“Roman Fever” – Edith Wharton – A
Critical Appreciation
Edith
Wharton was born near Washington Square to wealthy and distinguished parents
rooted in colonial times. She was educated privately at home and abroad
acquiring an early command of foreign languages and an easy familiarity with
English and continental society. Her first writings were poems published
anonymously in 1880. At 23, she married Edward Wharton of Boston. They lived,
at first, in New York city, then successively in New Port, Rhode Island and
Lennox, Massachusetts, with frequent visits to Europe. In 1907 she settled
permanently in France.
Her
ethical sense, her poetic sensibility and compression were evident in her first
collection of stories – The Greater Inclination (1899). Her other works include
– The Valley of Decision (1902), The Descent of man (1904), The House of Mirth
(1905), Ethan Frome (1911), The Fruit of the Free (1915) and The Tales of Men
and Ghosts (1910). The Tales of Men and Ghosts contains some of her best
stories of the supernatural. During the war years she gave much of her energy
to the organisation of relief activities. Fighting France (1915) and The Main
(1918) are war novels. After the war Edith Wharton returned to New York. The
Age of Innocence (1920), her greatest novel, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and
has remained a landmark.
Edith
Wharton’s stories were centered upon the changing society of New York city
during her own lifetime. She viewed this genteel, formalised society with a
woman’s eye; and being primarily a satirist, she was interested in the dynamics
of the society itself.
The
setting of the short story “Roman Fever” is important, simply because it
symbolises the emotional state of the two principal characters – Mrs. Alida
Slade and Mrs. Grace Ansley. The setting revives memories for “two American
ladies of ripe but well-cared for middle age.” They have come back to Rome for
a holiday in the company of their younger daughters.
“What
different things Rome stands for to each generation of Travellers,” says Mrs.Slade.
“To our grandmothers, Roman fever, to our mothers, sentimental dangers – to our
daughters, no more dangers than the middle of Main Street.” The setting, Rome,
with its bewitching skies that turn gold in the afternoon and purple at sunset
once again affect the two matrons, latterly widowed. Sitting on the lofty
terrace of their Roman Restaurant they are visibly stirred by the “Spring
effulgence of the Roman skies”. They contemplate the view in silence with a
“diffused serenity,” each lost in her thoughts.
