The Climax in Roman Fever Essay

The climax in " Roman Fever " by Edith Wharton appears at the very end of the story, however the author, she has prepaired subtly for this shocking ending by using a series of foreshadowdings and hints before reaching the climax.

At the first part of the story, the foreshadowings mostly concentrates on Mrs. Ansley. When Mrs. Slade praised the Palatine for its beauty Mrs. Ansley assented" with so slight a stress on the 'me' "and a small break in the middle of the sentence: "It always will be, to me". And then the next "undefinable stress" on "remember": "Oh, yes, I remember". It's rather easy to notice, the author has hinted the readers that Mrs. Ansley must have had an important and forgetable event in Rome. (p.430)

Then the author describes Mrs.Slade bag "as discreetly opulent looking as Mrs. Ansley's". We questioned that why Mrs.Ansley, a small, pale, easily-colored person can possess such opulent a bag which is as grand and impressive as Mrs.Slade who was depicted at the beginning of the story as a woman who is" fuller, higher in color, with a small determined nose supported by vigorous eyebrows". Whether Mrs. Ansley is a meek, gentle person? If we read carefully enough we would notice that in the opening of the story (p.429) Mrs. Ansley "drew from her handsomely mounted black handbag a twist of crimson silk ..." The crimson silk, its color, of course and obviously not suitable for a meek, womanly like her. That kind of color stands for victories and the yearn for victories. We can infer, though not much surely, that Mrs. Ansley is a kind of person who like to be the winner.

Come back to the word "discreetly", we might probably feel that these two women have tried to keep up with each others inwardly. The readers would expect to learn more about the race triggered by the jealousy between them.