Ethan Frome is the eponymous tale of a man who trapped in an unhappy life and marriage, chooses as his final attempt to escape from his difficult wife to commit suicide with his love interest.The suicide attempt fails entrapping him furthermore in his desolate with the additional pain of seeing his love paralyzed and finally turning into the woman he was trying to escape from. The story was written by Edith Wharton who experienced herself a sour marriage. While the role of women in Ethan Frome’s fate is definitely important it will only come second after firstly the juxtaposition between the life of the author and the protagonist.
Edith Newbold Jones Wharton was born on the 24ft January 1862 in New York City to Georges Frederic Jones and Lucretia
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Ethan is even more similar to Edith by the way he sorely stand out from his environment. Moreover his farm location distance him from the Starksfield habitants. In the same way her childhood spent in Europe must have distanced Wharton’s from her native New-York environment.
It can be argue that the similarity do not stop at the ones mentioned previously, and that the utter loneliness and isolation Ethan suffers from could have been a reflection of her own, as a female author in a time where woman where regarded as little more than
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While morality is what bind Ethan to Zeena, while the church is the place where Ethan can see Mattie dance. The love, incestuous and adulterous story is oddly familiar to the original sin story, while it may not have been intended by Wharton, the place given to religion in the moral society of the 1800s could have logically influence Wharton’s writing.
The story being quite inconspicuously with an unnamed narrator being lost in a remote and isolated town, while it can be expected that at some point the story will focus on the narrator actions, it is soon revealed that he was merely a prop used to set the story, then introduce the main characters which are Zenobia Frome, Mattie Silver and Ethan Frome, the protagonists are all related since Mattie is Zeena’s cousin and Zeena is also Ethan’s cousin, which send us back to how Eve was made from Adam rib, Lilith was Adam’s first wife and was created from the same earth than he
Wharton’s parents raised her in aristocratic society. Her father, George supported the family working in real estate, while her mother Lucerita was a stay at home mom. Her mother was devoted to high society, and was unsupportive of her interests in writing. (Todd and Wetzel) Unlike her mother, Morton Fullerton supported Wharton. While in England, Wharton met Fullerton. As their relationship progressed, she became close friends with Katharine Fullerton. Katharine was Morton’s orphaned sister, that his family took in. (Witkosky) While Wharton was in England her husband was seeking “cures” for his depression. As portrayed in the novel, Ethan Frome’s wife Zeena was constantly seeking cures for her illness. Like Teddy, Zeena was isolated from society and kept to herself. Ethan’s wife was devoted to high society because she came from an aristocratic home. Therefore, Zeena never supported Ethan’s interest in becoming an engineer. Wharton’s mother was alike to Zeena when it came to how her life was lived. Ethan’s lover, Mattie Silver, was taken in by the Frome’s in the novel. She had no family who wanted her just like Katharine Fullerton. Mattie was raised by the Frome’s in a society she did not know how to adapt to because she was never taught how. “Mattie is attempting unsuccessfully to fit in a society she does not understand.”
Ethan exist as a product of his environment because of the situations he’s been through because of the isolation involved with Starkfield. Confinement provides a huge role in Starkfield, many of the couples in the town are with each others cousins and close relatives, this just shows the extreme isolation surrounding the entire New England town. The town of Starkfield represents an overall symbol for isolation mostly because of how the author depicts landscape and weather and the confinement of the townspeople and Ethan. The novella shows how isolation and confinement can influence a person's future goals and overall life. “I simply felt that he lived in a depth of moral isolation too remote for casual access,”(Wharton, 12) the quote shares how even though Starkfield itself is isolated, the farm Ethan lives on is even isolated from the town of Starkfield. Overall, Ethan remains isolated and continues to stay away from the majority of the town by remaining in his farm house for the better part of his
Throughout “Ethan Frome,” Edith Wharton renders the idea that freedom is just out of reach from the protagonist, Ethan Frome. The presence of a doomed love affair and an unforgiving love triangle forces Ethan to choose between his duty and his personal desire. Wharton’s use of archetypes in the novella emphasizes how Ethan will make choices that will ultimately lead to his downfall. In Edith Wharton’s, “Ethan Frome.” Ethan is wedged between his duty as a husband and his desire for happiness; however, rather than choosing one or the other, Ethan’s indecisiveness makes not only himself, but Mattie and Zeena miserable.
