Discussion Topic
Naturalism and Realism in "Roman Fever"
Summary:
Edith Wharton's "Roman Fever" incorporates both naturalism and realism. Naturalism is evident in the characters' primal instincts, as Mrs. Slade's jealousy leads her to risk Mrs. Ansley's health, while Mrs. Ansley betrays her friend by meeting her fiancé. This reflects social Darwinist impulses. Realism is depicted through the authentic setting and details, such as the Roman restaurant and the headwaiter's interaction, emphasizing everyday scenes and the present, aligning Wharton's style with classic realism.
Apply characteristics of naturalism to "Roman Fever".
Naturalism as a literary movement moves away from the idea of a universe controlled by God in which people operate out of moral values. Instead, the genre depicts a mechanistic, Godless universe run on social Darwinist impulses. Émile Zola, the great French naturalist novelist, called people "human beasts," meaning that humans run on primal or primitive instincts more than moral principles. We can see this enacted in the behavior of both Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Slade.
Early in the story, for instance, Mrs. Ansley introduces the naturalism that will emerge more fully later. As their daughters run off, eager to be free of them, Mrs. Ansley notes that their response is not personal. It is
Not of us individually [they want to escape]. We must remember that. It's just the collective modern idea of Mothers.
Naturalism comes out more harshly through the memories of the two older women. In a...
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primitive, amoral way, the young Mrs. Slade was willing to trick Mrs. Ansley into going to the Coliseum at night. She knew her rival was delicate, and knew it was easy to catch Roman fever at the Coliseum, yet she deliberately lured her there—and Mrs. Ansley did get sick. Mrs. Slade says:
I remember how ill you were that winter.
Mrs. Slade becomes even more explicit about her motives. She knew her fiance, Delphine, was attracted to the then single Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Ansley to him. Mrs. Slade states:
I was afraid; afraid of you, of your quiet ways, your sweetness ... your ... well, I wanted you out of the way, that's all.
Showing the "beast" within the human psyche, Mrs. Slade would have gladly killed her "friend" to insure her fiance wouldn't leave her.
Mrs. Slade also attacks Mrs. Ansley verbally. Wharton uses imagery that suggests an animal pouncing on prey:
Mrs. Slade's jealousy suddenly leaped up again at the sight.
Mrs. Ansley is not much better, though she comes across as sweeter. She meets and makes love to Mr. Slade in the coliseum despite knowing that her friend is engaged to him. In this way, from a naturalist, Darwinist perspective, she preserves her—and Mr. Slade's—DNA, without caring about the betrayal of Mrs. Slade.
Unpacked this way, the story shows the savagery that lurks beneath the veneer of civilized life.
How does the setting of "Roman Fever" exemplify characteristics of realism?
The relative presence or absence of literary “realism” in the setting of Edith Wharton’s short story “Roman Fever” is an intriguing issue. The Cambridge Companion to Literature in English, edited by Iam Ousby, lists the following traits as especially typical of nineteenth-century “realistic” fiction:
- an emphasis on “representing the world as it is rather than as it ought to be, with description rather than invention”
- an emphasis on “authentic details”
- an emphasis on “the function of environment in shaping character”
- an emphasis on “the present or the recent past”
- an emphasis on presenting “everyday scenes as objectively as possible in loy-key, unrhetorical prose”
- an emphasis on “drawing its characters from all social levels”
- an emphasis on using “colloquial speech in its dialogue”
Wharton’s story opens by describing two apparently well-off American “ladies” who dine while overlooking “the lofty terrace of [a] Roman restaurant.” A headwaiter is mentioned, and, after one of the ladies tips him, the narrator reports,
The headwaiter, bowing over her gratuity, assured her that the ladies were most welcome, and would be still more so if they would condescend to remain for dinner.
Later in the story, past sickness is associated with a visit to the Roman Coliseum, but later still, this description of the present is offered:
The clear heaven overhead was emptied of all its gold. Dusk spread over it, abruptly darkening the Seven Hills. Here and there lights began to twinkle through the foliage at their feet.
The setting of the story might be described as “realistic,” then, in a number of ways: in its emphasis on the present; in the accuracy of the relatively few descriptions of the landscape; in its reference to a waiter who welcomes being tipped; and in its emphasis on description rather invention. On the other hand, the settings in this story are for the most part highly attractive; the characters are mainly upper-class; and the two women seem at least as much in control of their environments as their environments have influenced them.
Wharton’s realism, then, seems closer to the realism of Henry James than to the realism of someone like Ambrose Bierce. Little wonder, therefore, that Martin S. Day, in his two-volume History of American Literature, calls Wharton a realist influenced by “classicism.”