In social gatherings women were considered the head of the family, via social events. Women had strict social etiquette to which the upper classes had to bid by. However, there were a few occasions in which young ladies stepped outside of the social norm. Like in “Roman Fever” two women appear as social friends if not siblings forming a rivalry between them, competing for the hand of Delphin Slade. These expressions of rivalry pushed young women into secret affairs that rivals used to ruin the competitions reputation within society. The moral of the short story portrays the very rivalry between the two female characters and the use of manipulation and cruelty to each other, in order to get them out of the competition. The rivalry between sisters or sister like friends over a prospective suitor based on the short story, “Roman Fever” expresses the female family member views during the early 1900’s; these sibling spats were manipulative and dangerous in the intent to pull the other sister out of the competition based upon the master narrative of the ideal female etiquette.
According to many critics rivalry between siblings or friends during any time period, especially in small populated areas with large families, expresses the social hierarchy based on marriage to a suitable partner. The rivalry between the two friends in “Roman Fever” expresses a cycle of repetition throughout history, almost as similar as Graces family where the women collected flowers. “Roman Fever” expresses this idea through its moral conflict of manipulation surrounding the event dealing with a supposed “love letter” (Wharton, pg.517- 519) of one the girl’s fiancé to the other asking for a secret meeting between the two lovers. All of which is done by the com...
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...er 2009. Critical Response. Web. 11 March 2014.
Berkove, Lawrence. “‘Roman Fever’: A Mortal Malady.” CEA Critic. 56.2 (1994): 56-60. Edith Wharton Society. 30 September 2009. Critical Response. Web. 11 March 2014
Bowlby, Rachel. "I Had Barbara": Women's Ties And Wharton's "Roman Fever." Differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies 17.3 (2006): 37-51. Humanities International Complete. Web. 3 Apr. 2014
Edith Wharton Society. 30 September 2009. Critical Response. Web. 11 March 2014.
Wharton, Edith. “Roman Fever.” The Norton Anthology: American Literature Volume 2: 1865 to the Present. Shorter Eighth Edition. New York: W. W. Norton. 2013. 512-521.
Wouters, Cas. "Etiquette Books And Emotion Management In The 20Th Century: Part Two—The Integration Of The Sexes." Journal Of Social History 29.(1995): 325-339. Humanities Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 21 Apr. 2014.
In the book, Giovanni and Lusanna, by Gene Bucker, he discusses the scandalous actions of a Florentine woman taking a wealthy high status man to court over the legality of their marriage. Published in 1988, the book explains the legal action taken for and against Lusanna and Giovanni, the social affects placed on both persons throughout their trial, and the roles of both men and women during the time. From the long and complicated trial, it can be inferred that women’s places within Florentine society were limited compared to their male counterparts and that women’s affairs should remain in the home. In this paper, I will examine the legal and societal place of women in Florentine society during the Renaissance. Here, I will argue that women were the “merchandise” of humanity and their main objective was to produce sons.
Haney-Peritz, Janice. "Monumental Feminism and Literature 's Ancestral House: Another Look At 'The Yellow Wallpaper '." Women 's Studies 12.2 (1986): 113. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.
In contrast to the publicity spin of today’s tabloids, ‘losers attract notoriety,’ (Fear, 2008, p, 6) Roman society was no different with one’s reputation of paramount importance and continually defended. Antony and Cleopatra’s union was ammunition for Octavian and propaganda used against the couple in their pursuing battle of Actium. (Fear, 2008, p.7.)
In terms of gender ideals of medieval society, the main characters in the story are very conventional. To begin with the story meshed nicely with the social conventions that Gayle Rubin explains in Traffic of Women. Accor...
Ruskin, John. “Grotesque Renaissance.” The Stones of Venice: The Fall. 1853. New York: Garland Publishing, 1979. 112-65. Rpt. in Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism. Ed. Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1989. 21-2.
