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Symbolism in ethan frome
Symbolism in ethan from signet classics
Essay about symbolism in the novel ethan from
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In the novel Ethan Frome one very important detail is the red pickle dish that Ethan and Zeena received as a wedding gift. The red pickle dish is a symbol of Ethan and Zeena’s marriage. The pickle dish is one of Zeena’s most prized possessions and is stored up high so it will be safe. The night that Zeena is away at her aunt’s house is the night when the beloved pickle dish is broken by the cat. Mattie makes dinner for Ethan and wants to make the table look “pretty” so she decides to use Zeena’s pickle dish. While Ethan is eating Mattie is in the kitchen talking to Ethan. They hear the cat meow and look over to see the cat in Zeena’s rocking chair. They continue talking and right before they had an “intimate” moment the cat jumps up on the
table and knocks the pickle dish off of the table and it breaks. Mattie instantly becomes very upset and starts to cry while she is picking up the broken pieces from the ground. Ethan tells her that everything is going to be okay and that Zeena won’t even notice that the dish is broken, but Ethan was wrong. Zeena did notice. Zeena went to the china cabinet after dinner to retrieve some stomach powders and finds the pickle glass. While on the verge of tears Zeena demands to know what happened to her beloved pickle dish. Ethan blames it on the cat and says that it must’ve gotten into the cabinet and broke it, Zeena then angrily asks how the dish would look like someone had tried to put it back together if it was the cat that broke it. Mattie comes forward and explains that she had used the pickle dish to fancy the dinner table and that the cat jumped up and knocked it over. At that point Zeena had had enough of Mattie. Zeena reprimands Mattie for her sneakiness and declares that she should have turned her out long ago. The cat symbolizes Mattie and the broken pickle dish symbolizes Zenna and Ethan’s’ marriage. It’s basically saying that Mattie and Ethan “getting together” is what breaks Ethan and Zeena’s marriage and they need to find something to work them back together, like the dish needs glue to be able to be held together.
Throughout the book, Ethan himself appears to be lifeless which reflected on how he lived his life due to not pursuing his dreams and remaining in the same old town his ancestors inhabited. Ethan is not the only one dreaming within the book. Mattie also pictures herself with Ethan in the future and it does come true. However, she is not Ethan’s wife like she planned to be. She is stuck with both Ethan and her cousin as her cousin cares for her and the man of her dreams. The reality they are facing becomes more of a hell than a happy ending as they imagined it would
Mrs. Hale tells the narrator that if Mattie had dies, Ethan may have lived, but as things are, his existence is a kind of a living death. In addition, in chapter two, he had asked his dead ancestors, at their graves, to help him keep Mattie with him. We find that his natural ally is death and life is his enemy. Mrs. Hale believes that Mattie? surviving the accident is literally a fate that is worse than death, since the dead hold their peace, whereas Mattie and Zeena are often mad at each ther, adding to Ethan?s suffering and unhappiness.
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 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.
Meanwhile, how could she keep the farm going? It was only by incessant labour and personal supervision that Ethan drew a meager living from his land, and his wife, even if she were in better health than she imagined, could never carry such a burden alone" (Wharton 73). This evidence demonstrates Ethan's quality of his kind and loving nature towards others. The reason is when he wants to leave Zeena, he thinks about her future and how she will suffer to support herself. He cannot bear Zeena's pain, so he puts her future and their marriage before his dreams. His dream is to "leave with Mattie the next day" (Wharton 72). Another example when Ethan is a very concernful person is when "she would have suffered a complete loss of identity" (Wharton 38). This quote demonstrates Ethan's concern for Zeena because Ethan's dream is to move to the metropolitan area, but Zeena's sickliness will make her look inferior to the city. Ethan's concern for Zeena's image prevents him to "sell the farm and saw-mill and try their luck in a large town. Ethan's love of nature did not take
Clue-Cat shows an important theme in the story that is that curiosity is not welcome. Right after Clue-Cat’s curiosity kills Clue-Cat and he hits the floor, Mrs. Griffin comes in and says, “No more questions from you “ ( 35 ). Though it is a small sentence, Barker repeats the “question” theme again. Clue-Cats curiosity get the best of him, with Barker suggests that “curiosity kills the cat”, and that is exactly what happens to Clue-Cat , which points back to Clue-cat’s name, which has “clue” and soon relates to his fate. As rictus says “no more questions” Harvey visits the Hood house and finds his “clue” which is Clue-Cat. Stew cat also advances the theme that love can overpower evil. While going down the stairs with Stew-Cat, Harvey thought, “[H]e might have declined to descend had Stew-Cat not hurried on past him, down into the murk.”(147). While Stew-Cat ran down the stairs, Clive barker includes the word “hurried” showing that whatever was down there [Mrs. Griffin] Stew-Cat must have very much cared about. Stew-Cat is the last survivor of the three cats that hood had evilly killed and through this text, loves Mrs. Griffin, showing that love can overpower evil through the “mist” of darkness. Since Stew-Cat loves Mrs. Griffon so much even through the obstacles of the house, he survived. Throughout the book, the three cats influence and advance the themes of the
In Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, Ethan, a reserved young man was torn between two women. He was married to Zenobia Frome, but his true love was his wife’s cousin, Mattie Silver. Zeena and Mattie were different in all aspects. Mattie was a caring, loving, beautiful young girl, while Zeena was a sickly, shrewish woman aged well beyond her years. Ethan was continuously drawn to Mattie throughout the novel, as she was much more attractive and amicable than Zeena.
