Comparison and Contrast of Roman Fever - Essay Sample

Introduction

'Roman Fever,' a short story by Edith Wharton, is about two American women Mrs. Grace Ansley and Mrs. Alida Slade, who have known each other for a long-time. They grew up during cholera, malaria, and the roman fever period. Both women are windows and met at Rome while on holiday and decided to catch up for lunch in a restaurant facing the Colosseum, which lasted up to dinner while their daughters experienced the city life (Wharton, 2015). During the meal, it was evidenced that several uncovered deep secrets and truths that ultimately exposed the ladies to unexpected changes in life. Mrs. Slade is an extreme character in that most of the story is seen at her perspective.

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Additionally, Mrs. Slade appears to be jealous and manipulative towards Mrs. Ansley and tries to hurt her throughout the story (Wharton, 2015). They were both in love with the same man, but Mrs. Slade married him. Generally, the story is about women living an unhappy life full of secrets and lies while trying to compete with each other. It shows how women advise their daughters while using their past lives. Hence, this essay will discuss the contrast and the comparisons of the two ladies in the story.

Similarities

In comparison to the two ladies, they both were involved with the same man. Alida was married to him while Grace had an affair with him “... they were in love with the same man” (Wharton, 2015, p. 45). Both ladies are widows from high society in New York. They both lost their partners almost at the same period, leaving them with one daughter. The two women have been friends from their childhood, since they met at Rome.

Differences

Conversely, in contrast to the two ladies' characters, Mrs. Slade is full of jealousy and resentment. The lady admitted that she was the one who wrote the letter to Mrs. Ansley because she was aware of Mrs. Ansley's love towards Delphin. Mrs. Slade informed her friend that “I hated you... I was aware that you were in love with Delphin and I was afraid”, which showed that she was impulsive and emotional (Wharton, 2015, p. 67).

Additionally, Alida is unhappy with her life ever since her husband Delphin, died and continues to be secretly bitter towards Grace. She tells Grace that “after all, I had all the things, had him for 25 years, yet you had nothing just a letter he never wrote”. She feels that she had a thrilling social life thru and with her husband that faded off when he died. Mrs. Slade has a lot of burning envy for Mrs. Ansley due to her daughter. She describes her child jenny as an angel yet would wish her to be unperfect and outgoing as "Babs," Mrs. Ansley's daughter. Generally, Mrs. Slade is disappointed by how her life has turned out to be.

On the other hand, Mrs. Ansley is a merciful character since she kept Barbara's father as a secret for the longest time to avoid further pain to her friend. Moreover, she was cautious and calm, preventing her from losing her temper from Mrs. Slade's insistent provocations. In the story, we see that when she was informed about the letter, "her gloves, knitting, and bag slid in a terrified heap to the floor." Grace is an emotional woman since she shed tears when she knew that Alida wrote the letter. She informed her that "I was not thinking about you. I was thinking- it was the one letter I ever received from him". During their conversation, Grace was thoughtful and silent throughout the talk while prudently making remarks at the right moments. Therefore, Mrs. Ansley is seen as a thoughtful character who minds the feelings of her friend.

According to Mrs. Slade's perception in the story, she had nothing else to do or talk about since her husband Delphin died; she went ahead to say that "I wish jenny falls in love with the wrong man." Alida thinks to herself, "would she never cure herself from envying Mrs. Ansley?” while continuously asking questions. She is sarcastic and means where she describes how Grace must have been scared when Delphin failed to show up at their secret meeting at the Colosseum. She sees Grace as “old fashioned and admires the two nullities (Grace and Horace Ansley)." Additionally, she hoped that Grace could catch a cold to prevent her from being involved with Delphin. It shows Mrs. Slade as a person and how she thinks of others.

For Mrs. Ansley, she was remorseful towards Mrs. Slade's friend because she saw that she had had an unfortunate life. She cared about her friend since she revealed Barbara's father, "I had Barbara," she began to move ahead of Alida and ends the story to avoid her figuratively, rival, and literally behavior. Mrs. Ansley thinks to herself that Alida is not as "brilliant as she thought."

The deceptions carried out by Mrs. Slade was sending a fake letter to Mrs. Ansley due to the jealous she felt and the thought that Grace was in love with Delphin. She wrote the letter intending to trick Grace into a dangerous adventure and leave her husband alone “... I was aware that you were in love with Delphin and I was afraid”. Mrs. Slade needed to inform Grace that she got Delphin after all those years. Still, she never knew that because of that letter she wrote was the reason Mrs. Ansley and Delphin met at the Colosseum that night and ended up being pregnant with the love of his life and got Barbara "I got Barbara." In the end, Mrs. Slade thinking that she had the upper hand while writing the deceitful letter discovers that Mrs. Ansley is the one with the better and bigger secret.

On the other hand, Mrs. Ansley got pregnant with Delphin’s child and kept it a secret to avoid bringing more pain to her friend Alida. Although the decision seemed ethical and considerate to some extent, the two are later involved in altercations, due to the effects of jealousy, and hatred. It caused more jealousy from Alida when she found out about Barbara, which led to Alida spilling out many secrets that made Grace uncomfortable and tried to avoid Alida's eye contact.

In the story, Mrs. Slade is seen as deceitful and conniving for several reasons. Firstly, she confesses to sending a letter to Grace due to jealousy because she was aware that Grace was in love with Delphin, "I was aware that you were in love with Delphin, and I was afraid." Alida hoped that Grace could contract the fever so that she can be out of their lives. Due to Mrs. Slade's envy towards Grace, she wanted to rub it in her face that she got Delphin at the end “... after all, I had all the things, had him for 25 years”.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the story shows two characters who shared several things in the aspects of their lives, yet they contain noticeable differences in their personalities. Mrs. Slade is a bitter woman who envies Grace and wishes to have a daughter like hers. All her deeds in the past were ways of making Grace disappear. The deceit made his husband and Grace unite and got a baby. On the other hand, Grace is a secretive and thoughtful woman. The two ladies, even though they appear as friends, they still have hate towards each other.

Reference

Wharton, E. (2015). Roman Fever, [1934]. Roman Fever and Other Stories. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/767955.Roman_Fever_and_Other_Stories