1 / 8

Roman Fever Edith Wharton

Roman Fever Edith Wharton. Roman Fever Edith Wharton. The author January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937 A Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, short story writer, and designer.

matthewbridges
Download Presentation

Roman Fever Edith Wharton

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Roman FeverEdith Wharton

  2. Roman FeverEdith Wharton • The author • January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937 • A Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, short story writer, and designer. • Many of Wharton's novels are characterized by a subtle use of dramatic irony. In addition to writing several respected novels, Wharton produced a wealth of short stories and is particularly well regarded for her ghost stories.

  3. Roman FeverEdith Wharton • Major characters • The protagonists are Grace Ansley and Alida Slade, two middle-aged American women who are visiting Rome with their daughters, Barbara Ansley and Jenny Slade. The elder women grew up in Manhattan, New York, and were friends from childhood. A youthful romantic rivalry led Mrs. Slade to nurture feelings of jealousy and hatred against Mrs. Ansley.

  4. Roman FeverEdith Wharton • Plot summary • In the opening pages of the story, the two women compare their daughters and reflect on each other's lives. Mrs. Slade reveals a secret about a letter written to Mrs. Ansley on a visit to Rome many years ago. Mrs. Ansley responds, in the last sentence of the story, "I had Barbara." This implies that Barbara is an illegitimate child she had with Delphin.

  5. Roman FeverEdith Wharton • Setting • The setting of the story takes place in the afternoon, in the city of Rome. Two wealthy middle-aged widowed women are visiting Rome with their two bachelorette daughters. The exotic setting illustrates the power and class from which the women hail, but the Old Rome context, such as the Colosseum, insinuates Roman Empire-style intrigue.

  6. Roman FeverEdith Wharton • Themes • Power struggle for those in the upper classes. • Betrayal and deception: The two chief characters use subterfuge and machination in order to improve their engagement prospects as youths. • Grudges: And in their middle age, Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley introduce decades-old surprises, unexpected in characters so similar in proximity, age, and class.

  7. Roman FeverEdith Wharton • Representation of Female Relationships • Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Slade have a bittersweet relationship filled with envy, betrayal, and competition. They compare their lifelong battle for one man, Delphin Slade, and now quarrel regarding who has the more impressive daughter, both of whom, ironically, share the same father.

  8. Roman FeverEdith Wharton • Further readings • Roman Fever (1993), Robert Ward's opera at Duke University is based on this work. • Roman Fever (1996), Hungarian composer Gyula Fekete's opera premiered at Budapest's Merlin Theatre. • Daisy Miller (1878), novel by Henry James.

More Related