Indeed, most Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Slade, meet up with their teenaged daughters Barbara and Jenny, respectively, by chance in Rome. They were friends when they were younger, and had traveled to Rome many years before. They reminisce about their younger days. Things are pleasant enough until Mrs. Slade tells her friend that she knew that she was in love with her fiancé, Delphin Slade, and that, long ago, it was actually her that wrote a letter purporting to be from Delphin to Mrs. Ansley inviting her to a rendezvous at the ruins one night. Mrs. Ansley is sad that this cherished memory is false, and Mrs. Slade begins to gloat, but Mrs. Ansley surprises her by saying that she went, and that since she had replied to Delphin (something Mrs. Slade did not intend), Delphin showed up too. Mrs. Slade, shaken, tries to hold it over her friend that at least she had the last twenty-five years with Delphin, but Mrs. Ansley calmly says that she had Barbara.
With such a phenomenal last line, it is no wonder Wharton’s story was and is so popular. It has attracted a great deal of critical attention as well for its astonishing narrative devices. Armine Kotin Mortimer’s insightful article on this subject offers much for contemplation. She writes that the story is like the tip of an iceberg with the massive bulk of it submerged. This is an apt comparison, for the first-time reader of the story has a great deal of work to do as they read about the events unfolding in the present and has to piece together what the women are discussing about the past. Indeed, most Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Slade, meet up with their teenaged daughters Barbara and Jenny, respectively, by chance in Rome. They were friends when they were younger, and had traveled to Rome many years before. They reminisce about their younger days. Things are pleasant enough until Mrs. Slade tells her friend that she knew that she was in love with her fiancé, Delphin Slade, and that, long ago, it was actually her that wrote a letter purporting to be from Delphin to Mrs. Ansley inviting her to a rendezvous at the ruins one night. Mrs. Ansley is sad that this cherished memory is false, and Mrs. Slade begins to gloat, but Mrs. Ansley surprises her by saying that she went, and that since she had replied to Delphin (something Mrs. Slade did not intend), Delphin showed up too. Mrs. Slade, shaken, tries to hold it over her friend that at least she had the last twenty-five years with Delphin, but Mrs. Ansley calmly says that she had Barbara.
With such a phenomenal last line, it is no wonder Wharton’s story was and is so popular. It has attracted a great deal of critical attention as well for its astonishing narrative devices. Armine Kotin Mortimer’s insightful article on this subject offers much for contemplation. She writes that the story is like the tip of an iceberg with the massive bulk of it submerged. This is an apt comparison, for the first-time reader of the story has a great deal of work to do as they read about the events unfolding in the present and has to piece together what the women are discussing about the past. Indeed, most Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Slade, meet up with their teenaged daughters Barbara and Jenny, respectively, by chance in Rome. They were friends when they were younger, and had traveled to Rome many years before. They reminisce about their younger days. Things are pleasant enough until Mrs. Slade tells her friend that she knew that she was in love with her fiancé, Delphin Slade, and that, long ago, it was actually her that wrote a letter purporting to be from Delphin to Mrs. Ansley inviting her to a rendezvous at the ruins one night. Mrs. Ansley is sad that this cherished memory is false, and Mrs. Slade begins to gloat, but Mrs. Ansley surprises her by saying that she went, and that since she had replied to Delphin (something Mrs. Slade did not intend), Delphin showed up too. Mrs. Slade, shaken, tries to hold it over her friend that at least she had the last twenty-five years with Delphin, but Mrs. Ansley calmly says that she had Barbara.
With such a phenomenal last line, it is no wonder Wharton’s story was and is so popular. It has attracted a great deal of critical attention as well for its astonishing narrative devices. Armine Kotin Mortimer’s insightful article on this subject offers much for contemplation. She writes that the story is like the tip of an iceberg with the massive bulk of it submerged. This is an apt comparison, for the first-time reader of the story has a great deal of work to do as they read about the events unfolding in the present and has to piece together what the women are discussing about the past. Indeed, most
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