Compare And Contrast Roman Fever And Edith Wharton's Literature

Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson in Perrine’s Literature detail elements of literature and describe characterization as the most important among them, arguing that “it is the quality...by which a literary story stands or falls” (Perrine 165). Characterization is a description of who a character is both physically, but more importantly, internally with personality and character.

Authors can present their characters by direct presentation where the author tells us plainly either what the characters are like or has them described by another character (Perrine 162). Edith Wharton, in her short story “Roman Fever”, uses this method at one point to describe Mrs. Slade through a long explanation of her lavish past, seemingly perfect life and marriage,

It is for this reason that most authors choose to present their characters to us through indirect presentation, where the characters are described more by their words and actions than by explicit description (Perrine 162). Wharton uses this method to primarily describe the other main character in the story, Mrs. Ansley. She uses words such as ‘murmured’ and ‘shy glance’ to describe her actions along with constantly referring to her and her knitting (a symbol for her hiding and a mode of defence) after attacks made my Mrs. Slade. From these aspects we can deduce that Mrs. Ansley is a quieter, shy woman who is afraid of sticking up for herself. Because both the direct and indirect presentation that characterize the two women tell us so much about who they are, it can

Character development, like presentation, only has two options. A character is either a static character and remains the same person from the beginning to the end of the story, or a dynamic character who undergoes a “distinct change of character, personality, or outlook” (Perrine 164). This change can be either big (such as an epiphany) or small, and the weight of its significance is not important. If a character shows evidence of developing and remains changed at the end of the story, it is a dynamic character. However, the change must be “consistent with the individual’s characterization”, “sufficiently motivated by the circumstances in which the character is placed”, and the story must offer “sufficient time for the change to take place and still be believable” (Perrine 165). In other words, the change must be realistic. In “Roman Fever”, Mrs. Slade is a flat character as she does not change her personality or character, she is only emotionally stunned by what Mrs. Ansley has to say. On the other hand, Mrs. Ansley is most certainly a dynamic character. At the end of the story we see the quiet, enduring woman set down her knitting needles, work up her nerve, and in her own way defend herself and fight back against Mrs. Slade through her shockingly revelatory sentence “‘I had Barbara’” and dramatic exit (Wharton 10). This change is justified as Mrs. Ansley stays true