Roman Fever

“From the table at which they had been lunching two American ladies of ripe but well-cared-for middle age moved across the lofty terrace of the Roman restaurant and, leaning on its parapet, looked first at each other, and then down on the outspread glories of the Palatine and the Forum, with the same expression of vague but benevolent approval.”

The opening sentence of “Roman Fever” presents its main characters as types, representatives of a particular moment in time. Affluence and self-confidence are their most salient traits, as they approve both the view of themselves and the “outspread glories” over which they look.

“‘That’s what our daughters think of us!’

Her companion gave a deprecating gesture. ‘Not of us individually. We must remember that. It’s just the collective modern idea of Mothers.’”

The external world of “Roman Fever” is vibrant and modern, one in which young women fly with dashing Italian aviators to Tarquinia for tea. This passage juxtaposes this modern world and its ideas with the 19th-century past of Grace and Alida. The aggregate concept of “Mother,” capitalized to stress its generalization, has less to do with persons than with a general sense that restraint, supervision, and oversight are outmoded and unfashionable.

“Mrs. Slade drew her lids together in retrospect; and for a few moments the two ladies, who had been intimate since childhood, reflected how little they knew each other. Each one, of course, had a label ready to attach to the other’s name.”

This passage underscores the disparity between long intimacy and knowledge as both women consider “how little they knew each other.” This lack of knowledge does not cause either to delay judgment, as each is willing to “label” the other with a simple word, a reduction that possibly reflects both long familiarity and a lack of detailed knowledge.