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Breaking News: Two Women Have The Most Insane Conversation Ever And I’m Just Supposed To Listen And Be OK With It. More at 6.

#jellicoe-lodge #roman fever #I am trying my best not to reveal anything because I want it to be a surprise for people but also I am going quitely insane

I guessed the twist. (If the final line is meant to be the twist.)

*spoiler discussion in the tags

#jellicoe-lodge #roman fever #edith wharton #kinda disappointing tbh #perhaps i guessed it too late in the game to count as really guessing it ahead of time #and i just figured it out when it was meant to be obvious #the smaller revelations leading up to it were kinda 'woah' at certain points #(though then again there were a couple that i can't quite classify as 'smaller' because these girls have some wild history between them)#but the final one was pretty telegraphed #once we established the history between the women and their husbands/daughters it was easy to guess #and i was kinda disappointed because i find stories of infidelity deeply deeply uninteresting #but the way it was presented was an excellent line #and there was good characterization #(though i can't say i like anyone here except maybe jenny)#(and the fact that they were dating aviators was cool)#(i somehow thought wharton only wrote in earlier decades?)#anyway glad to have read some wharton #and this counts for my literary world tour!#it's in italy! it counts!

I was easily frightened because I was too happy.

Edith Wharton, “Roman Fever”

#edith wharton #roman fever #quote #my post

for those who want to know how my brain works when forewarned of a Twist (aka a few notes from my reading through Roman Fever, below the cut because i did guess it one page before it was confirmed)

on the second page and they’re talking about moonlight and a full moon tonight and instantly i’m thinking “could this possibly be a werewolf story somehow?”

hm there’s the knitting again, and the talk of sentimentality...

(p 17) oh wait what if Mrs. Ansley stabs Mrs. Slade with her knitting needles now that would be a Twist (or vice versa. but either way)

(bottom of 23) wait is the twist that Mrs. Ansley’s daughter isn’t Mr. Ansley’s?

aHA

#jellicoe-lodge #roman fever

Short Story Review: Roman Fever by Edith Wharton

Hard was the first word out from my mind when I read the first paragraph of them. The author is American but they using British. I do love it and it made me read out loud. I have learned so many vocabularies that not existing before in my life. I tried to read all the words to understand better then I read again and mark the word which I did not know. It was made from a very long time ago, around 1862-1937.

Two middle-age ladies talking about their girls, “Wandering by the sea with their young men; and here we sit... and it all brings back the past a little too acutely”.

“While Mrs. Slade spoke Mrs. Ansley had risen unsteadily to her feet. Her bag, her knitting and gloves, slid in a panic-stricken heap to the ground. She looked at Mrs. Slade as though she was looking at a ghost”. “Mrs. Slade gave an unquiet laugh. ‘Yes, I was beaten there. But I oughtn’t to begrudge it to you, I suppose. At the end of all these years. After all, I had everything; I had him for 25 years. And you had nothing but that one letter that he didn’t write”.

As the story goes on, the true relationship is shown. There is betrayal and rivalry in their history too. Excellent story.

#axw #short story #review #roman fever #edith wharton

Trying to study for one (of the many) upcoming exams, but I feel so unmotivated and distracted.

#studying #studyblr #compared literatures #edith wharton #Roman fever

The Power of the Letter

Kate Chopin. Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Edith Wharton. YOU ARE ALL LITERARY GENIUSES.

All three stories reveal key plot points through the use of letters.

After sending Désirée and his son away due to his perceived notion that she was of black descent, Armand decided to have her belongings, as well as his son’s cradle, burned in a bonfire. Chopin notes that the last thing to burn was a bundle of letters addressed to Armand that Désirée sent him while they were married. As he looked upon where he found her letters, he stumbled across a letter that his mother had written his father.

“But, above all,” she wrote, “night and day, I thank the good God for having so arranged our lives that our dear Armand will never know that his mother, who adores him, belongs to the race that is cursed with the brand of slavery”

Because of this hidden letter, Armand has finally discovered the truth of his descent. He wrongly accused Désirée of being black, yet he was the one with mixed descent all along.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman also shocks us in “Turned” with the accidental swapping of letters to Mrs. Marroner and Gerta by Mr. Marroner. Mrs. Marroner opened the letter addressed to her, yet was perplexed by the content inside. She knew the letter couldn’t be to her - it was intended for Gerta. In the letter, Mr. Marroner expressed how concerned he was with Gerta’s news, and that he would take care of her when she was home (she was pregnant!!!!!). Additionally, he placed an fifty dollar bill inside the letter, in case she needed it. When Gerta finally entered the room her, Mrs. Marroner told Gerta to open the letter addressed to her.

Gerta flushed more deeply and opened her letter. It was long; it was evidently puzzling to her; it began ‘My dear wife.’ She read it slowly.

The end of the story is the best part. Despite Mrs. Marroner’s initial decision to send Gerta away, she understands through her own mature thinking that Gerta was an innocent, young girl that her husband took advantage of. When Mr. Marroner sets out to find his wife after his return, he discovers that Mrs. Marroner (Miss Wheeling) and Gerta have been raising the baby together.

In “Roman Fever,” Edith Wharton depicts the story of two women, Grace Ansley and Alida Slade, who are visiting Rome with their daughters. These women have harbored jealousy for the other over the years, based on the competition of winning over Delphin Slade in their younger days. While the two are together, Mrs. Slade reveals the truth about a letter that Mrs. Ansley received from Delphin Slade. The letter was in fact written by Mrs. Slade in an attempt to get Mrs. Ansley out of the running for winning Delphin’s heart (while also hoping that she would get sick with roman fever). After this reveal, Mrs. Ansley is upset, yet explains that she wasn’t disappointed - Delphin Slade did show up to the Colosseum as he “stated” in the letter due to Mrs. Ansley’s correspondence back to Delphin. Mrs. Slade is utterly shocked at the fact that Mrs. Ansley responded to her letter. Mrs. Slade tries to upset Mrs. Ansley more with the snarky comment: “At the end of all these years. After all, I had everything; I had him for twenty-five years. And you had nothing but that one letter that he didn't write." Mrs. Ansley could have chosen to reply with an equally snide comment, but it was not in her nature. This scene ensued as Mrs. Ansley got up to leave:

Mrs. Ansley was again silent. At length she took a step toward the door of the terrace, and turned back, facing her companion. "I had Barbara," she said, and began to move ahead of Mrs. Slade toward the stairway.

Mrs. Ansley reveals the big kicker of the story - more happened in the Colosseum than Mrs. Slade could have ever expected. Delphin Slade is the father of both of their children.

These were some of my favorite short stories that I read in my American Short Story class this spring semester. Each story is perfectly crafted to leave the reader completely awestruck at the close. Brava, ladies!

#desiree's baby #turned #roman fever #kate chopin #charlotte perkins gilman #edith wharton #surprise #women #women writers #feminism #woman power #betrayal #shock #endings

I’m literally trash for this short story, I emailed my professor to tell her how excited I was.

And, I’m writing a paper on it and I almost wrote “OH MY GOD I”M SO EXCITED” like 800 times.

#Roman Fever