Throughout Edith Wharton's "Roman Fever," Mrs. Alida Slade experiences the consequences of an inflated ego as she fails to fully understand her companion, Mrs. Grace Ansley. She is consumed by self-centered priorities, such as superiority, deception, and jealousy. While Slade's self-centeredness can be interpreted as purely superficial vanity, this story demonstrates that it is a deterrent to true friendship in "Roman Fever" in its entirety, rendering honesty, equality, and selflessness qualities non-existent in his relationship with Ansley. plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay A fundamental aspect of any friendship is the sense of equality and shared experience with the other individual. Despite living parallel lives, Slade's self-centeredness drives her to believe that she is actually superior to Ansley. The two “…had been close since childhood…” and “…lived across the street from each other – actually and figuratively – for years.” These two women have both experienced a privileged lifestyle in New York, love and the loss of a husband, and motherhood. Slade recognizes these similarities, but fails to attribute the similarity to equality. Instead, he constantly places himself on a high pedestal. She reflects that she "felt her unemployment [her husband's death] more than poor Grace ever could." Here it is evident that Ansley feels more self-pity than empathy for the suffering of others. She puts aside Ansley's possible pain, assuming that the change was much more harmful to her. Furthermore, in his reflection he describes his partner as "poor Grazia". In context, this phrase does not indicate sympathy or compassion, but rather takes on a condescending tone. Slade describes her as "poor" in a way that belittles Ansley and suggests that the circumstances of the death cannot be a shock to someone already living a life of disappointment. Furthermore, the assumption that Ansley leads a boring or disappointing life is one that stems from Slade's self-centered attitude of superiority. According to her, a full and happy life is one that constantly dabbles in the affairs of high society. Slade and her husband were an “exceptional couple” who often traveled “on legal business to London, Paris or Rome…”. She views her relationship with her husband as something much better than the average marriage. By using the elite phrase “exceptional” to describe him, he emphasizes the idea of ​​truly believing he is superior to most people, including Ansley. Additionally, she often references the busy, expansive life she lives as the wife of a successful lawyer. Unlike Ansley, he travels the world, mixes with people of high authority, and even receives compliments from high society people. These aspects of her life give her reason to believe that Ansley's life cannot compare to the excitement she knows and loves. In her thought process, Slade takes the similarities between her and Ansley and ignores them completely, because she is under the illusion that her lifestyle is far more superior than any other. Because this is true, at least in his mind, he fails to find true common ground with Ansley to form a deeper bond with her. Another deterrent to true friendship that Slade's self-centered attitude invokes is selfishness. A key principle to having a true friend or companion is a sense of altruism and the ability to think of others before oneself. Slade fails to grasp this concept in the story, but rather embraces his selfishness and fails to dispel his envy of Ansley. The root of his envy lies in the knowledge that Slade was in love with Ansley's boyfriend. He states that “I found out – and youI hated, I hated you. I knew you were in love with Delphin... I wanted you out of the way..." (785). This envy, or even hatred, is a major factor in the unfolding of these two women's lives. Slade, can never truly forget The jealousy and hatred he felt for Ansley after this realization fostered hardened feelings for his longtime companion. The initial jealously motivated Slade to become selfish and do everything in his power to get rid of the competition consider the outcome or consequences that Ansley may have to suffer because of her selfishness. She forges a letter to Ansley, hoping that she will go to the Coliseum at night and humiliate herself when Delphin does not meet her there as promised in the letter. She hopes that this humiliation and this failure cause Ansley to give up on Delphin and become more of a hindrance to Slade. She selfishly considers these benefits for herself, but doesn't think twice about the pain it causes Ansley. He even states: "I remember laughing to myself all that evening at the idea that you were waiting there in the dark...". He shows no remorse or regret for his childish and self-centered actions in the past, but casually reflects without sparing Ansley's feelings. The lack of shame attached to this statement further demonstrates that the selfishness Slade emits prohibits any relationship forming between her and Ansley. Slade's selfishness is not mutually exclusive in this situation. This attribute of his self-centeredness also manifests itself in his opinion of Barbara and Jenny, Grace and Alida's daughters. She doesn't appreciate her daughter Jenny, because in her opinion, Barbara, is a much more interesting person. Slade, believing himself to be superior to Ansley, also admits that he would rather be Barbara's mother. He talks about his daughter as if she has been deceived into something. She states: “I always wanted a brilliant daughter…I never quite understood why I had an angel instead.” Here he selfishly wants the kind of daughter he doesn't have, but Ansley does. Although she refers to her daughter as “an angel,” it is clear that Jenny simply does not qualify as good enough in her mother's eyes (782). Slade wants what he can't and doesn't have. His life is not satisfying unless every aspect of it is comparatively superior to Ansley's. Barbara is exciting, fresh and lively, while Jenny is dedicated, simple and boring. She thinks that, with the loss of her husband and son, she deserves a daughter who will keep her on her toes and give her a reason to show off and brag about her life. Jenny's perfection and simplicity cannot possibly live up to the vivacity of her former life in high society, while Barbara could introduce a new round of adventures to Slade. That's all he considers when he expresses his inappropriate feelings to Ansley. The only person Slade considers in this thought process is himself and his source of pride. Selfishness, as another aspect of egocentrism, prevents the bearer from perceiving the feelings and opinions of others. You cannot truly develop a healthy relationship without taking on altruism in an attempt to put the success and happiness of others before your own. Another aspect of selfish thinking is lies and deception in an attempt to get ahead. Honesty is a core value shared by all friends, but the selfish individual neglects honesty and replaces it with deception. Slade's dishonest behavior from his youth is clear and vivid. She admits to having forged the letter to Ansley from Delphin, but is still not redeemed in the truth. First, she had to go through a lot of trouble deceiving a supposed friend into believing that her affection for a man was reciprocated and that he wanted something more from the relationship than what had already been established. These ideas,.