James A. Bergstrom
English 339
Outline from class presentation given 2/13/02

  Edith Wharton
"Roman Fever," published in 1936 in her collection The World Over
Website of interest: Edith Wharton Society.

I.                    Quick Biography
a.      Lived 1862-1939, born during Civil War
b.      Married Teddy Wharton at 23/ divorced him 30 years later
c.      Won French Legion of Honor Award for her philanthropic work during World War I.
d.      Was first woman to receive honorary doctorate degree from Yale

Absence of emotional dialogue leads to a more powerful ending. What devices are at work then in "Roman Fever"?

II.                 Fallen/ Ruined women
                        a.      Duchess of Malfi

                               i.      Momento Mori in both stories

b.      Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter

                                                               i.      Knitting and/ or embroidery in both stories – What is the being knit, and what is being torn apart? Think of woman’s place in society and with her peers.

c.      Daisy Miller

                                                               i.      Voluntary, or willful self-ruin?

                                                             ii.      Think of Dr. Ginsberg’s comments about roman fever symbolizing forbidden love and its consequences

d.      Grace Ansley

                                                               i.      Setting in Rome with stone ruins

III.               Knitting

a.      Alice Hall Petry’s essay “A Twist of Crimson Silk: Edith Wharton’s “Roman Fever” in Studies in Short Fiction 24, no. 2 (1987 Spring): 163-166.

                                                               i.      Symbolizes Grace’s passion, sensuality, and forcefulness of character

                                                             ii.      Begins story with stereotypical matriarch scene of older woman knitting – rest of story destroys that myth

                                                            iii.      Physically, knitting an attempt to control impending stress

                                                           iv.      When knitting tumbles to floor, Grace is strong enough to do without it

b.      Silk symbol of Grace’s reputation after it tumbles onto the ground

(morality, respectability)

c.      Red silk and needles, symbolic of two hearts later to be broken?

IV.              Telescope comment

a.      Suggests a reversal of preconceptions

                                                               i.      Mrs. Slade’s thoughts about Mrs. Ansley

                                                             ii.      Mrs. Ansley’s thoughts about herself

                                                            iii.      Mrs. Ansley’s thoughts about Mrs. Slade

b.      No coincidence the ladies lived across the street from each other

c.      Physically, or geographically, what does imply about Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley’s characters? Can readers expect a reversal by the end of the story?

d.      Details come out incrementally throughout story as a telescope extends, then is abruptly shut at the end