Roman Fever by Edith Wharton is an excellent example of quality literature. Wharton uses the literary devices of foreshadowing, irony, and allusion throughout the story. These are implemented to enhance the quality by aiding in unifying the theme, expanding characterization and to link back to the central purpose of the story. Foreshadowing is used early on in the story. Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Slade sit upon a restaurant terrace having lunch and conversing as most friends do. Mrs. Slade remarks that “ After all it’s [Rome] still the most beautiful view in the world.” To which Mrs. Ansley replies “It always will be, to me.” Foreshadowing that something about Rome to Grace Ansley is much more significant to her than to Alida Slade. The interesting …show more content…
The events that are foreshadowed lead up to the bombshell reveal of Barbara’s biological father. The central purpose of this story is to reveal the theme that when a person lets passion cloud their judgment a negative outcome is almost assured. This extensive use of foreshadowing aids in the designation of superior literary quality. Wharton makes excellent use of irony throughout “Roman Fever”. Irony can come in various forms throughout literature and can be described as either being situational or verbal irony. In the case of “Roman Fever”, the irony in the story is situational. Situational irony is when the outcome of an event completely goes against or contradicts the desired outcome of an event. The situational irony comes with Grace Ansley and the night she went out to meet Alida Slade’s fiance. In a twist of fate and events, Ms. Slade feared her fiance, Delphin, being attracted to her best friend, Grace Ansley, so in attempts to see if Grace were to accept Delphin’s feelings-- if he were attracted to her --Alida writes a fake love letter to Grace. In the