What does Wharton want us to consider about the ways in which we do or do not know certain people in our lives? E.g. friends, lovers, family.
In Edith Wharton’s short story, “Roman Fever”, 2 old friends Grace Ansley and Alida Slade meet up for a lunch at a restaurant and reminisce about their past. They discuss a previous trip to Rome where Alida had wrote a fake love letter from Delphin (Grace’s husband) confessing his love for Alida and requesting that they meet at the Colosseum. During that trip Grace had intended to disappoint Alida and make her lose feelings for Delphin who had confessed that that she did have feelings for Delphin. However, Grace’s plan backfired when Alida responded to the letter and Delphin answered Grace’s response and met up with her at the Colosseum. In their discussion, Grace revealed the truth that she had in fact wrote the letter pretending to be Delphin and Alida revealed the truth that Delphin responded and met up with her that night. Alida then revealed the fact that Barbara, Grace’s daughter, was biologically hers as a result of that night at Rome. This story is meant to show us that no matter how well you think you know the people around you, you will not truly know everything about them. In this case, 2 close friends had hidden the truth about the trip to Rome to each other and only confessed years after when Grace, Delphin and Barbara had lived a whole life as a family. From Grace’s perspective, her husband and friend had betrayed her and left it a secret for years. This highlights how you don’t truly know the people close to you even if they’re your family or close friends.