Roman Fever

by

Edith Wharton

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Barbara Ansley Character Analysis

The daughter of Mrs. Ansley, also called “Babs.” Her effervescent personality and slightly irreverent behavior inspire envy in Mrs. Slade, who sees herself as being similarly socially gifted and wishes that her own daughter, Jenny, would display some of Barbara’s more interesting qualities. Mrs. Slade expresses at multiple points in the story that she does not understand how two such uninteresting people as Mrs. Ansley and her husband, Horace, could have produced such a dynamic child. At the end of the story, Mrs. Ansley reveals that Barbara is really the daughter of Delphin Slade.

Barbara Ansley Quotes in Roman Fever

The Roman Fever quotes below are all either spoken by Barbara Ansley or refer to Barbara Ansley . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Competition in Female Relationships Theme Icon
).
Section 1 Quotes

As they leaned there a girlish voice echoed up gaily from the stairs leading to the court below. “Well, come along, then,” it cried, not to them but to an invisible companion, “and let’s leave the young things to their knitting … After all, we haven’t left our poor parents much else to do.”

Related Characters: Barbara Ansley (speaker), Alida Slade, Grace Ansley, Jenny Slade
Related Symbols: Knitting
Page Number: 3
Explanation and Analysis:

“Moonlight—moonlight! What a part it still plays. Do you suppose they’re as sentimental as we were?”
“I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t in the least know what they are,” said Mrs. Ansley. “And perhaps we didn’t know much more about each other.”

Related Characters: Alida Slade (speaker), Grace Ansley (speaker), Barbara Ansley , Jenny Slade
Page Number: 5-6
Explanation and Analysis:
Section 2 Quotes

“I don’t know why you should be sorry for me … After all, I had everything; I had him for twenty-five years. And you had nothing but that one letter that he didn’t write.”
Mrs. Ansley was again silent. At length she turned toward the door of the terrace. She took a step, and turned back, facing her companion.
“I had Barbara,” she said, and began to move ahead of Mrs. Slade toward the stairway.

Related Characters: Alida Slade (speaker), Grace Ansley (speaker), Delphin Slade , Barbara Ansley
Page Number: 20
Explanation and Analysis:
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Barbara Ansley Quotes in Roman Fever

The Roman Fever quotes below are all either spoken by Barbara Ansley or refer to Barbara Ansley . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Competition in Female Relationships Theme Icon
).
Section 1 Quotes

As they leaned there a girlish voice echoed up gaily from the stairs leading to the court below. “Well, come along, then,” it cried, not to them but to an invisible companion, “and let’s leave the young things to their knitting … After all, we haven’t left our poor parents much else to do.”

Related Characters: Barbara Ansley (speaker), Alida Slade, Grace Ansley, Jenny Slade
Related Symbols: Knitting
Page Number: 3
Explanation and Analysis:

“Moonlight—moonlight! What a part it still plays. Do you suppose they’re as sentimental as we were?”
“I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t in the least know what they are,” said Mrs. Ansley. “And perhaps we didn’t know much more about each other.”

Related Characters: Alida Slade (speaker), Grace Ansley (speaker), Barbara Ansley , Jenny Slade
Page Number: 5-6
Explanation and Analysis:
Section 2 Quotes

“I don’t know why you should be sorry for me … After all, I had everything; I had him for twenty-five years. And you had nothing but that one letter that he didn’t write.”
Mrs. Ansley was again silent. At length she turned toward the door of the terrace. She took a step, and turned back, facing her companion.
“I had Barbara,” she said, and began to move ahead of Mrs. Slade toward the stairway.

Related Characters: Alida Slade (speaker), Grace Ansley (speaker), Delphin Slade , Barbara Ansley
Page Number: 20
Explanation and Analysis: