Skip to main content

How does Alida Spade view her life while her husband is alive, and then afterwards in "Roman Fever" by Edith Wharton?

When Mrs. Slade was younger and her husband Delphin was still alive, every day was exciting; however, after her husband's death, she finds being Slade's widow a "dullish business."


Mrs. Slade's life now is rather dull because she no longer has "exciting and unexpected obligations," such as preparing impromptu entertainment for her husband's business colleagues and going on international trips as his spouse because he was a corporate lawyer. Now, Alida Slade seeks vicarious excitement by following the activities of her daughter as her chaperone, as does her old friend Grace Ansley. While these two women sit on the parapet looking down on the view of a Roman night that promises a full moon, they visualize each other figuratively "look[ing] through the wrong end of her little telescope."


The dramatic irony of this story lies in the misconceptions that the two women have long had about each other since they have viewed one another from the narrow optics of jealousies and resentments. In fact, Mrs. Slade has carried a resentment toward Mrs. Ansley all her life. For, when they were young, her friend Grace was one of those "exquisitely lovely" young women who incite jealousy in even their friends. This jealousy led Alida to fabricate a letter from her fiancé Delphin Slade to Grace, asking her to meet him at the Coliseum under the moonlight. Alida hoped she would wait for him alone and catch the notorious Roman fever. Then, if Grace became ill, Alida would have her out of the way until she was engaged to Delphin and "sure of him." For, she always knew that Grace was in love with Delphin.


In a final irony, Alida Slade finds her moments on the parapet with her old friend Grace Ansley anything but a "dullish business." Rather, they become a victory for the friend that Mrs. Slade has believed all these years to have been defeated. In the same Roman moonlight of years ago, Grace reveals that Delphin did come to the coliseum and, although no one ever knew, he fathered her daughter Barbara.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

etymology - Origin of the greeting "Sweet dreams".

Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are the similarities between the relationships of the characters in The Outsiders and Romeo and Juliet?

At first glance, it might appear as if the characters in  The Outsiders  by S. E. Hinton and  Romeo and Juliet  by William Shakespeare do not have much in common; however, when one isolates the core of the conflicts, it becomes clear that the relationships in both stories are rooted in rivalry and secrecy.  In both  The Outsiders  and  Romeo and Juliet , an overarching theme is rivalry. While   socioeconomic status separates the greasers from the Socs in The Outsiders , last names separates the Montagues from the Capulets, who appear to be relatively equal in terms of socioeconomic status. Due to these rivalries, there are instances of deadly interactions in both stories. In  The Outsiders , Johnny kills Bob (whether his actions were justified or not is debatable). In  Romeo and Juliet , Romeo kills Tybalt and Paris, and Tybalt kills Mercutio. These deaths have profound effects on the main characters. In Ponyboy's case, the Johnny's death and other events in the novel inspire h...
Post a Comment
Read more