Human Relationship in Janus and Roman Fever - Assignment Example

Topic: - Human Relationship in Janus and Roman Fever Janus and Roman Fever are the stories which had been emerged in different era but yet there are some cultural resemblances between these stories. Roman Fever, the short story, written by Edith Wharton, was first published in Liberty Magazine in 1934, while the story Janus was first published in New Yorker magazine in May 27,1985.There is a gap of about fifty years between these two Stories, but the human tendencies, social problems and especially the human relationships are somewhat similar to each other. The foundation of both of these stories is the distinctive relationship among the characters. Both Ann and Edith have brilliantly deal with the human relationship. “Janus” is the story of a successful suburban estate agent called Andrea. Being a very clever, astute and tricky, this woman has a skill to impress her perspective customer. She always places her ceramic bowl somewhere in the house which the customer is planning to buy. The bowl has a significant role in the story. It is like one of the major characters. This story is based on the relationship between Andrea and the bowl. “It is the perfect bowl.” The first line of the story indicates the significance of the bowl in Andrea’s life. According to Andrea the bowl was “Wonderful.” The focusing character in this story is Andrea. She is the central figure but the one more important character is nobody but her bowl itself. Such unanimated character has created a peculiarity in this story which reflects the psychological mystery. As told above the bowl is an unanimated character it is important to know about this character. The title of the story, Janus is also closely related to this bowl. Janus is a Roman God of beginning and ending. There are no attractive factors in the bowl, but like God Janus this bowl has two faces. It seems a single colored from one side but if seen from another side it shows bits of geometric colors Andrea believes that this bowl is lucky and definitely bring prosperity in her business. Andrea is very much possessive, anxious and crazy for her bowl and can’t even think of parting from it. The story ends with a twist and that is the bowl is presented to Andrea by her lover and it is his remembrance. The readers in the end realize the cause of Andrea’s obsession for the bowl. Nerikar-2 Roman Fever is a story of two middle aged women and their relationship with each other. They have been the lifelong friends But their relationship is created out of circumstances and not because they like each other. Berkove, Lawrence, in the criticism called “Roman Fever’: A Malady. ”CFA Critic.56.2(1994) describe about these two ladies’ relationship with each other with the following quotation, “The central action of the story takes place in the Colosseum, a place where gladiators fought. Unbeknown to themselves, Alida and Grace continue the gladiatorial tradition. They have been relentless and unscrupulous, using their bodies, their husbands, their daughters, and their lives of lies as weapons to score on each other. In the name of love, they have been rivals for twenty-five years and sought to kill each other, one literally and the other figuratively.” The two women have been in a cold war for last twenty years. They are pretending to be the best friends but actually they are rivals of each other. At first the story seems to be very simple and somewhat dull to the readers. But as it progresses we realize the complexity of human relationship. It is a story of envy, jealousy and revenge, a very sophisticated revenge. Both Janus and Roman Fever reflect the emotions, passions and psychology of the feminine nature. The inner conflict of the characters, the insecurity which they are undergoing constantly and the spoiled relationship among the characters are shown brilliantly by the two writers. The generation is different but the problems and social circumstances still seem to be the same. When the actual story of Roman Fever develops, the readers are slowly dispelled the misconception about the fragile relationship between the two protagonists and the readers come to know that They are no more friends but envy each other and the relationship is based on jealousy. In Roman Fever Edith wants to reveal the fact of the relationship and that is we always think that we know about a particular person very deeply but how less we know about him. “I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t in the least know what they are,” said Mrs. Ansley. “And perhaps we didn’t know much more about each other.” This dialogue from the story is apt enough to understand that how little they know about each other. Mrs. Slade is implying the friendship with Mrs. Ansley but in reality their friendship is just an ostentation. In Janus. The protagonist Andrea and her husband are living together as a husband and wife. Outer intimacy is there between their relationships but they are not closed by