In the novel Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, the protagonist Ethan Frome has an unusual personality. Along with this, Ethan’s motivations seem hidden. Ethan mainly associates with his wife Zeena and his young lover Mattie. The reason his social circle is limited is because the town has shunned him. The people have isolated him due to the decisions he has made. The story begins with the new town Reverend who forms a special interest in Ethan. Furthermore, the story goes back in time to explain why the town treats Ethan the way they do.
Ethan Frome is the main character of Edith Wharton’s tragic novel. Ethan lives the bitterness of his youth’s lost opportunities, and dissatisfaction with his joyless life and empty marriage. Throughout the story Ethan is trapped by social limits and obligations to his wife. He lives an unhappy life with many responsibilities and little freedom. Ethan Frome studied science in college for a year and probably would have succeeded as an engineer or physicist had he not been summoned home to run the family farm and mill. Ethan quickly ended his schooling and went to run the family farm and mill because he feels it is his responsibility. He marries Zeena after the death of his mother, in an unsuccessful attempt to escape silence, isolation, and loneliness. Ethan also feels the responsibility to marry Zeena as a way to compensate her for giving up part of her life to nurse his mother. After marring Zeena he forgets his hope of every continuing his education and he is now forced to remain married to someone he does not truly love.
...ss for yourself because in the end, one will regret it. Ethan’s morals prevent him from leaving Starkfield to pursue and achieve his dreams. He cannot baffle the traditions of his town. After Zeena tries to "foist on him the cost of a servant", forcing Ethan to let go of Mattie, he chooses to “leave with Mattie”. However, he cannot go through with the plan because he cannot bear to leave Zeena alone with her sickness. He knows she would not be able to take care of herself and cannot afford her own medicine. It is inappropriate to leave his wife in this bad condition. Therefore Ethan chooses to live an unhappy life instead of deceive his family and friends. Wharton portrays that by following society’s standards they will lose their hope and end up living in misery. Ethan chose to embark the obstacles and in the end it ruined him to a life of unhappiness and failure.
Perhaps Edith Wharton's reason for writing Ethan Frome, was that it so vividly reflected her own dreary life. Abandoned of any love as a child from her mother and trapped in a marriage similar to that of Zeena and Ethan, Wharton found herself relying on illicit love. This illicit love was also her favorite topic of writing, which helped her to escape her own tragedies. She spent many nights in the arms of other men searching desperately for the love she believed existed, but had never felt, which is evident in all of her writings.
Ethan Frome is a popular novel written in 1911 by Edith Wharton. The plot of the novel consists of an unnamed narrator who tells the tragic tale of a poor farmer in the New England area. Ethan Frome is married to a cranky old lady, but falls in love with his wife’s cousin who helps out around the house. In the climax of the story the two in love attempt suicide to free themselves from Zeena’s control but end up handicapped for the rest of their life. Even though he isn’t the protagonist of the story the character that needs to be analyzed is the narrator. Edith Wharton uses the narrator to retell his interpretations of the story of Ethan Frome and in turn reveals his inner thoughts.
