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Symbolism essay roman fever
The theme of roman fever
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Roman Fever
Roman Fever" is an outstanding example of Edith Wharton's theme to express the subtle nuances of formal upper class society that cause change underneath the pretense of stability. Wharton studied what actually made their common society tick, paying attention to unspoken signals, the histories of relationships, and seemingly coincidental parallels. All of these factors contribute to the strength and validity of the story of Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley.
"Roman Fever" at first strikes the reader as the simple, rather dull story of two middle aged women sitting on a veranda. The inactiveness of the situation appears to be evident in Mrs. Slade's comment, "Well, I don't see why we shouldn't just stay here", reflecting that she and Mrs. Ansley have nothing else to do but to sit through the afternoon, overlooking Rome (779). Nothing seems to be going on in this opening sequence, yet nothing could be farther from the truth. The two women have been involved in a battle for the past twenty years, whether they were fully aware of it or not. Subtle signs, such as Mrs. Ansley's slight stress on herself with her response, "It always will be, to me" (779), and Mrs. Slade's recollection of a joke she made years ago regarding her friend's home being raided for a speakeasy express to the reader the feeling of unrest, distrust, and dislike that exists beneath the genteel surface of the relationship of the two women (780). She thinks of Jenny Slade, the child of a couple that prided themselves on their exceptional social graces own mother as "a little boring" (781), a description she also considered for Mrs. Ansley when recalling that she "had grown bored" with Mrs. Ansley's mundane life long ago (780). Barbara Ansley, on ...
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...and now is left to feel the loneliness and emptiness that accompanies that life. This is a woman who rattles around the big house, full of possessions, and with nothing else to console her. And of course, as the story progresses to its brilliant and inevitable conclusion, Wharton skillfully continues on her path of breaking down the romantic illusion of the upper class. Roman fever may be a metaphor for transgress sexuality, for sexual rivalry, or even for the hostility among women that the social pressures of courtship catalyzes. Wharton's fiction is famous for defying unitary interpretations, and this story is no exception.
Bibliography:
Petry, Alice Hall. "A Twist of Scarlet Silk: Edith Wharton's 'Roman Fever.'" Studies in Short Fiction 24, no. 2 (1987):
Pages 163-166
“Winter lies too long in country towns; hangs on until it is stale and shabby, old and sullen” (“Brainy Quotes” 1). In Edith Wharton’s framed novel, Ethan Frome, the main protagonist encounters “lost opportunity, failed romance, and disappointed dreams” with a regretful ending (Lilburn 1). Ethan Frome lives in the isolated fictional town of Starkfield, Massachusetts with his irritable spouse, Zenobia Frome. Ever since marriage, Zenobia, also referred to as Zeena, revolves around her illness. Furthermore, she is prone to silence, rage, and querulously shouting.
Throughout “Ethan Frome,” Edith Wharton renders the idea that freedom is just out of reach from the protagonist, Ethan Frome. The presence of a doomed love affair and an unforgiving love triangle forces Ethan to choose between his duty and his personal desire. Wharton’s use of archetypes in the novella emphasizes how Ethan will make choices that will ultimately lead to his downfall. In Edith Wharton’s, “Ethan Frome.” Ethan is wedged between his duty as a husband and his desire for happiness; however, rather than choosing one or the other, Ethan’s indecisiveness makes not only himself, but Mattie and Zeena miserable.
The references to Roman figures in Jane Eyre are few but very effective. Charlotte Bronte uses allusions to Nero, Caligula, and Messalina that on the surface appear to be quite simple. However, with further investigation and analysis, it is very clear these simple references are anything but. The first Roman allusion occurs in chapter one in reference to John Reed. Comparing him to Nero and Caligula serves many functions. First, it illustrates just how cruel he is in the eyes of Jane. Second, it foreshadows numerous things about John Reed including his early demise, his frivolous spending, and his lascivious behavior. Another Roman reference occurs much later in the novel. When Rochester is describing the terrible time he went through in finding a wife, he makes a reference to Messalina. The reference alludes to the type of wife Bertha was, and insinuates she was promiscuous. The easily glanced over allusions tell a great deal about the characters they refer to.
The World Book Encyclopedia. 2000 ed. : p. 78. Griswold, Rufus Wilmot. The "Scarlet Letter" The Library of Literary Criticism of English and American Authors. Ed.
Jane Eyre has been acclaimed as one of the best gothic novels in the Victorian Era. With Bronte’s ability to make the pages come alive with mystery, tension, excitement, and a variety of other emotions. Readers are left with rich insight into the life of a strong female lead, Jane, who is obedient, impatient, and passionate as a child, but because of the emotional and physical abuse she endures, becomes brave, patient, and forgiving as an adult. She is a complex character overall but it is only because of the emotional and physical abuse she went through as a child that allowed her to become a dynamic character.
