The Expatriates in Paris

The 1920s brought a significant influx of American artists and writers to the city of Paris, France (UNC Library). Unlike the many Americans who travel to Europe for a short vacation, these were there to stay. Some only lived in Paris for a few months, and some lived there for years (UNC Library). Although many other major cities in Europe were inhabited by these expatriates as well, Paris seemed to have the largest number of them. The appeal of Paris is obvious to anyone who has ever heard anything about its attractions, beauty, and apparent differences from American culture. These aspects, along with others, brought many of history’s most important authors to the City of Lights.
Some writers put themselves in a sort of self-exile from America because of prosecution, in one form or another (UNC Library). Some of the exiles were those “who chose to leave a homeland they considered artistically, intellectually, politically, racially, or sexually limiting or even oppressive” (UNC Library). As is still the case today, many saw Paris as a more liberated place, where the freedom to express oneself was welcomed rather than frowned upon like it was in America at that time.
One large movement of expatriates occurred from the end of World War I to the beginning of World War II (UNC Library). This was because of those who Gertrude Stein called “the Lost Generation”. These men and women were those who had been subject to the brutality and desolation of the war. It seems as though they were trying to find an escape from the world in which they had been living during World War I. They wanted to be free of the constant worries of attack and death, of themselves and loved ones. Some of these writers were Sherwood Anderson, Djuna Barnes, Samuel Beckett, Kay Boyle, John Dos Passos, Lawrence Durrell, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ford Madox Ford, H. D. (Hilda Doolittle), Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Henry Miller, Anaïs Nin, Ezra Pound, and Gertrude Stein (UNC Library). However, their escape from a world of terror ended when the Germans began their occupation of Paris in 1939 (UNC Library).
Many of the expatriates came to know each other and influence one another’s works. For example, Sylvia Beach, creator of Shakespeare and Company, became friends with James Joyce and published his novel (UNC Library). Ernest Hemingway had many acquaintance and friends in Europe, which shows in his novel The Sun Also Rises. Some of these writers were Gertrude Stein and F. Scott Fitzgerald (Mills). Each of these writers had an effect on one another’s works.
Once again, men and women throughout the United States (and the world, for that matter) were subjected to the hardships of war, when World War II began. Those who had lived through the first war had to survive through yet another one, and a new generation of “lost” people was born in those who were living though their first war. This brought another group of writers to Paris during the 1950s and 60s, after the end of World War II. These individuals came to be known as the “Beat Generation” (UNC Library). Among them were authors such as Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, and William Burroughs, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, James Baldwin, and Chester Himes, and Richard Wright (UNC Library). These writers sought out the same freedoms that their predecessors did. They looked toward their elder writers as role models and followed the same escape route. Although it is doubtful that many of the authors who expatriated to France actually found freedom from the memories that haunted them, they did find a way to produce many of the most memorable and important works of literature.


"Genuises Together." UNC Library. UNC, Web. 25 Sep 2009. .

Mills, Ian. "Hemingway's Paris." Discover France. 1998-9. Discover France, Web. 25 Sep 2009. .

Roman Fever

The monuments that were mentioned in Edith Wharton’s Roman Fever were the Palace of the Caesars, the Colosseum, the Forum, and the Seven Hills. Each of these was mentioned at a fitting point in the story, in order to symbolize the feelings and actions that took place at a particular moment. Each monument has a meaning, and is intended to strengthen and emphasize the seemingly small circumstances that occur in the two women’s, Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Slade, lives. Edith Wharton does this by using the grand and magnificent ancient Roman structures as the foreground for the women’s conversation.

The Palace of the Caesars was mentioned when Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Slade “visualized each other, each through the wrong end of her little telescope”. The Palace of the Caesars represents the way the women view one another because of the Roman emperors that were housed there. The emperors were viewed in many different ways throughout their reign, just as many rulers have been throughout the entirety of history. When they come to reign, many view them as good and just. However, this perspective changes over time when the people who are being reigned over really come to know the leader. Although the two women do not have a relationship similar to leaders and their people, they do come to gain different perspectives of each other as time passes.

The Colosseum is mentioned most often throughout the story, and is the most important monument. It first comes up when the women’s daughters leave them to go on a plane ride with a couple of young men they met. The Colosseum represents romance and strife because it is where Mrs. Ansley had an affair with Mrs. Slade’s husband and conceived her daughter. This is mentioned later in the story. The Colosseum is a grand amphitheatre where many gruesome deaths took place for the amusement and entertainment of others. Mrs. Slade sent Mrs. Ansley there in the hopes that she would become ill from being out in the cold, and be unable to steal her future husband from her. Mrs. Slade’s plan backfired, though, and it was she who was wronged. The Colosseum is meant to show the great significance that the women played in one another’s lives.

The next monument in the Roman Fever is The Forum. Mrs. Slade asks Mrs. Ansley if she is afraid of the cold, as it is becoming night, and she says that it is not cold where they are, but it is in the Forum. The Forum was used, in ancient Rome, as a place for political gatherings. It comes up just before Mrs. Slade confronts Mrs. Ansley about her going to meet with Mrs. Slade’s future husband at the Colosseum. It is meant to represent the gathering that the two women are having, which can almost be construed as a political one in a sense. They are not truly friends and only meet because their paths cross so often.

The last monument is the Seven Hills. It is mentioned toward the end, when the two women have revealed to each other their knowledge of the affair. The Seven Hills has religious significance in Roman history. This may be significant to the story because of the talk of marriage that occurs just before the Hills are mentioned.