On that first fateful day, when Romulus struck down his own brother Remus, the cauldron of Rome was forged in blood and betrayal. The seeds on the Palatine hill cultured one of the most potent and stretching empires of human history. Though this civilization seemingly wielded the bolts of Zeus, they were infested with violence, vanity, and deception. Yet, one man—or seemingly “un”-man—outshone and out-graced his surroundings and everyone within it. He brought Rome several victories and rescued his beloved country from an early exodus, thus providing her a second beginning. This man was Marcus Furius Camillus, and against a logical and emotional mind, he was oft less than loved and celebrated. At times he was disregarded, insulted and even exiled—irrevocably an unwarranted method to reward Rome’s “Second Founder.” This contrast of character between hero and people was perhaps too drastic and too grand. The people were not yet ready to see Marcus Furius Camillus as a model of behavior to be emulated—to be reproduced. Hence, much of Livy’s Book 5 provides a foundation for the Roman people to imitate and assimilate a contrasting, honest, and strong behavior and temperament
Antony Kamm ~ The Romans: An Introduction Second Edition, Published in 2008, pages 47, 93
Meyerowitz, Joanne. “Beyond the Feminine Mystique: A Reassessment of Postwar Mass Culture, 1946-1958” The Journal of American History (March 1993): 1455-1482
“A women’s place is in the kitchen” is believed by a majority of male Creekview students and most of the world’s male population. Within A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, Nora, the main character, saves her husband’s life by securing a loan to get the money to take a trip to Italy without his consent. In this time period, the1800s or later, it was unheard of to do something without the husband’s consent. This is similar to the views of the relationship between men and women in Antigone by Sophocles. Antigone is about the house Laius and its curse, with Antigone, the protagonist, burying her brother, Polynices, when it was forbidden by Creon; this crime is punishable by death. She defies man law; going against everything she ever learned, being a rare person to stand up against the man dominated society. Both of these authors, Sophocles and Ibsen, show glimpses into a world that still exists into today’s society but a world that is much different with women’s capabilities, relationship towards men, and individual rights.
Haney-Peritz, Janice. "Monumental Feminism and Literature's Ancestral House: Another Look at 'The Yellow Wallpaper.'" Women's Studies 12:2 (1986): 113-128.
I am a sassy girl. The Early History of Rome: Books I-V of The History of Rome from its Foundation. Trans. Aubrey de Selincourt. Intro.
Imagine yourself, dear reader, transported to Shakespearian Verona, a bustling, peaceful city (aside from the occasional death or two), with its obligatory social classes going about agreeably (aside from the occasional brawl or two), and all people happy and successful (aside from the occasional poor wretch or two). The Verona in which Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet takes place in is made sinister by the deadly consequences than ensue from its strict, unbending society. Romeo and Juliet paints a tale about two young lovers, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, whose attempts to be together are cruelly thwarted by society. Society’s fixation on honor and disgrace, poverty-creating laws, and austere social roles all have crucial functions in causing the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.
4)Rosenstein, Nathan Stewart., and Robert Morstein-Marx. A Companion to the Roman Republic. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2006. Print.
In her younger years, Jane shows that girls do not need to follow society’s normalities through the defiance of her aunt, Mrs. Reed. As a young orphan, Jane lives with her aunt and her three children, and due to Jane’s “plain looks” and “quiet yet passionate character,” she is disliked among the entire Reed family (Gao). Her cousin, John, constantly reminds her of her social standing, calling her a “dependent” who should not “live with gentlemen’s children” like her cousins (Bronte 10). Rather than acting in accordance with her cousin, Jane, in rage of how she is treated with “miserable cruelty” (Bronte 36), Jane compares him to a “murderer...a slave driver...like the Roman emperors” (Bronte 10). Because of her refusal to submit to John Reed’s aggressiveness and accept that she is lesser than him and his family, Jane is punished for the night by her Aunt Reed. Mrs. Reed’s punishment of Jane demonstrates her part in the oppression ‘machine.’ Mrs. Reed should have understood Jane’s refusal to be docile, being a woman herself, but ...
Grant, Michael the fall of the roman empire: a reappraisal, Radnor pa, Annenberg school of