The Envious Role in “Roman Fever”
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 been harboring some sort of dark secret about that liaison. As the story unfolds, Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley wonder about the familiar situation they have found themselves and their daughters in while in Rome. The similarity between the two holidays has brought many of Mrs. Slade’s lingering doubts back to the surface. Mrs. Slade’s actions throughout the story are motivated by the fear of what she does not know and the fear of what she suspects to be true. In addition, Mrs. Slade’s inherent dislike of Grace, her feelings of insecurity, jealously, and their current circumstances will force her into revealing a long kept secret of her own that she hopes will reveal the truth she has sought all these years. Mrs. Slade’s peculiar behavior throughout the story is directly motivated by all of these factors.
Jealousy and envy have always played a major role in the intertwined lives of Alida Slade and Grace Ansley. The feelings of jealousy and envy date back to when Alida and Grace first met while on a holiday in Rome as younger women. As they begin to reminisce about the onset of their friendship many years ago, they realize that although they have been friends for many years, they are relative strangers. Sitting outside in silence, the two women, “who have been intimate since childhood, reflect how little they knew each other” (Wharton 1368). Slowly, the reader begins to understand that there had been a subtle, hidden competition for Alida’s fiancé, Delphin. Alida worried that
Jealousy and envy have always played a major role in the intertwined lives of Alida Slade and Grace Ansley. The feelings of jealousy and envy date back to when Alida and Grace first met while on a holiday in Rome as younger women. As they begin to reminisce about the onset of their friendship many years ago, they realize that although they have been friends for many years, they are relative strangers. Sitting outside in silence, the two women, “who have been intimate since childhood, reflect how little they knew each other” (Wharton 1368). Slowly, the reader begins to understand that there had been a subtle, hidden competition for Alida’s fiancé, Delphin. Alida worried that
Cited: Benstock, Shari. No Gifts from Chance a Biography of Edith Wharton. Austin: University of Texas, 2004. Print. Bowlby, Rachel. “‘I Had Barbara’: Women’s Ties and Wharton’s ‘Roman Fever’” Differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies 17.3 (2006): 37-51. Print. Comins, Barbara. " 'Outrageous Trap ': Envy and Jealousy in Wharton 's 'Roman Fever ' and Fitzgerald 's 'Bernice Bobs Her Hair '" Edith Wharton Review 17.1 (2001): 9-12. Print. Phelan, James. “Narrative as Rhetoric and Edith Wharton’s Roman Fever: Progression, Configuration, and the Ethics of Surprise.” A Companion to Rhetoric and Rhetorical Criticism. Ed. Walter Jost, and Wendy Olmsted. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2004. 340-353. Print. Wharton, Edith. “Roman Fever.” The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction. Ed. Ann Charters. 8th ed. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2010. 1366-1375. Print.