Roman Fever

Wharton strategically manipulates the point of view in “Roman Fever,” heightening the power of the reversal in the story’s final sentence. The story is told by an omniscient narrator who provides an overview of the scene and the characters not so different from the view the women have over Rome. Although the narrator has access to the minds of both Grace and Alida, the story focuses more on the latter’s thoughts and feelings. Where the story devotes several paragraphs to the explanation of Alida’s judgments of Grace, a single paragraph conveys Grace’s feeling that Alida’s life had been “full of failures and mistakes” (753). Alida’s thoughts are freely shared with the reader, while Grace is generally viewed externally, her inner world communicated via physical reactions, like standing or looking away. Wharton’s exploitation of a limited point of view thus positions Alida as the person more fully in charge, which is then powerfully overturned by the story’s end.

The story takes place on a restaurant’s terrace, overlooking the city of Rome, between the end of the lunch service and the beginning of the dinner service. The terrace is secluded but not fully private, as restaurant employees work silently in the background.