Ethan Frome

612 Words2 Pages

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.

Throughout the novel Mattie and Ethan are genuinely in love with one another. This can be proven when Mattie turned down Denis Eady the “rich Irish grocer” for Ethan. Another example was when Mattie “had an eye and an ear to hear” that not only listened but also understood Ethan. However it was the “lover” archetype that Wharton incorporated into Ethan that blurred the image of Mattie in Ethan’s eyes. Mattie is a manipulator that dragged Ethan into his predicament and...

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    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.”

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  • Archetypes In Ethan Frome

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    Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton is designed to be read like a fairytale. The novel contains many archetypes of a classic fairytale. These archetypes are brought to life in Starkfield, Massachusetts by the three main characters: Mattie Silver, Ethan Frome, and Zeena Frome. They can be compared to the archetypes of the silvery maiden, the honest woodcutter, and the witch. These comparisons allow the reader to notice similarities between Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome and the classic fairytale Snow White. The character Zeena Frome from Edith Wharton’s novel, Ethan Frome, resembles the evil witch from the fairy tale Snow White.

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  • Symbolism Of Isolation In Ethan Frome, By Edith Wharton

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    Ethan Frome, a novella written by Edith Wharton, communicates a story of Ethan and his life living with his ill wife, Zeena, when a new lover comes into his home. Ethan and Zeena live in a place called Starkfield, a cold and lonely location situated in the New England area. Mattie comes into Ethan’s life to help her cousin, Zeena, around the house as her sickness has obstructed her ability to do housework. This causes problems for Ethan because he starts to fall in love with Mattie as she stays with the Fromes. The isolation of Starkfield prevents Ethan from living his life the way he wanted to. That causes Ethan to abandon his dreams of college and moving away from Starkfield. Ethan becomes hindered by the isolation of Starkfield because of

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  • Personality In Ethan Frome

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    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.

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  • Trapped in Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

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    Many people oppose society due to the surroundings that they face and the obstacles that they encounter. Set in the bleak winter landscape of New England, Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton is the story of a poor, lonely man, his wife Zeena, and her cousin Mattie Silver. Ethan the protagonist in this novel, faces many challenges and fights to be with the one he really loves. Frome was trapped from the beginning ever since Mattie Silver came to live with him and his wife. He soon came to fall in love with her, and out of love with his own wife. He was basically trapped in the instances of his life, society’s affect on the relationship, love, poverty, illness, disability, and life.

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  • Character And Characterization In Ethan Frome By Edith Wharton

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    When Ethan Frome first sees her, he is easily quite taken with her grace and appearance and he often compares her features to the natural beauty of nature. Mattie is known for her “cherry-coloured scarf” (30) and the red ribbon that runs through her dark, curly hair which is described as “tendrils on the traveller 's joy” (82) and “soft yet springy, like certain mosses on warm slopes, and had the faint woody fragrance of fresh sawdust in the sun” (116). He is fascinated with her beautiful face and loves the way it changes like a “wheat-field under a summer breeze” (75). Her voice is smooth and peaceful, almost calming to listen to, and is a “rustling covert leading to enchanted glades” (76-77). Her laughter “sparkles through her lashes” (67) and when she sews, her hands go “up and down above the strip of stuff, just as he had seen a pair of birds make short perpendicular flights over a nest they were building” (77). Mattie’s appearance of natural beauty and softness represents her warm and affectionate

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  • Character Analysis Of Ethan Frome

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    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.

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  • Ethan Frome: List of Quotes explained

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    This quote was found on page 13, in the introduction when Harmon Gow is explaining to the narrator who Ethan Frome is.

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  • The Complex and Effective Structure of Ethan Frome

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    People have often pondered the reasons for the greatness of Edith Wharton's novel, Ethan Frome. What is it that causes this story to be considered an all-time American classic? One journalist quotes a humanities professor at MIT who states that, "We turn to Wharton because the truths she tells are a bracing tonic in a culture steeped in saccharine sentimentality." The journalist goes on to describe the typical, "popular" story and how they often have endings where "romantic ideals are magically fulfilled..." There is much more to Ethan Frome than simply an unhappy ending to contrast with the many other stories that have sugar-coated and sanguine endings. At first glance, the ending of Ethan Frome may appear to be only depressing. In truth, Wharton offers the reader a complex ending through the careful incorporation of poetic justice and irony.

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  • Failure In Ethan Frome

    452 Words  | 1 Pages

    The main theme of the book Ethan Frome is failure. It is shown in three ways throughout the story: Ethan's marriage, him not being able to stand up to Zeena, and his involvement in the "smash up".

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  • Ethan Frome

    592 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ethan Frome written by Edith Wharton in 1905 is a novel about the dilemmas of a poor New England farmer named Ethan Frome, his wife Zeena, and Zeena's cousin, Mattie Silver. The first person narrator, an engineer, comes to the town of Starkfield and becomes curious about the crippled, taciturn Ethan Frome. The tragic consequences of Ethan's unhappy marriage and forbidden love are revealed in a flashback to twenty-four years before the narrators arrival in Starkfield. In 1992, a movie was made of Ethan Frome which kept this plot in tact but included a number of changes in how the story was narrated and in some of the details about the characters and the plot. Some of the changes were effective; others were not so effective. Some of these changes didn't even make that much of an effect on the way the movie was compared with the book.

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  • Sacrifice In Ethan Frome

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    One might think sacrificing things in life would lead to simplicity and happiness. However, in the novel Ethan Frome written by Edith Wharton, the character Ethan from shows that sacrifice can be heartbreaking and tragic. Ethan Frome sacrifices his figurative life, and happiness, as well as logic and reasoning for obligation to convey that love, is never enough.

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  • Weaknesses In Wharton's Ethan Frome

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    Ethan Frome the main character from the book entitled Ethan Frome has many signs of weakness throughout the story. His family died, and his wife is sick. His only source of light is Mattie one of Zeena’s, his wife, cousin. In this case, Ethan suffers from the tragic flaw that he lacks strength. He doesn’t take control and shows great weaknesses by surrendering to his loneliness, not standing up to his wife to fix his past mistakes, and his inability to live without Mattie.

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  • An Analysis Of Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome

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    Not holding much in common makes conversations hard for them, and Ethan admits to thinking of other things every time that his wife speaks as to not hear her drudgery. To have a seven-year marriage without communication is unhealthy at best and can lead to depression, as we start to see in the novel, Ethan Frome. Once you read into the life of Wharton you can see a similar occurrence. Being pressured into marriage at a young age Wharton chose a man who was her senior, who had no job other than sitting on a trust fund and had no hobbies that were similar to hers. She married him simply to make her life easier, with a nagging mother and friends on all sides, she wanted to live the frivolous life everyone wanted her to live. Writing herself in the place of Ethan he is described to have married Zeena, seven years his elder because he did not want to live alone in the house that his parents died in. Zeena was the only option at the time and before he knew it he was married to a woman who held no interests similar to his own. This is what Wharton and Frome have in common and I doubt that it is a coincidence. Purposefully writing Ethan as a mirror to her own situation would act as a consolation to herself. It makes everything Ethan feels about his marriage all the more real, because Wharton herself has felt that way before, and she is writing the character to her thoughts and

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  • Ethan Frome’s Irresponsibility: Edith Warton's Ethan Frome

    900 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ethan is conflicted between giving in to his desires and maintaining social and moral order. He loves Mattie, and is desperate to express his passion. He has plenty of chances to do so, yet, his conscience and the limitations he imposes on himself tell him that it would be wrong:

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