Change in Roman Fever by Edith Wharton Chance (or coincidence) has an ambiguous role in the outcome of different situations; it can work in favor or against a person. As in real life, chance in literature has a considerable influence on the circumstances of the characters and the direction those circumstances lead. In two particular literary works, Roman Fever and A Small, Good Thing, chance events have serious consequences on the lives of the characters involved. In Roman Fever, old friends meet by chance and reveal disturbing secrets about the past; while in A Small, Good Thing, a boy is injured on his birthday, placing his parents in a desperate situation. Although serendipity usually seems to go unnoticed – a spontaneous purchase of candles followed by a power outage – its impact is often not so subtle. Edith Wharton, author of Roman Fever, portrays two upper-class friends; one, Mrs. Slade, fiercely jealous of the other and the other, Mrs. Ansley, pitiful towards her childhood friend. The portrayal is real in that she embodies the upper-class American wife: responsibilities include making the husband happy and entertaining his guests; An unusual day might consist of shopping, lunches, and gossiping with the other wives of other rich husbands; in essence, they waste time until the rich husband comes home from work or until he makes a request. Mrs. Slade, reflecting, felt “a certain marital pride” in being such a wife (Wharton, 84). The most striking aspect of these individuals presented by Wharton is the extent to which they will go to great lengths to undermine even a so-called friend to achieve a goal, usually the wealthier husband. And of course, with such rules of the game, it takes the whole middle of paper, the shopping center, GoodThing, while its effects were tragic; it also had some positive implications. However, the same aspect of chance is true in both cases: although its effects rarely go unnoticed, its role in events almost always goes unnoticed. If it had been anticipatory, Alida would have considered the possibility that Grace would respond to the letter and Ann would have dropped her son off at school that day. Indeed, if chance were predictable, it would lose its very nature; its swinging force would be useless and life would otherwise continue undisturbed. Works CitedCarver, Raymond. “A small and good thing.” A pocket anthology: ThirdEd. RS Gwynn. New York: Longman, 2002. 304-326. " Chance ". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth ed. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000. www.atomica.com. Wharton, Edith. “Roman fever”. A Pocket Anthology: Third Edition. 81-93.