Edith Wharton was the author of The Age of Innocence, a novel published in 1920. In the book, many topics were considered, such as divorce, the empowerment of women, and the lifestyle of the wealthy. The inspiration for these motifs occurred throughout her life. Although Edith Wharton’s work was not well-received, the topics included in her writings held many truths about upper-class society in the late 1800s; therefore, Edith Wharton was influenced by her past and societal experiences.
Smiles, Samuel. "The Scarlet Letter." The Critical Temper. Ed. Martin Tucker. New York City: Frederick Ungar Publishing Company, 1962. 266.
seating and the easiest access to the Colosseum. Even though many people think that the
In her lifetime, Edith Wharton experienced the restraining nature of societal expectations against her attempts to establish her individual identity, in both her sexuality and publication of her written works. Wharton specifically has an excellent opportunity to criticize the expectations placed on American women during the Realist era because she emigrated to France and experienced a radically different system to that of America’s. This enabled her to more clearly contemplate how society limited and impacted the personal development of women without Wharton being restricted by her knowledge of solely the American social system. The struggle with societal expectations establishes itself in her novella Summer, in which Charity Royall faces the
Edith Wharton once stated that she “ . . . [doesn’t] know if [she] should care for a man who made life easy; [she] should want someone who made it interesting,” showing how Edith reflects Lily Bart, an unwed woman living in the midst of the elite society of New York, who struggles to find a suitable husband and live in the elite society that leads to her inevitable demise, in Edith's novel The House of Mirth (CITATION). Although many of the characters in the novel were in an elite and prominent society, they were possibly the most morally corrupt people since women married men for their wealth, and men expected women to constantly act proper and sophisticated. Edith Wharton’s modern novel The House of Mirth demonstrates why people in the
Bruckner, Sally. "The Scarlet Letter: Critical Evaluation." Masterplots. Ed. Frank N. Magill. Pasadena: Salem, 1996. 5847-5851.
...ed from the fever, had slowly faded away, no longer to sit contentedly by the fire knitting and smiling. Jo unearthed a great emptiness in her heart and life after her sister's death. Meg and John, and Amy and Laurie were happily married. Though Jo had resolved never to marry, still she felt an awful loneliness as she wondered what direction her life should take. While struggling with these feelings, a tutor entered her life, Professor Bhaer. He was an older, German gentleman, filled with a gentle love. People turned to him because of the compassion he so freely gave, akin to Beth's spirit. This love healed Jo. They married and opened a "school for lads, a good, happy homelike school." Jo looked after the boys while the professor taught them in the large, Plumfield home, willed to Jo by her aunt.
Before the major upheaval occurs Jane Austin gives us a glimpse of what social life, the class distinction, was like through the perspective of Ann Elliot. Ann is the second out of three daughters to Sir Walter Elliot, the proud head of the family (Austen, 2). The Elliots are an old landowning family that seems well known in the upper echelons of British society. The most important piece of background we are presented with as central to the plot of the story is that eight years prior to the setting Ann was engaged to a man she loved, Frederick Wentworth. They were soon engaged, but her family along with mother-like figure, Lady Russell, soon persuaded Ann that the match was unsuitable because Frederick Wentworth was essentially unworthy without any money or prestige (Austen, 30). This piece of background echoes exclusivity among the upper classes of Britain. In that time it would seem unacceptable for a girl like Ann with a family like hers to marry or even associate with someone not of ...
“Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte is a novel about an orphan girl growing up in a tough condition and how she becomes a mature woman with full of courage. Her life at Gateshead is really difficult, where she feels isolated and lives in fear in her childhood. Her parents are dead when she was little, her dead uncle begged his evil wife, Mrs. Reed, to take care of Jane until she becomes an adult. But Mrs. Reed does not keep her promise, no one treats Jane like their family members even treats her less than a servant. By the end of this essay it will be proven that Jane’s life at Gateshead has shaped her development as a young woman and bildungsroman.
Jane Austen’s works are characterized by their classic portrayals of love among the gentry of England. Most of Austen’s novels use the lens of romance in order to provide social commentary through both realism and irony. Austen’s first published bookThe central conflicts in both of Jane Austen’s novels Emma and Persuasion are founded on the structure of class systems and the ensuing societal differences between the gentry and the proletariat. Although Emma and Persuasion were written only a year apart, Austen’s treatment of social class systems differs greatly between the two novels, thus allowing us to trace the development of her beliefs regarding the gentry and their role in society through the analysis of Austen’s differing treatment of class systems in the Emma and Persuasion. The society depicted in Emma is based on a far more rigid social structure than that of the naval society of Persuasion, which Austen embodies through her strikingly different female protagonists, Emma Woodhouse and Anne Eliot, and their respective conflicts. In her final novel, Persuasion, Austen explores the emerging idea of a meritocracy through her portrayal of the male protagonist, Captain Wentworth. The evolution from a traditional aristocracy-based society in Emma to that of a contemporary meritocracy-based society in Persuasion embodies Austen’s own development and illustrates her subversion of almost all the social attitudes and institutions that were central to her initial novels.