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Roman Fever - Judy |
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written
by jwang3 / 10.24.2005 |
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Assignment |
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Roman history centers around the idea of triumph. The notion that the Romans were able to subjugate others not only by means of war and conquer, but also by surpassing other nations in wealth, prosperity, innovation, and culture has left the modern world fascinated by the city’s rise and fall.
At the heart of this concept of the triumph of Rome sits the Roman Forum, a visual representation of the city’s achievements. What used to be the site of assemblies, public speeches, and the fire that kept Rome burning is now a pit of wreckage. These symbols of victory that the city had built itself upon have been reduced to vague relics, leftovers from a failed experiment.
The Forum, the setting of Edith Wharton’s “Roman Fever,” parallels the central theme behind the story, that of the rise and fall of two women’s lives. Alida Slade and Grace Ansley pride themselves on their accomplishments in life, choices they’ve made, and high status in society. Like Rome, however, their triumphs are fleeting; at a single moment, all they have conquered in life is nullified.
For Alida Slade, the thought that 25 years ago she had dispelled the possibility of her husband loving another woman, prompts her to shamelessly declare the truth behind the secret love letter. Believing that after all these years of forged friendship and mock concern for Grace Ansley, she has held the power to shatter the other’s life gives her the perception that she has conquered both her husband’s wandering heart as well as her friend’s betrayal. Confident in the victory that she, like Rome, has placed on the outward representation of her successes, she is unable to anticipate the defeat she is about to experience, for Ansley is the one holding the Trump Card, the revelation of her daughter’s conception.
After their mutual confessions, both women are forced to face the consequences of the choices they have made and realize their subsequent failures. Although Ansley is able to strike the final blow, she must deal with the fact that her life has been a complete lie, from her fateful meeting with her lover, to her expedient marriage, and finally, to the birth of her daughter. Slade, whose self-sufficient conception of herself is devastated by the truth about Barbara, is similarly forced to grasp the reality of her life, “full of failures and mistakes.” Not only does she currently live a dull life without her husband, but throughout the entirety of her marriage, her husband had loved another woman before her, and had never told her.
While Wharton names the Roman Forum as an “accumulated wreckage of passion and splendor,” the readers cannot help but notice that this phrase is applicable to both Slade and Ansley. Their lives have culminated in disaster; the triumphs that they had prided themselves on have been mere illusions, built upon lies and deceit. It is only fitting, therefore, that Wharton places them at the top of the Hotel Forum, overlooking the wreckage of the center of the Roman world, a picture of triumph ending in devastation.
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