2. Please read "Woodchucks" and "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers" (627 and 628) and write about them in the usual way.
Thank you.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
due Wednesday 9/16
1. Please read pp. 113-119 (that is, to the end) of "Roman Fever." Comment as you did last night: first attempt a plot summary, or emend someone else's plot summary, until someone has gotten it right, in your opinion. If someone has, make an observation and give us your thinking about that observation.
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A summary of this story is based off the saying "Memento Mori," meaning, Remember that you must die. In part II Mrs. Slade confesses that she wrote a fake love later to Mrs. Ansley. The letter was supposed to be from Mrs. Slade's finacee because Mrs. Ansely was sneaking around with him. The letter told her to meet him outside of the Colloseum at night. Mrs. Slade thought she was able to end this secrect love affair by writing this letter. But ironically, Mrs. Ansley wrote a reply to him, and he ended up meeting her. Mrs. Slade's plan was foiled, and Mrs. Ansley left with the last comeback, pointing out that Mrs, Slade has no one, but Mrs. Ansley atleast has her daughter who she loves more than the world itself.
ReplyDeleteI would agree with everything here except the idea that the story is constructed around "Memento Mori". I would argue that the point of this story from the beginning is the value of friendship and honesty. Mrs. Slade cheated herself in the end by trying to manipulate other people because of her own insecurity. Over time, her lies and secrets she kept from Mrs. Ansley grew, which is what she left with, where Mrs. Ansley has her daughter.
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(Quite ironic that the love letter plan turned out the way it did).
I am hypothesizing that this might be the root of their distant friendship. Perhaps they needed to label each other because they could not bear each other based on their past. They could never work through their buried feelings because until now they were not revealed. Mrs. Ansley obviously resents Mrs. Slade for her past affair, and Mrs.Slde might even have resentments with Mrs. Ansley for having married the man she too had feelings for.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting how in the first "chapter," the jealousy Mrs. Slade held for her friend manifested itself into jealousy for Mrs. Ansley's daughter. Why be jealous of something like that? was something I wondered last night. And then I found out that Mrs. Slade is overall seemingly unhappy with how their respective lives played out, causing an outburst that did neither parties a bit of good. I thought, in fact, how fitting it was that it may have hurt Mrs. Slade more than Mrs. Ansley. The way that Mrs. Slade dug at Mrs Ansley on page 115, with her "subtle" questions showed her acrimonious intentions and I think it gave us an even better look into how Mrs. Slade feels towards Mrs. Ansley.
ReplyDeleteI liked how the author brought everything full circle with the "I had Barbara," quote. It shows that Mrs. Ansley knew Mrs. Slade better than she thought, and that Mrs. Slade really did resent Mrs. Ansley's life in total.
I have read.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what was said. And I too do not beleive that this story is based off the statement 'Memento Mori' which means 'Remember that you must die' and besides the fact that we are told the women are older we are never told that they are going to die soon. I also find it ironic that the love letter plan actually did end up happening. And I too feel that part of the reason why these women did these things to each other was because of how distant their friendship really was. Also from this we see that the women really may not be as close or as good of friends as they originally made themselves out to be.
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ReplyDeleteI have read.
ReplyDeleteExcuse me for asking, but I can't find in the text where Mrs. Ansley married the man Mrs. Slade loved. I know that Mrs. Slade did end up marrying Delphin, while Mrs. Ansley married a man named Horace. Did Mrs. Slade have feelings towards Mr. Ansley?
ReplyDeletei agree with daphne
ReplyDeleteI think both oh them are punished for their shelfishness. Mrs.Slade said that she wrote a faked love letter as a sort of joke, but it was the way of protecting herself from the anxiety. but using one's heart was obviously the wrong thing. And Mrs. Ansley, although she had Barbara, she couldn't have Delphine at last and she also concealed the night when she stayed with Delphine. Both of them desire to have a better life than each other, but we can't tell which one's better. Both oh them couldn't live a perfect life which was they expected. and i think the reason of that is they hadn't honest to each other and think only themselves.
