Essays on Roman Fever

THE SECRET OR HIDDEN STORY WITHIN KATHERINE ANNE PORTER’S “THE JILTING OF GRANNY WEATHERALL”

According to Dictionary.com’s definition of the word ‘jilt’, it means “to reject or cast aside (a lover or sweetheart), especially abruptly or unfeelingly.” The website explained that the word ‘jilt’ originated from a word used in during the period of 1650-1660, which was another word for harlot. It adds that it is a “syncopated variant of jillet.” The Online Merriam-Webster Dictionary notes that the Scottish word ‘jillet’ means a “vexatiously flirtatious girl” or a wench. It is inferred from the meanings of the words ‘jillet’ and ‘jilt’ and the hidden narrative present within Porter’s ...

The yellow paper is a story that is usually said to be horror. This is due to the mistreatments that were accorded to the women during the period. The fact that people see the mistreatments being abnormal makes the people to refer the stories as being a horror. Gothic on the other hand is a story that combines both matters relating to romance and horror. Most of the characters in the story have the characteristics of horrors. What the stories show is that the women were taken to be the weak creatures during the period when the stories were written. They were ...

Literature Review: Henry James's Daisy Miller

Daisy Miller is a novella written by Henry James, first published in the Cornhill Magazine in the summer of 1878 and reprinted as a novella (James). The book serves as an allegory in which James contrasts the young American culture with the sophisticated European lifestyle he was well acquainted with (D. M. Biography). The question arises whether Daisy, Annie P. ‘Daisy’ Miller is an innocent victim, involved in societal expectations far above her understanding or whether she is as contemptible as her actions seem to suggest. James uses symbolism (D.M. Symbolism, Imagery & Allegory) in this carefully constructed novella to portray Daisy’ ...

I have chosen to examine four short stories whose characters are people with physical markings or mental disorders. People who have these traits are unusual and regarded as odd by "normal" people. Usually, they develop some mental powers and become able to achieve much more than people who have neither physical nor mental problems. Maybe these "marked" people achieve success because they believe in themselves, whereas, "normal", healthy people tend to be paradoxically more self-conscious which hold them back. However, they are always there to judge the challenged ones. The stories that were particularly interesting to me are: Roman ...

Language is a fundamental tool for communication of ideas. Thus, both the short stories “Roman Fever” by Edith Wharton and “The Open Boat” by Stephen Crane portray a writing technique that goes hand in hand with realism movement. This is a period that existed around 1910 to 1920, during post civil war. It was supposed to be an intense form of pragmatism, one that moved away from the middle class center of the realists and pertained more to the remains of society. The view of naturalism that classifies it as so different unit from naturalism is its ability and difference in looking ...

Edith Wharton’s two short stories “Roman Fever” and “The Fullness of Life” are two very different types of stories. Roman Fever is a realist, but fictional account of two women who have known each other from the days of the youth. “The Fullness of Life” is a transcendent, story of mythical proportions which lends itself to tracing it’s influence back to Greek and Roman mythical stories. Despite the diverging nature of the stories, both of them have similar characters in one sense. This essay analyzes the similarities of character and difference in setting, and the similarity of theme running ...

“The Awakening” was written in an age when women allow society to dictate how they should behave and feel. In one summer Edna changed from a woman voided of feelings to one overwhelmed by her feelings, so much so that she feels she could no longer live in this society.

“The Awakening” is a book written long before its time; it is a satire of the prudish New Orleans’ society of the nineteenth century. In his essay, Robert Cantwell says: “The book was banned from library circulation, and the author refused admittance to the St. Louis Arts Society. Mrs. Chopin was disgusted, ...