Mattie and Zeena, the two leading women characters in this novel have many differences that set them apart from each other, but also similarities that grab the reader’s interest. When they both entered Ethan’s life, they were a breath of fresh air that broke the silence in Ethan’s life. However, the crisp air that Mattie brought was prolonged and when Ethan began falling into a pit of silence again, she was there to get him to speak his mind and let out his emotions. She tried to have a positive outlook on life and to try new things to benefit her and others around her. Mattie was more outgoing and spontaneous opposed to Zeena. While Mattie was out and about in the town, Zeena was home all day. Zeena was bitter and controlling towards Ethan and everyone else in her life. Regardless, they were both willing to help when push came to shove. "Zeena 's done for Mattie, and done for Ethan, as good as she could. It was a miracle, considering how sick she was – but she seemed to be raised right up just when the call came to her. Not as she 's ever given up doctoring, and she 's had sick spells right along; but she 's had the strength given her to care for those two for over twenty years, and before the accident came she thought she couldn 't even care for herself” (Wharton 23). So despite of Zeena being cruel and pessimistic most of the time, she was willing to return the favor of kindness and
While everyone is legally intitled to the pursuit of happiness, the truth of the matter is that very few ever achieve it. Ones morals, standards, conscious, or perhaps even fate, keep them from accepting a pure form of satisfaction. While a person can search and struggle their entire life for happiness, the truth of the matter is, that they will never be happy with what they have infront of them. The character Ethan, portrayed in Edith Whartons novel, Ethan Frome, is emotionally weak, he battles constantly with what he wants, how to get it, and what is ethically right. Ethan was obligated to care for his wife Zeena until death, but his misguided decisions lead him to be concerned only with his immediate happiness. Much like Ethan in Ethan Frome, people who concentrate on personal happiness, without factoring in personal responsibility, set themselves up for a painful reality check.
Edith Wharton, a famous author of many outstanding books, wrote a chaotic love story entitled Ethan Frome. The story took place in the wintery town of Starkfield, Massachusetts. Wharton was a sophisticated young woman who found love in sitting down and holding people’s attention by way of a pen. Wharton wrote yet another thriller that told the tale of two love stricken people that barely found it possible to be together; which later forced them to fall into the temptation of love that cannot be controlled. Wharton had many different writing styles but for different books meant different needs. In Edith Wharton’s novel, Ethan Frome, frustration and loneliness play roles in disappointment while imagery, symbolism, and individual responsibility provide the novel with a tortuous plot.
“No, he didn’t. For I’d ‘a’ been ashamed to tell him that you grudged me the money to get back my health, when I lost it nursing your own mother” (Wharton 46). This section of the book fixed my perception of Zeena. As I begun reading I thought Zeena was just simply an ill wife, with her hard-working husband. While Ethan battles his feelings for Mattie, I was angry. This is based on how I was raised, I was angry that Ethan liked another while his own wife struggled with her own health. I thought he could do more to help his wife. The quote shocked me, I didn’t think of Zeena like this. I thought of her as a sickly, caring wife. I was wrong and this section gave me a new version of what was happening. Soon instead of being angry at Ethan, I became
Wharton uses this immolation to display that one should do whatever it takes to be jubilant and not live a life of isolation. Ethan’s quest for happiness started when he met Mattie, but Ethan soon ran into a roadblock when he realized that he could not be with Mattie. Ethan’s lack of not pursuing his happiness in life is what got him into the situation that he’s in at the end of the book. After all of this, Ethan Frome started to live a life of isolation, and one that made achieving his objective of happiness very unlikely for him. The whole reason Ethan married Zeena was so that he wouldn't be all alone on the farm after his mom had died “When Ethan’s mother died, he was "seized with an unreasoning dread of being left alone on the farm; and before he knew what he was doing he had asked her to stay there with him. “” (Hoffman).
Ethan’s moral compass warns him that he should listen to the rules of society. Any expression of his love for Mattie would not only be frowned upon by society, but it would also be an injustice to Zeena. Although Ethan abhors the sight of his old, whining, ugly wife, he could not do that to her. The obligations that bind him in a loveless marriage to Zeena hold him back from fulfilling his obligations to himself in a passionate love for Mattie.
In the book “Ethan Frome” by Edith Wharton, Ethan, the main character in the book, experiences many episodes of isolation persuading him to escape from and cope with them with outlets of hope, only leading to a life of permanent isolation. The story depicts a classic ironic switch of roles and a triangle of unusual “love.” With many people coming and going, Ethan looks to rely on someone to relieve his isolation and communicate with, only setting him up for trouble.