Definitive criteria for judging the success or failure of a work of fiction are not easily agreed upon; individuals almost necessarily introduce bias into any such attempt. Only those who affect an exorbitantly refined artistic taste, however, would deny the importance of poignancy in literary pieces. To be sure, writings of dubious and fleeting merit frequently enchant the public, but there is too the occasional author who garners widespread acclaim and whose works remain deeply affecting despite the passage of time. The continued eminence of the fiction of Edith Wharton attests to her placement into such a category of authors: it is a recognition of her propensity to create poignant and, indeed, successful literature. The brevity of her "Roman Fever" allows for a brilliant display of this talent¾in it we find many of her highly celebrated qualities in the space of just a few pages. "Roman Fever" is truly outstanding: a work that exposes the gender stereotypes of its day (1936) but that moves beyond documentary to reveal something of the perennial antagonisms of human nature.

From the story's first sentence, upon the introduction of two women of "ripe but well-cared-for middle age,

Wharton's treatment of this theme is fascinating and insightful. We find that Mrs. Slade, despite her dismissal of Mrs. Ansley as "tame and estimable," chides herself for the fact that she will "never cure herself of envying her" (1118, 1121). Mrs. Ansley, furthermore, regards Alida's life as "full of failures and mistakes" (1119). Mrs. Slade has imagined for years that her letter-forging scheme successfully removed Mrs. Ansley from competition for Delphin, but we find that, in reality, in backfired upon her in the worst of all possible ways. Ultimately it is Grace Ansley, the more reserved of the two, who has the last word and who suffers the smallest defeat.

Alida Slade, the "fuller and higher in color" of the two, is outgoing and excitement loving, a classic extrovert (1117). Few social nuances escape her notice, and she always looked forward, when married, to "the impromptu entertaining of eminent colleagues from abroad" (1119). She finds life as a widow so dull that she wishes her daughter would fall in love, "with the wrong man, even," simply so "that she might have to be watched, out-maneuvered, rescued" (1119). Grace Ansley, "the smaller and paler one," on the other hand, is a much more solitary, introverted figure (1117). She is "less articulate than her friend," and her lack of overconcern for others can be seen in her "mental portrait[s]," which are "slighter, and drawn with fainter touches" than Mrs. Slade's (1119). Indeed, she is sufficiently withdrawn into her thoughts that even as Mrs. Slade begins to steer the conversation to a discussion of that fateful night when Mrs. Ansley went to the Colloseum, we find that "the latter had reached a delicate point in her knitting." "One, two, three¾slip two," is her only initial comment (1120).

"Roman Fever," then, is a work deserving of

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Approximate Word count = 1219
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)