Roman Fever

Infobox short story |
name = Roman Fever
title_orig =
translator =
author = Edith Wharton
country = United States
language = English
series =
published_in =
publication_type =
publisher =
media_type =
pub_date = 1934
english_pub_date =
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Roman Fever" is a short story by American writer Edith Wharton. It was first published in the magazine "Liberty" in 1934, and was later included in Wharton's last short-story collection, "The World Over" [cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = "Roman Fever" by Edith Wharton | work = | publisher = | date = | url = http://www.enotes.com/roman-fever/ | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2007-11-18 ] .__NOTOC__
Robert Ward's opera "Roman Fever" which premiered in 1993 at Duke University is based on this work. [cite web
url = http://www.fanfaremag.com/content/view/26456/10237/
title = Donald Portnoy: WARD Roman Fever on ARSIS
accessdate = 2008-08-14
last = Fogel
first = Henry
date = Date|2008-06-24
publisher = Fanfare Magazine]

Plot Summary

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. Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Slade grew up in Manhattan, New York, and were friends from childhood. A romantic rivalry in their youth led Mrs. Slade to nurture feelings of jealousy and hatred against Mrs. Ansley.

In the opening pages of the story, the two women compare their daughters and reflect on each other's lives. Eventually, Mrs. Slade reveals a secret about a letter written to Mrs. Ansley on an earlier visit to Rome, many years ago. The letter was purportedly from Mrs. Slade's fiancé, Delphin, inviting Mrs. Ansley to a sex rendezvous at the Colosseum. In fact, Mrs. Slade had written the letter, in an attempt to get Mrs. Ansley out of the way of the engagement by disappointing her with Delphin's absence (and, it is implied, to get Mrs. Ansley sick with Roman Fever). Mrs. Ansley is upset at this revelation, but reveals that she was not left alone at the Colosseum—she responded to the letter, and Delphin arrived to meet her. Mrs. Slade eventually states that Mrs. Ansley ought not feel sorry for her, because "I had [Delphin] for twenty-five years" while Mrs. Ansley had "nothing but a letter he didn't write." 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.

Critical Reception

Although critics called special attention to "Roman Fever" immediately after "The World Over" was published, the story has received comparatively little critical attention since then.

Related Links

*"Daisy Miller" by Henry James

References