Edith Wharton’s short story “Roman Fever” is written in a third person omniscient point of view. This means that the narrator, and by extension, the readers, can see and hear the characters’ speech, actions, and thoughts.

The enormous impact that point of view has on a reader's interpretation of a story is difficult to understand. For example, imagine if Wharton had opted to tell her tale from the third person limited point of view, giving us only a “fly on the wall” perspective of the characters’ actions and speech. Without access to a plethora of detail provided by the omniscient narrator through comments such as “not many months apart, both ladies lost their husbands,” the reader would be confused and unable to decipher the meaning of much of the conversation.

Similarly, a first-person narrative from, say, Mrs. Ansley’s point of view, would drastically alter a reader's understanding of the characters’ life-histories relayed by Wharton in her story. Considering these examples, I would suggest trying to consider why an author employs a certain point of view in addition to simply identifying it; you will end up with a much more interesting analysis! I hope this provides some food for thought.