He is physically isolated from the world and is also cut off from the possibility of any relationship. Due to his new situation, he looks for an outlet in order to relieve himself from this isolation. Luckily enough for him, Mattie comes around in order to help Zeena out due to her illness. Wharton writes, “...the coming to his house of a bit hopeful young life was like the lighting of a fire under a cold heart” (Wharton 33). As Smith recognizes in this comparison, he says that “His (Ethan) life of isolation changes, however, when Mattie Silver comes to stay with him and his wife” (Smith 96). Smith correctly analyzes Ethan’s situation, labeling Mattie as this outlet of hope that he can turn to in order to cope with his isolation. Wharton herself shows that Ethan truly did view Mattie as his outlet for hope, mainly due to his love for her, which Mattie shares equally for him. This love sprouts from many things including attractiveness, conversation, understanding, and listening, many of which he lacks for his whole life and where most of his isolation roots itself. Wharton writes, “She had an eye to see and an ear to hear: he could show her things and tell her things, and taste the bliss of feeling that all he imparted left long reverberations and echoes he could wake at will” (Wharton 28). This is a fancy way of saying that they Mattie not only listened to Ethan, but also
“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
When Zeena was there while Ethan's mother was ill to "nurse her", she gave him the "human speech" he longed for because his mother had "lost the power of speech." Ethan felt that he would be "dreadful" if "left alone" if Zeena were to leave him, so he ended up marrying her so she would stay. Ethan is unable to make decisions without thinking of her first or being reminder that she's the one he is loyal to because of this attachment. Even having blissful moments with Mattie, Ethan cannot rid his mind of Zeena. While having supper, the cat "jumped between them into Zeena's empty chair" and when reminded of Zeena, Ethan was "paralyzed." Ethan is happy when with Mattie, but his love for her will never rid him from Zeena. Ethan was even planning o asking the Hales for currency, but the thought of "leaving alone" his "sickly woman" led him to desert his plan in taking money to leave Zeena by herself. This shows that even in his desire to escape her, Ethan values their marriage and is still thinking of her greater good. Ethan's happiness resides in Mattie to the point where he was willing to kill himself to be with her forever, however, midway through the attempt, "his wife's face, with twisted monstrous ligaments, thrusts itself between him and his goal." Due to Zeena showing herself to Ethan near death, he "swerved in response" which may have caused the attempt to fail. This scene demonstrates how Ethan, even when
He and Zeena had not exchanged a word after the door of their room had closed on them. She had measured out some drops from a medicine-bottle on a chair by the bed and, after swallowing them, and wrapping her head in a piece of yellow flannel, had lain down with her face turned away. Ethan undressed hurriedly and blew out the light so that he should not see her when he took his place at her side. As he lay there he could hear Mattie moving about in her room, and her candle, sending its small ray across the landing, drew a scarcely perceptible line of light under his door.
The cat is a household pet his life is good. He never has to do any
The cat's name is Selima and she is perched at the top of the vase watching the fish glide through the water. Selima was planning to eat the fish as soon as she could catch them. So she slowly reached with her paw to nab one of the fishes, her first attempt fails so she thinks again of how she can reach them. Eventually she falls in and tries to get out eight times while crying for help from a forgiving soul. No one seems to hear her and she drowns in the water where the fish swam.
had warned her that if he found the cat on the porch he’d wring its neck. When he caught
While all this is going on, Dolly’s younger sister, Kitty, is in the process of being courted by two potential suitors: Levin, an awkward landowner, and Alexei Vronsky, a dashing military officer. Kitty ends up opting for the good life and turns down Levin in favor of Vronsky. Shortly afterwards Vronsky meets Anna and becomes infatuated with Anna instead of Kitty. This devastates Kitty, who promptly falls ill. Levin, who becomes depressed after Kitty denies his advances, retires to his country estate. Anna too finds herself to possibly love Vronsky, but after some deep thought, she disregards this as nothing more than a crush.