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The Truth Shall Set You Free |
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written
by daw84 / 09.06.2005 |
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Assignment |
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“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” This is the hope of both Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley as they sit perched atop the Hotel Forum overlooking the Colosseum in the distance to their left, followed left to right by the Basilica di Massenzio, the Palatine Hill, and finally the Forum. The café on top of this fine hotel is peaceful and in true Roman fashion, the two have settled in for an afternoon of relaxed, quiet chatter separated from the hectic craziness of the bustling streets below. And as the shadows grow longer and longer in the Forum, the Colosseum begins to change colors in the distance, and the sun sets inviting the cold damp air to invade the indentation which once was little more than a swamp, the two rest confident in their personal freedom and superiority above the other founded upon their secrets kept hidden from the other. Each party longs to keep the information secret, but also yet mysterioiusly desires to disclose the truth to the other.
The two women’s attempt at the acquisition of freedom through the crushing of the other is mirrored by the ancient Roman Empire. In Edith Wharton’s story, both Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Slade attempt to enhance their own unstable truths by means of revenge. Mrs. Ansley does so first through her statement, “It always will be, to me," emphasizing to show hidden truth and the desire to use it to destroy the other’s disillusionment and achieve victory. Mrs. Slade later initiates the direct vengeance revealing her complete version of the truth to Mrs. Ansley. The final act of revenge is saved for Mrs. Ansley, however, in the finishing revelation of the story.
The city of Rome has its roots on the Palatine Hill, and appropriately it began with a similar desire for freedom through victory over another. Longing to found his city at this location, and knowing that it was the sole way to true freedom for himself and his followers, Romulus mercilessly killed his brother Remus to achieve his desired selfish goal. For him as well, the only thing standing in his way was the disillusioned truth which his brother possessed, that he, Remus was the rightful, divinely-appointed founder of the great city. So, to rectify the situation, he murdered him not far from the Palatine Hill, just in sight of the two women in the café.
Similarly, in the middle of the Forum lies the site where the powerful Julius Caesar met his demise as the Senate and Pompey completed their revenge, the first of a long line of emperors who brought about the bloodshed of their predecessors longing for power and control, only to find their own blood flowing down the steps of a temple in the midst of the Forum, a pattern which is clearly displayed in “Roman Fever.” The Senate attempted to free the republic from the oppressive dictatorship through vengeance.
True freedom ought to come through revelation of the truth and the ensuing justice carried out therein. From their vantage point the two women would have had an unobstructed view of the Basilica di Massenzio, the ruins of which overshadow the entire Forum. The greatest courthouse of the Roman Empire, the object of the court was to discover the truth and ensure justice to the people, although an empire founded on corruption, strife, murder, and rape was bound to have a fairly distorted view of true justice. It was also the hope of each of the convicted to enter the court to emerge victorious and free.
The longing for freedom can further be seen in the vocation of the Vestal Virgins whose temple and living quarters take up large portions of the Forum Romanum today. These honored women possessed the incredible power to pardon those who came to them begging for mercy. Ironically, even these virgins, the granters of freedom themselves, were enslaved by the requirements of their roles in Roman society.
Each of the women longs desperately for freedom they each believe will come through the revelation of the truth. For years, their relationships with each other, and in many ways with their husbands, have been just as tattered and fragile as the Baedeker of the stout lady in the dustcoat who returns to the café looking for the flimsy elastic band which previously held it together. In the story, the truth is revealed and the elastic band snaps and with it the false sense of togetherness and security. The glory of Rome was a fleeting dream. The freedom leaders such as Romulus and Julius Caesar longed for never truly came about, and although the empire was expansive and impressive, its citizens never lived in the true freedom they potentially could have had. They constructed enormous buildings that have stood the test of time, but the promises of freedom that so easily left the lips of the emperor as he spoke from i Rostri in the midst of the grand Forum never escaped the truth of the fragility of their great empire.
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