How difficult can it be to compare Edith Wharton's "Roman Fever- to Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour-? Well, once you really look into the two stories, there are many similarities. Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Mallard have very similar views on their marriages, society at the turn of the century viewed women as caretakers, and both authors' hold their readers in suspense until the very end.
Mrs. Slade, being the very outspoken woman she is, viewed her marriage to Delphin Slade as employment. Edith Wharton even states in the story " she felt her unemployment more than poor Grace ever would."" (3;http:/classiclit.about.com/library/.
bl-etexts/ewharton/bl-ewharton-roman.htm). Wharton also describes Mrs. Slade's life now as " ,being the Slade's widow was a dullish business after that."" (3). This being said after the reader has been told of Delphin Slade passing away. .
Mrs. Mallard's view on her marriage was similar to that of Mrs. Slade. Mrs. Mallard, after hearing of her husband's death, begins to reflect upon her life with him "There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature."" (19; Thinking and Writing about Literature: A Text and Anthology 2nd ed.). This statement in itself tells the reader that Mrs. Mallard thought her marriage was almost like a prison sentence, where someone else was holding her captive. Unhappy people .
complain that they are a prisoner to their job, and that point of view relates Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Mallard to each other in the sense of how they viewed their marriage. .
At the turn of the Century, society had a very stern opinion as to what role a wife played in a marriage. Their beliefs were that women were not equal to men, and that they were to be the caretaker of the family. Divorce was unheard of during this time period. Mrs. Slade however " had always regarded herself (with a certain conjugal pride) as his equal in social gifts, as contributing her full share to the making of the exceptional couple they were: but the difference after his death was irremediable.
