Literary Realism: Edith Wharton’s “Roman Fever”

In the short story, “Roman Fever,” Edith Wharton portrays a day-to-day life situation amongst two wealthy middle-aged females talking in Rome. The morals and struggle of upper-class women to succeed and stand out at that time period are revealed in the story. This story fits with the literary movement of Realism due to the realistic portrayal of typical each day life for women in society. It demonstrates hypocritical friendship, the rivalry between high-class women, betrayal among “friends”, and the superficial concepts of middle-aged ladies.

Realism’s major concern is championing the “small” lives of unexceptional human beings and representing the necessity for socioeconomic reforms outdoors the text in the “real” planet (Hirsch 676). “Roman Fever,” an example of realism, reflects the real lives of high-class women in the eighteen hundreds. It begins with two American ladies who had known every single other for a really extended time, sitting at a restaurant table. Grace Ansley and Alida Slade have been both widows. They had married Horace Ansley and Delphin Slade respectively. From the beginning of the story, it is shown that their friendship is not really sincere. Mrs. Slade believed Mrs. Ansley was old-fashioned (Wharton 874). Mrs. Ansley, on the other hand, believed that Mrs. Slade had an overall sad life. She considered it to be filled with failures and numerous blunders to the point that she pitied her (Wharton 875). Most of her life, Mrs. Slade had envied Mrs. Ansley for her sweetness. She truly hated her, and their friendship was nothing at all far more than a mask. They had each fallen in adore with the very same man. Delphin Slade was an example of a effective man in society. He was a famous cooperate lawyer and possibly preferred by many girls at the time so it is quite probable that these two close friends would fall in really like with him. It was not morally right but can come about in a true-life situation. Folks can pretend to be pals with a single an additional and be the comprehensive opposite as significantly as they could really like the exact same person. Human error is all-natural.

Another point that is noticeable in “Roman Fever” is how these two girls competed against every single other like most humans do. They every single wanted the ideal man, the perfect youngsters, and the excellent life. They judged their achievement primarily based on the particular person they married and the young children they had. Given that Mrs. Slade had married Delphin, she regarded herself to be the winner of the competition. She was proud of the false letter she sent to Mrs. Ansley in order to get her out of the way. However, she was disappointed at the reality that her daughter was not brilliant like Barbara. She described her daughter as an angel, but Barbara was an angel with rainbow wings (Wharton 877). Mrs. Slade’s feeling of triumph had lastly collapsed when she found out that her groom to be had not only met with Ms. Ansley that night but that he had also given Ms. Ansley a kid (Wharton 881). Even with these terrible revelations, none of them truly won. It does not have a happy ending, which is a a lot more realistic point of view. Life is complete of surprises, and not all of them are great.

Betrayal, for instance, is a terrible point to find out however can happen to any person anytime if they are not cautious with whom they trust. Mrs. Slade was betrayed by two individuals in the story. She was betrayed by Delphin and Grace. Ideally, it would have been much better for Mrs. Slade to leave Delphin and find a man who truly loves her and respects her. Realistically although, divorce was not nicely looked at and she had more than 1 motive to remain with him besides enjoy. It was greed and envy that led her to marry him. She wanted to hold Delphin and defeat Grace no matter what happened. Even although it might be sad, folks do marry others due to the fact of economic interests and social status. Mrs. Ansley was not innocent either. She had betrayed Mrs. Slade regardless of the connection they had. She had fallen in adore with him passionately adequate that she did not care to lose a buddy in order to have a evening with him. Individuals generally consider about their personal benefits before considering of other individuals.

1 final detail reflected in the story is the thought that women did not serve for considerably much more than “knitting” at an older age. Girls have been suppressed to marry young and have children. They were not encouraged to comply with a profession such as writing. They were supposed to stay residence and dedicate themselves to their young children or hold themselves occupied by cooking, laundry, cleaning, knitting, and any other residence activity. In other words, “Of all the crossroads in the life of a lady, becoming a mother is one particular of the most effective and most political. Raising a daughter in a society that has been largely constructed by white men and is still, for the most part, run by them and their desires is a political act” (Jones 218). Men had a lot of handle over their wives, and Edith Wharton also portrayed this in some of her writing.

Edith Wharton’s “Roman Fever” described a lot of aspects of day-to-day life not restricted to wealthy ladies, but can also be discovered in each human getting. Realism tries to show the most truthful representation of the world and “Roman Fever,” does this really nicely. It demonstrates how humans are not morally perfect and how we can make mistakes that harm ourselves and other folks as properly.