ReplyDeleteThe most ironic thing is that the love letter was actually worked, even though its purpose was just a joke. from this irony, i think, their entangled life may can be prearranged thing by unvisible power like a tangled thread. and another questuion is, isn't Barbara and jenny's relationship looks similar to their mother's? i know this sounds may be go too far, but To me, two daughter's relationship suggests this interwined bound can be happen in their geveration, too.
I really think that everyone has hit the nail right on the head. The letter that Mrs. Slade wrote Mrs. Ansley explains so much about their relationship, and really proves that Mrs. Ansley knows Mrs. Slade much better than she thought she did, and Mrs. Slade doesn't know Mrs. Ansley as well as she might have hoped. I also think that it is very interesting that they refer to each other as friend, though they have known each other for a long time they are not very intimate (they used that word quite a bit as well). Even in the end the word friend is still used.
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ReplyDeleteI have read.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with all the comments above except the idea of "Memento Mori." The letter was an ironic to me also. And I could realize that why they seem not really close,now.
ReplyDeleteI accidentally got confused about the story, so ignore the comment I made previously. I find it interesting that if Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley are friends when Mrs. Slade is so obviously jealous and has always wanted to hurt Mrs. Ansley since they were young girls. The true justice lies in the fact that Mrs. Slade ends up getting hurt in the end when she finds out that Mrs. Ansley's daughter was conceived with Mrs. Slade's fiance. This is ironic because the tables have now been turned on Mrs. Slade.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone else in that Mrs. Ansley knows Mrs. Slade much more then Mrs. Slade ever knew Mrs. Ansley however, I am confused as to why the author continues to use the word friend in referring to the two women's relationship. It appears that they were never truly friends if they were trying to sabatoge each other even at an early age.First with the letter and even now when they are confessing, they seem to be getting more and more angry with each other. To me this is not a friendship but just two girls lives that were intertwined.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the story I find that Mrs. Slade based her idea of the letter on Mrs.Ansley's great aunt's story. The great aunt's sister and herself was in love with the same person and she wanted to get rid of her. The same thing happened with the friends. They were both in love with the same man. Mrs. Slade wanted to get rid of her by sending her a fake letter. In the end Mrs. Slade did not get much from this. Mrs.Slade had lost a friend. She was still not happy with her life after the letter. She was not happy with her daughter, even though she was perfect. I believe she was also not happy with herself. Mrs.Ansley still could carry on with her life with knowing the letter was false because she had her daughter.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Amber's hypothesis that this is the root of their distant friendship. I also think that this is almost a psychological experiment (maybe??) where two different women are placed side by side to be compared with.
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ReplyDeleteKatie Burch
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Everyone has made really good points. One of the themes in this story seems to be the power of jealousy in relationships. These two women are still so angry at each about things that happened so many years ago. None of the feelings ever got resolved. We can see how raw the feelings are, when Mrs. Slade reacts so strongly when she finds out that Delphin actually showed up that night after the letter. Mrs. Ansley gets the final dig at Mrs. Slade in the last line of the story when she reveals that she has Mrs. Slade’s husband’s daughter, Barbara.
ReplyDeleteI have read.
ReplyDeleteNot only have the two women been friends for many years, but they have also been rivals. Although it is evident to the reader that they have this rivalry, it is barely ever adressed nor acknowleged throughout their "friendship."
ReplyDeleteAlthough the points made thus far are extremely good, I believe this story implies a simple meaning: Through reflection, secrets are revealed.
ReplyDeleteThere are some really amazing comments. When i read this story, I felt there was a real focus on the complexity of relationships and friendships. Sometimes you don't always act in a way that represents how you feel. Mrs Slade is a fine example for this point. The repercussions for this kind of behavior can leave you worse off than if you let your thoughts known. In the end, Mrs Ansley comes out on top.
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