The Institute of Marriage in Roman Fever - Essay Example

"Roman Fever" by Edith Wharton Outline Intro Critique of Traditional Female Social Roles Critique of the Institute of Marriage Impact of Widowhoodon Social Status of Women Low Morals and Values as a Result of Social Position Significance of Passion and Romance Passion and romance as Means of Story Conflict Passion and Romance as Causes of Hatred Conclusion References Edith Wharton is a novelist, short story and feminist writer who depicts truth of life speaking about social problems of women. Her specific and vivid style of writing is caused by social background, life experience and personal qualities. In the short story "Roman Fever", women characters are depicted as loving and sympathetic mothers, but Edith Wharton criticizes their traditional female social roles unveiling low morals and desire to gain public recognition at any price. Thesis "Roman Fever" depicts that role of women in the society are limited by public opinion and traditions which force women to loose their moral values and human dignity in order to gain recognition and high social appraisal. In the story, Edith Wharton criticizes the institute of marriage and the role of women as wives. The main characters of the short story are two elderly women Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley. Thorough the theme of marriage, the author shows that most women rely upon successful match in order to achieve high social position. The short story suggests something of the historical loss for women of transferring the sense of self to relationships with men. For instance, Mrs. Slade reflected "he had always regarded herself (with a certain conjugal pride) as his equal in social gifts, as contributing her full share to the making of the exceptional couple they were" (Wharton). Wharton depicts that social status plays an important role in life of both women, because high social position determine their happiness and guarantee public recognition. The character of Mrs. Ansley does not differ greatly from her friend. "Mrs. Ansley was much less articulate than her friend, and her mental portrait of Mrs. Slade was slighter" (Wharton). Both women portrayed as typical wives whose domestic role is predetermined. The theme of widowhood helps Wharton to unmask contradiction arisen in the society and criticize dependence of women upon their husbands. Wharton vividly portrays that women mean nothing as social members without their husbands. "Yes; being the Slade's widow was a dullish business after that. In living up to such a husband all her faculties had been engaged; now she had only her daughter to live up to" (Wharton). In reality, both women find themselves defeated by the social norms they have followed all their life. Wharton unveils that their society had been solid and secure up to the moment their husbands were alive. To some extent, this short story shows a parody of the happy ending when women are faced with realities of live after death of their husbands. It seems that after husbands' deaths women are excluded from social life. Wharton criticizes social statuses and positions which play a crucial role for women and unveils that women can commit any crime and play any trick upon their friends in order to secure their high position and public recognition. Wharton depicts that friendship does not exist between Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley, because their lives have been nothing more than a struggle for happiness and high social position. For instance, Mrs. Slade has hated her friend all her life because Mrs. Ansley is lovely and cleverer than she is. Many years ago Mrs. Slade betrayed her in order to secure her marriage which meant high social position. Mrs Slade recollects: "And I remember laughing to myself all that evening at the idea that you were waiting around there in the dark, dodging out of sight, listening for every sound, trying to get in" (Wharton). Wharton criticizes that only marriage can preserves the vital social values of stability, continuity and propriety. Only at the cost of brutally suppressing equally powerful individual needs women are happy, even if they loose their morals and values, personal dignity and pride. Through the character of Mrs Slade, Wharton depicts that high social position and a famous husband cannot guarantee high moral standards and self-respect, because the woman becomes obsessed with fear to loose everything she has. Low morals of the main characters are a direct result of their social roles which are limited by motherhood and domesticity. Passion and romance create a story conflict in this work. Both women idealize romance because it reminds their youth and feelings. Love helps women to recreate the past and symbolizes realization of their secret dreams. It is possible to say that passion and romance, heated by envy, forced Mrs Slade to betray her friend in order to gain high social position. "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" (Wharton). Passion and romance becomes a rattrap for Mrs Slade who wanted to hurt her best friend and humiliate her. Wealth and money symbolize stability and social recognition, while romance and love is desirable but unachievable. For Mrs. Ansley, romance means pure relations free from cupidity and social statuses. But her friend can be characterized as greedy and spoilt person who does not know what friendship is, rating only money and social status. As though to emphasize her vision of the life-denying nature of most modern existence, Wharton does not use the imitative method to portray characters through motivation and conditionality. Both women are victims of social prejudices which destroy human relations and hopes. Mrs Slade did not expect that her friend would answer the letter: "Oh, God-you answered! I never thought of your answering. . . ." (Wharton). At the end of the story, Wharton depicts that Mrs Slade is hurt even more than Mrs. Ansley she is afraid of, because Mrs. Ansley had Barbara, the most precious gift in her life. In sum, Wharton criticizes values preached by the society and depicts that the women were not brave enough to change their life. Through women eyes, Wharton depicts that both women represented in the story suffer greatly because their life is limited by social roles. These limits are put by institution of marriage and importance of social status in the society as the main markers of happiness and respect. Even passion and romance are not free from cupidity and greediness. References 1. Wharton, E. Roman Fever. Available at: http://www.geocities.com/short_stories_page/whartonromanfever.html Read More