heart. The rapport in both these relationship is lacking totally. Andrea is a successful real estate agent yet she never discloses her business tricks to her Nerikar-3 husband. She does not think it necessary to share her thoughts with him. Of course all her business strategies are closely associated with Andrea’s bowl. The more she is attached to the bowl the less she is mentally separated from her husband. Janus and Roman Fever are the best example of human psychology. The title of the story Janus itself indicates the two sided life of the protagonist. It seems to be perfect in the beginning but the readers realize afterward the complexity of her life. Andrea’s bowl also is the symbolic one. Sometime the bowl reflects the life of Andrea which has two different sides. One life which she lives with her husband. A very sophisticated and polished family life and the other life which is associated with the memories of her lover. The bowl about which she is so much possessive and anxious was the precious gift given to her by her ex- lover. Sometime this bowl plays a role of the lover of Andrea and sometimes she cherishes him like her own child. In this bowl she is looking the image of her lover as well as her never born child. Andrea and her husband are living their life together, but the ethics and sacraments of matrimonial life is not there. It is a doubt if she is really happy with her married life and if she is really faithful to her husband. There is no proximity in their relationship. Andrea prefers to stay in the memory of her unfulfilled love in the past. She gets so much afraid of perishing her favorite bowl which is the symbol of her unsuccessful love. The title Roman Fever reflects the mentality of the contemporary lifestyle which is not at all healthy. For Grace Ansley especially the Roman Fever is not just a physical disease but it reflects the secret physical passions she was having for Mr. Delphi Slade. Both these stories depict the picture of a spoiled matrimonial relationship. Rather some critics have mentioned the story as a sexual violence. Both Ann Beattie and Edith Wharton have unfolded different ridges of the feminine nature through their characters. Both of them really are the representative of their respective society. The characters are vivid and ordinary human beings. The target of both of these writers are middle or higher-middle class society in urban lifestyle. Nerikar-4 In Janus Andrea is very brilliant, cunning and professional. She is trying to create harmony between her married life and her past life with her lover. But by doing so she is losing the matrimonial harmony. Her relationship with her husband is not spoiled but at the same time it has no strong foundation. There are some common factors in the nature of her and her husband. Both of them are quiet and reflective. They are very slow in taking the decision but once taken they always remain firm to their decision. Unlike Janus, there are two protagonists in Roman Fever. Mrs. Ansley is smaller, paler, less sure of herself rather a bore person for Mrs. Slade. She thinks about Mrs. Grace Ansley as an “Old fashioned.” Slade on the other hand is darker and a high energetic brows and a small determined nose She is not a sentimental person at all. Her opinions are consistent with her personality. She assumes marriage as a prestige issue rather than a sacrament and an honest relationship. That is why she dislikes to live the life of a widow of Mr. Slade and still much fascinated by the thrilling life once she was living as a wife of Mr. Slade. Two more characters are there who represent the young generation, Barbara Ansley and Jane Slade. The same pair in the next generation. Vice versa in the nature of the previous generation in which Barbara is similar to Mrs. Slade while Jane is similar to Mrs. Ansley. Some characters, like Delpin, Aunt Harriet in Roman Fever and Andrea’s lover divulge through the nostalgic memories of the main characters in these story. Roman Fever and Janus are the excellent examples of human tendencies which affect the human relationship. Edith Wharton has focused the frivolity in concrete relationship through the story of Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Slade while Anne Beattie has highlighted depth in the abstract relationship between Andrea and the spiritless bowl. At the same time she also depicts the unsuccessful relationship between the husband and wife. It seems that Ann is somewhat parted from the reality while Edith is very more conscious about the reality. Apparently these are very simple stories but when we try to reach the depth we find that there are innumerous things which motivate us to think about these stories. On what level the human relationship can reach and what mental and psychological problems create out of such complicated relationships, all these factors are successfully described by the two authors. These are the Masterpieces in American literature and deserve high appreciation from the literary world. Read More