Decisions, decisions, decisions. Decisions are made by everyone everyday. Whether you are deciding to put off a project or deciding if you should wake up and go to work, you make decisions all the time. In the novel Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton explores whether decisions should be based on morals through the main character, Ethan Frome. Ethan made the right choice and made his decisions based on his morals, ethics, and potential consequences instead of his personal desires.
Another position about Ethan’s decision is that he should have made his decisions based on what he personally desired. Decisions should be based on what is best for the individual and what the individual desires. They believe that an individual’s desires has a major influence on the decisions the individual makes. People make decisions so that they can fulfill the
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When Ethan was considering running away with Mattie, he had “been scrupulous in considering the moral issues of running away”(Eggenschwiler 243). He knew that running away would have serious consequences. It was not just a normal issue; his running away from his marriage with Zeena would have been a moral issue. There would have been several of them. He weighed the potential of these issues while considering to run away with Mattie. There were several smaller decisions throughout the novel where Ethan had to weigh the potential consequences. He wanted to show some sort of affection towards Mattie but he knew that that would be frowned upon by his town. He knew that there would have been serious backlash if he had shown any type of affection towards Mattie because she was not his wife. Because of the potential negative outcomes, he never showed affection towards Mattie other than a note detailing their plan to run away with each other. He would have never thought of showing any type of affection that other people could
He could not get away from Zeena, nor run away with the girl he felt drawn to. There was no way Ethan could afford to get away even if he tried. Ethan could not afford to pay for himself to leave town, nor could he provide for the woman he desired. He also imagines life as if he were suddenly resolved from all the issues going on in his life. All the issues that went on, Ethan brought upon himself due to the way he managed his life.
He deals with her complaining, overpowering and demanding personality, and she acts like she is always ‘sick.’ However, he didn’t ignore his feelings for Mattie and he wasn’t strong enough to run away and escape. When he was planning to run away with Mattie, he had to go get money from Mr. Andrew so they could run away but on his way there he met Mrs. Andrew. She told Ethan, “I always tell Mr. Hale I don’t know what she’d ‘a’ [Zeena] done if she hadn’t ‘a’ had you to look after her… You’ve had an awful mean time, Ethan Frome” (Wharton 104). After Mrs. Andrew tells this to Ethan, he doesn’t go ask for Mr. Andrew to pay him and instead goes home. He feels ashamed for for making Mr. Andrew get the money he needs because last time Ethan asked for the money, Mr. Andrew couldn’t get it. He also feels guilty for hurting his friends and he doesn’t want to leave Zeena with nothing when he runs away with Mattie. This displays again, how Ethan is a weak
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
Ethan marries Zeena so he won't be alone after his mother dies. She seemed like a very cheerful, vivacious person while his mother was sick. After their marriage all this changed. She became a very nagging, sick wife. Because of Zeena's "complications" they had to hire someone to help around the house. Mattie, Zeena's cousin, needed a place to live and seemed fit for the job. She moved in and Ethan took and immediate liking to her. He found someone that cared for him, was always happy, and could share his youth. All of which, Zeena was incapable of doing. Ethan longed to be with Mattie, but he was loyal to Zeena. Being married to Zeena was Ethan's first failure.
The tragic fall that Ethan Frome has is that he is a very concernful person. An example that of this flaw is when "'Somebody had to stay and care for the folks... Fust his father-then his mother-then his wife'" (Wharton 3). This quote demonstrates Ethan's flaw because he gives up
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Some intellectuals believe that we only have free will and that it is our only way of decision-making in life. The definition of free will is “...the idea that we make choices and have thoughts independent of anything remotely resembling a physical process” (Nahmias). So, in turn, the action of turning a key, catching a ball, or playing the piano require mental processing and therefore, free will. In addition, free will improves people’s performances. According to Dr. Vohs, free will can guide people’s choices to being better performers and leads to healthy and wealthy life outcomes (Tierney). In the book Ethan Frome, Ethan has free will to leave Zeena and contemplates whether he should abandon her or not. In chapter eight, while wondering what he should do, Ethan thinks to himself, “Why should [I] not with Mattie the next day, instead of letting her go alone?” (97). This thought is purely his own decision to either go with Mattie or to stay home while she leaves to the train station, which exercises his free will. Ethan plans to take Mattie to the train station, but they take a long detour and visit nostalgic places across the countryside. When they are sledding down a hill on the outskirts of Starkfield, Mattie and Ethan decide that if they cannot be together, they would rather commit suicide. When they are sledding down the hill, Mattie tells Ethan she wants him to take her down
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.
What is ethics? Ethics are the philosophical principles of good verses bad moral behavior. It is a guideline to help people make decisions or make a judgment calls. There are two main types of ethical principles that will be discussed in this paper, and how they are applied to the decision making process. They are Deontological and Utilitarian. Deontological ethics are based on the righteousness or wrongness of the action-taking place. It does not base itself on the bad or good consequences that come from the action. Immanuel Kant introduced deontological ethics in the 18th century. Kant believed that every decision or action made by a person had to be evaluated by his or her moral duty. He stated that humanity shouldn’t side on its
decision could determine what kind of person he would be. He made the right choice. He
choices brought them the fate and ending that they deserved. Even though the witches did tempt them but it was still their own fault for believing and falling for the witches’ tricks. This theme from William Shakespeare's MacBeth teaches that it is the choices that you make that leads you to where you are and you are responsible for your own fate .