Roman Fever
Text:
Roman Fever
Audio:
Year of Publication:
First published in:
Grouping:
Characters:
Mrs Alida Glade, Mrs Grace Ansley, Jenny Slade (her daughter), Barbara Ansley (her daughter), Mr. Delphin Slade, MrsHorace Ansley, 2 young Italian aviators (one is called Marchese Campolieri...)
Real characters / people referenced within the story:
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Art, literature and architecture:
Palatine, Forum, Memento Mori, Palace of the Caesars, Colosseium, Seven Hills, Baedecker
Noteworthy locations:
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Interesting terms used:
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Additional information:
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Plot:
Mrs. Horace Ansley and Mrs. Delphin Slade - both widowed - are spending a few weeks' time time in Rome with their almost grown up daughters Barbara and Jenny.
In their youth, the two women visited the Italian capital as a part of their travels in Europe. They were once friends and although they never completely lost touch, their relationship cooled down significantly. It is only by coincidence that the two meet now in Rome.
The two women used to meet at night in the coliseum and make love. Grace became not only sick, but also pregnant. Soon after that incident Grace left Rome and hastily married Horace Ansley in Florence.
It is only during the course of the conversation that Alida and the readers find this out. Alida, though shocked by this news, regains her composure quickly. Aside from the memories of that one night, Grace has nothing and she had her father Delphin for 25 years, she thinks.
"Mrs. Slade gave an unquiet laugh. "Yes; I was beaten there. But I oughtn’t to begrudge it to you, I suppose. At the end of all these years. 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.""
But this is not the end of the story.
"Mrs. Ansley was silent again. At length she turned toward the door of the terrace. She took a step, and turned back, facing her companion.
"I had Barbara", she said, and began to move ahead of Mrs. Slade toward the stairway" (24)."
Not until the very last sentence does the reader realize that Delphin Slade is the father of Mrs. Slade's daughter Barbara.
Sources,Research articles and further reading:
Petry, Alice Hall, “A Twist of Crimson Silk“, Studies in Short Fiction 24 (1987), pp.163-166.
Kornetta, Reiner, Das Korsett im Kopf, Frankfurt, New York, Peter Lang Verlag, 1995, pp. 125-129.
Elias, Norbert, Über den Prozeß der Zivilisation, Frankfurt, Suhrkamp Taschenbuch Wissenschaft 158, 2 Vol., pp. 31-319, 320, 370-372.
Image(s) used:
Leonard Campbell Taylor: Persuasaion.