An Analysis of Love, Loss, and Society in Roman Fever by Wharton

This essay provides a detailed analysis of Edith Wharton's short story, "Roman Fever," focusing on the complex relationship between two wealthy American widows in Rome. The analysis explores the themes of love, envy, and social conflict as revealed through their conversation about a shared romantic past. The essay highlights how Wharton uses the setting of Rome to underscore the characters' internal struggles and the societal constraints they face. The conversation between Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley reveals a long-held rivalry and the revelation of a scandalous secret involving Delphin Slade. The essay concludes that the story portrays the failing love in the relationships between the women, their sorrow, and their expectations, emphasizing the differences between love and married life, and the social conflicts arising from their shared connection to the same man. The analysis is supported by references to critical works that further explore the themes and context of Wharton's story.

Running Head: ROMAN FEVER BY EDITH WHARTON
ROMAN FEVER BY EDITH WHARTON
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ROMAN FEVER BY EDITH WHARTON
Introduction:
This study will be a brief analysis regarding the text “Roman Fever” by
Edith Wharton. The analysis will be followed by a thesis statement which can
make sophisticated, original and arguable claims to form and in order to
support the development of the thesis. The short story is built upon two
wealthy American widows which depicts the time period by those two
characters in order to reveal the aspects of their life and by the incidents
related to them the society and the culture of that time period in American
literature.
Discussion:
The short story, “Roman Fever” is built upon two wealthy American
widows and their perspective of life related to the visit to Rome. The critical
point of view of the ladies’ based on the ruining condition of the ancient city
of Rome critically depicts the point of view of life related to them. The two
women are not alone in the world, both of them had have daughters and the
through them they seek out pleasures and happiness all around the world.
The talks happening in between them is finely crafted in a scene where both
the ladies are sitting casually on the top of a restaurant of Rome having the
pleasure of seeing the afternoon of the city. The chatting has a deep end point
where the story reveals the bitter truth about their relationship being with the

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same man of their choice. One of them is way much luckier to be with the
man of her life and married him, Mrs. Slade thinks in her mind at some point
of time “Would She never cure herself of envying her?”, as she knows the
bitter truth in between them is related to the man of her life and she is well
informed about the envy of Mrs. Ansley holding in heart against her (Ware
and Michele). Thus, in between the conversation she holds her breath and say
“But I oughtn't to begrudge it to you, I suppose. At the end of all these years.
After all, I had everything; I had him for twenty−five years. And you had
nothing but that one letter that he didn't write.” in order to prove that she is
the one who deserves the man between the two of them (Welch and Julia B).
The moment of the conversation took a turn when Mrs. Ansley made a
statement, “I had Barbara”, that depicts a point of time when Mrs. Ansley
and Delphin Slade were in deep loving relationship that made them fall in a
physical love that took place in a night at the Colosseum. By this statement,
Mrs. Ansley made a scandalous information regarding her married life and
relating to the life of Mrs. Slade as well. After all these incidents happening
around Mrs. Ansley, the plot created by Wharton makes clear statement
about the failing love in the relationships in between the woman. At that
point of time when both of them are incapable of having their men back, but
just to ruin their own lives with great sorrow and expectations to make the
other know how lucky she was. It always will be, to me,” assented her friend

3ROMAN FEVER BY EDITH WHARTON
Mrs. Ansley, with so slight a stress on the “me” that Mrs. Slade, though she
noticed it, wondered if it were not merely accidental, like the random
underlining of old-fashioned letter-writers. The two women in the scene are
presented with same amount of grief in their heart and the scene depicts it all
by their conversation happening related to their lover, Delphin Slade (Bruner
and Nicolette Isabel).
Mrs. Slade said that she was just thinking about “what different things
Rome stands for to each generation of travellers. To our grandmothers and
about the women’s Ties and Wharton’s “Roman Fever” depicts the condition
of their mothers and their sentimental dangers that knows “how we used to be
guarded! to our daughters, no more dangers than the middle of Main Street.”
Conclusion:
The study well depicts the analysis of the short story, “Roman Fever”
by Edith Wharton. The analysis is pointed on the conversation between the
two women present at a restaurant in Rome, reminding their relation and the
conflicts of their love life. The analysis puts forward some ideas about
difference of the love and the married life within the women and the social
conflict between the two regarding their relation with the same man of their
life. The pursuits of happiness is all around them within the daughters of their
own but they cannot seek the pleasure.

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5ROMAN FEVER BY EDITH WHARTON
References:
Bruner, Nicolette Isabel. "Gender and the Social Body in Edith Wharton's
The Fruit of the Tree." Edith Wharton Review 33.1 (2017): 30-56.
Rizzo, Steven. "Introduction to Literature I: Short Story and Novel." (2018).
Saunders, Judith P. "Darwinian literary analysis of sexuality." The evolution
of sexuality. Springer, Cham, 2015. 29-55.
Singley, Carol J. "Wharton, Edith." Oxford Research Encyclopedia of
Literature. 2017.
Ware, Michele. "Morality, Ethics, and Transgression in Edith Wharton's
Short Fiction." Ex-centric Narratives: Journal of Anglophone
Literature, Culture and Media 1 (2017): 50-61.
Welch, Julia B. "Female Art and Artisans in Edith Wharton’s the House of
Mirth, the Custom of the Country, and “Roman Fever”." (2017).