From the very start, you can tell that this dirt is gonna be good. The story begins with two women, Slade and Ansley, who see one another "through the wrong end of her little telescope," as the author says. It's clear that each entirely misinterprets the other. By the end of the story, we find out that: a) Slade's husband cheated on her with Ansley, b) Slade wrote the letter that set up Ansley's date with her husband, with the intention of Ansley getting sick from the cold, and c) that by doing so, Slade inadvertently arranged the conception of Barbara, Ansley's daughter that she's so envious of.
Like I said - some super high quality dirt.
When I read the story for a second time, I was amazed by the hints Wharton left for the reader. In the beginning of part II, Slade says, "I always wanted a brilliant daughter... and never quite understood why I got an angel instead," to which Ansley responds, "Babs is an angel too." This is our first hint that Barbara and Jenny (Slade's daughter) shared the same father.
The second big hint to Barbara's parentage is when Slade recounts that "...you were married to Horace Ansley two months afterward [after the affair with Slade's husband] ...As soon as you could get out of bed your mother rushed you off to Florence and married you." This is implying that Ansley's mother was in a hurry for her to get married because she was already pregnant with Barbara.
The beauty of this story is that in the beginning, it seems that Slade has all the information. She has the upper hand when she reveals to Ansley that she wrote the letter Ansley believed to be from Delphin. However, Ansley soon reveals that she in fact is the one with more information. The power dynamic slowly but very decidedly shifts from one woman to another. Because of the hints Wharton worked into her dialogue, the reader guesses what Ansley is withholding from Slade (namely, that Barbara is Delphin's daughter) before Slade ever finds out. This creates an interesting situation where Slade thinks that she is in power when both Ansley and the reader know that the opposite is true.
"Roman Fever" is ripe with irony of all sorts. Wharton creates dramatic irony when she allows the reader to guess at the secret of Barbara's parentage, although the most ironic element is the fact that Slade accidentally enabled the affair that she wanted to end and caused the conception of the girl she's so envious of.
Ansley obviously follows that age old saying: When in Rome, do it in the Colosseum.
Yeah the dynamic between the two women was so interesting to me. The fact that Wharton told the story from mostly Mrs. Slade's perspective helped create the impression that Slade was the one with the power the whole time, until the Barbara drama is revealed at the end.
ReplyDeleteAlso how Ms. Slade obsessed over how Ms. Ansley must have obviously obsessed over the letter and affair for her whole life, when in reality it really was just Ms. Slade obsessing over it alone.
ReplyDeleteAlso how Ms. Slade obsessed over how Ms. Ansley must have obviously obsessed over the letter and affair for her whole life, when in reality it really was just Ms. Slade obsessing over it alone.
ReplyDelete