The fine line between the fear of the unknown and what is known can sometimes become blurred. In the short story “Roman Fever”‚ Edith Wharton does just that by telling the story of two ladies who were ‘childhood friends’. Both are recently widowed‚ and encounter each other in Rome by coincidence while traveling abroad with their daughters Jenny and Barbara. One of the ladies‚ Alida Slade‚ has long suspected that her intimate friend‚ Grace Ansley was involved with her fiancé many years ago and has
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For this week’s discussion post I chose to read Edith Wharton’s "Roman Fever”. The story takes place in Rome‚ specifically at a restaurant overlooking the Palatine (one of the seven hills on which the oldest part of Rome was built) where two middle aged American women Mrs. Ansley (a well-cared for and still stunningly attractive woman)‚ and Mrs. Slade (a high colored fairly attractive woman) overhear two younger women on the street below carrying on about how they were going out to have fun with
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In most cases‚ men are the dominant figures in literary works. The women are the ones who stand behind the men and let them be the major role‚ but in the story “Roman Fever” written by Edith Wharton‚ the women are the ones who are dominant and secretive. Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ainsley are two older women who have been friends for years‚ enjoying a nice afternoon at a restaurant in Rome while their daughters are out and about having fun among the town. Unfortunately‚ these women’s husbands have died
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In Edith Wharton’s short story‚ Roman Fever‚ two women gaze down at the splendor of Rome and its ancient ruins. Once old friends‚ the evening darkness reveals the deceit that once occurred between the two women‚ twenty-five years previously‚ and how destructive passion can overrule one’s judgment. When Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Slade spot one another on the same terrace they had originally met on‚ they find that undefinable tension from betrayal is still in the afternoon light around them. Their seemingly
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People constantly compare themselves to others or compare others to themselves. This is exactly what happens in‚ “Roman Fever”‚ by Edith Wharton. The short story starts with two young women and their mothers. The young women wonder off around Rome while the two mothers sit down and chat. One mom is Alida Slade and her daughter is Jenny‚ the other mom is Grace Ansley and her daughter is Barbara or ‘Babs”. Mrs.Slade is constantly comparing people‚ at first her daughter to Mrs. Ansley then herself to
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The power struggle between two different people has long been a dynamic examined in history‚ but how about between two similar people? In the short story “Roman Fever” by Edith Wharton‚ two women who once vied for the affections of the same man both meet up in the place they once fought‚ Rome. Now the women‚ Alida Slade and Grace Ansley‚ are both widowed and are now reflecting on their lives now that they both have daughters. As jealousy carries over from Alida’s past to the present‚ the question
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In the early 1900’s the man was seen as the intellectual individual who takes care of their wife and family‚ who arrives home with the money and who was the supplier. However during the 1930’s this typical idea of the man’s role was extremely hard to keep ahold of due to The Great Depression. While the average woman worked on household dynamics and keeping the family afloat‚ the man was out looking for a job‚ or struggling to keep his current job. As a result‚ the average male came home at the end
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Edith Wharton’s Roman Fever develops plot in an interesting way. We see the present situation unfold through the internal dialogue of Alida Slade and Grace Ansley‚ and the tension that mounts between them. But Wharton also weaves in the past actions of the two friends‚ showing the years of insecurity‚ jealousy‚ and secrecy that lead to their revelations. Alida and Grace spend the entire story sitting on a restaurant terrace overlooking the hills of a Roman village. It has been years since
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1. In what ways is setting reflective in Roman Fever. 0 2. Why are there so many references to scavengers and decay in The Snow of Kilimanjaro 0 3. What is the significance of the foot-washing scene in Flowering Judas? 0 The title of the story suggests its religious symbolism. Judas‚ the betrayer‚ supposedly hanged himself from a redbud tree. In Laura’s dream‚ Eugenio offers the flowers of the Judas tree‚ which she readily devours. The dream indicates the guilt she feels as a result of her amoral
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jealously‚ an example of this is in the short story "Roman Fever" by Edith Wharton. On a vacation in Rome with their daughters‚ two recently widowed lifelong friends‚ Alida Slade and Grace Ansley‚ learn they do not know each other as well as they originally thought. From their original thoughts of one another‚ the unhappiness of their current lives‚ and from the real origins of a love letter written many years ago and its consequences‚ the women realize that their friendship is perhaps not at all
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