Genre Study: Roman Fever by Edith Wharton Roman Fever by Edith Wharton is a typical frenemies-style story that follows two women, Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Slade as they revisit the city of Rome with their daughters, after many years away. Roman Fever also happens to fit into the category of a short story. Edgar Allan Poe defines a short story through its “unity of effect and impression” and Brander Matthews enhances this definition by saying short stories, “show one action, in one place, on one day. A short story deals with a single character, a single event, a single emotion, or a series of emotions called forth by a single situation.” Although Roman Fever doesn’t fit into every exact aspect of this definition, it certainly comes close, whilst also broadening the definition beyond Poe and Matthew’s contained characterization of the genre. Roman Fever is able to maintain a singular place and day in the present, but offset the situation with flashbacks and reflections of the past that a...