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Roman Fever |
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written
by justinvf / 09.06.2005 |
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Assignment |
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The disparity between appearance and motivation, central to the Wharton story, is an idea externalized masterfully by setting the narrative near the Forum. Starting just with Ansley’s accentuation of the word “me”, the reader is gradually pulled into the undercurrents of a power struggle between these two upper class women, an elaborate game of half-truths the two adroitly engaged in. Symbolizing the power play, the Forum too served as a stage on which the plutocrats of Rome constructed monuments in an apparently benevolent manner, but with the true aims of garnishing support for often corrupt claims to power; truly noble monuments with the most manipulative of intents. The conversation of the women continues on in its backhanded way, filled with jagged compliments and multilayered comments, until Slade brings up the love letter. The political game the two women are playing is rooted in only hinting at ones thoughts, therefore when the conversation shifts towards open and scathing confessions, the symbolizing locale is no longer the Forum, but rather the Coliseum. With the new venue, the women hurl the past at each other, and just as in a gladiatorial match, only one of them can end with the upper hand. The Forum served to delaminate a period of subtle aggression in the conversation, and having the conversation shift away from it at the end is just as telling as having the dialog centered around it in the beginning.
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