Shakespeare writes, “Let me not to the marriage of true minds/ Admit impediments. Love is not love/ Which alters when it alteration finds,/ Or bends with the remover to remove.” Shakespeare believes that true love is only achieved if it can survive the challenges that come its way. In the novel Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, the protagonist, Ethan Frome endures challenges in both his relationships with Zenobia Frome, his wife, and with Mattie Silver, Zenobia’s visiting cousin. In the novel, Ethan is unable to fight for his relationships, and therefore, they never last. (Shakespeare would claim that Ethan’s relationships with Zeena and Mattie were never ones of true love). Zenobia, often called Zeena in the novel, becomes ill, which interferes …show more content…
with her relationship with Ethan. Instead of supporting one another, the couple grows to despise each other. Ethan and Zeena’s marriage may have been salvageable, however, Ethan decides to forsake his marital vows to pursue a new relationship with Mattie. Ethan believes that he is in love with Mattie, but Zeena’s shadow constantly hangs over their affair. Ethan and Mattie’s relationship can only progress if he ends his relationship with Zeena, but he lacks the strength to confront his wife. Ethan formulates a plan that allows him to love Mattie eternally, however, it requires them to end their lives together. Ethan nearly carries out his plan, but hesitates last-minute, therefore sabotaging his scheme. Ethan never achieves true love, as he is incapable of battling the challenges that his relationships face. Ethan and Zeena undergo challenges in their relationship due to the harsh symptoms that Zeena’s illness brings. The couple is unable to further improve their relationship because they are incapable of supporting one another. Zeena constantly seeks medical support, and Ethan is irritated by the amount of money she spends on what he believes is ineffective treatment. Since Zeena is always focused on finding new remedies, she tends to ignore her husband’s frustration. Wharton writes, “Her abrupt resolve to seek medical advice showed that, as usual, she was wholly absorbed in her health”(Page 56). Zeena sets out to travel to yet another doctor in hopes of finding a cure and this results in further marital damage and neglect. Zeena’s ongoing illness is a major obstacle, and her and Ethan are not able to overcome this hardship, which in turn, greatly affects them as a couple. Zeena’s illness generates challenges in the marriage, and since they are unable to properly cope with their issues, they gradually and inevitably become detached and indifferent. In order for Ethan to have a loving marriage with Zeena, he must put effort forward in overcoming issues that tend to hurt their relationship.
Mattie Silver’s presence in Starkfield precipitates into another obstacle that Ethan must overcome. Ethan feels disconnected to Zeena, but nonetheless, it is his responsibility to stay faithful to his wife. Along comes Mattie, a young fresh and beautiful distraction that sparks Ethan’s interest instantly. In the novel, Ethan ultimately becomes reckless with his affection for Mattie. Wharton writes, “He became suddenly conscious that he was looking at Mattie while Zeena talked to him, and with an effort he turned his eyes to his wife” (Page 57). Ethan is completely distracted by Mattie, even in mid conversation with his wife, Zeena. As a spouse who has taken vows, Ethan should be faithful to Zeena, yet he is enamored with his desire for Mattie. Ethan’s attraction to Mattie is a major obstacle that he has to overcome in order to have a loving marriage with Zeena, yet he is incapable of controlling his desires. Allowing himself to fall for another leads to the disintegration of his marriage, after all, he has chosen to pursue another relationship. Ethan must overcome his feelings for Mattie in order for his marriage to thrive, but he fails to overcome his challenging emotions, thereby ruining any chance at hope for a loving union with …show more content…
Zeena. Ethan finds himself captivated by Mattie, but in order to have a connected partnership with her, he must learn to stand up against any obstacles that may interfere with their future. The first challenge that he is faced with is his current marriage to Zeena. Mattie and Ethan are not able to be publicly affectionate because Zeena and Ethan are married. Ethan knows that he needs to stand up to his wife and end their current relationship, but he is incapable of confronting and ending things with Zeena. Wharton writes, His wife’s retort was like a knife-cut across the sinews and he felt suddenly weak and powerless. He had meant to humble himself, to argue that Mattie’s keep didn’t cost much, after all, that he could make out to buy a stove and fix up a place in the attic for the hired girl- but Zeena’s words revealed the peril of such pleadings. (Page 102) Zeena criticizes Mattie multiple times, but Ethan cannot seem to muster up the courage to defend Mattie. Ethan can not confront his wife, and therefore his relationship with Mattie is not able to flourish. Ethan believes he is infatuated with Mattie, yet he is not bold enough to address the truth with Zeena. Zeena is the fundamental barrier that prevents Ethan from having a true relationship with Mattie, however, he is unable to stand up against his wife. Ethan and Mattie can only have a loving relationship once Ethan is ready to face the hurdles his relationship must undergo.
Ethan is aware that he and Mattie can never have a successful relationship because Zeena is the deterrent. Ethan decides to devise a plan whereby the result means he and Mattie can finally be in an authentic and real relationship. In order to accomplish his mission, Ethan realizes his plan must be well thought out. The mission entails that Ethan and Mattie board a sled and ride right into a big tree. Ethan knows that this will surely end their lives together. Although Ethan feels enamored at the present moment, this does not last very long. Ethan becomes weak when he pictures his wife’s face, and that particular moment of weariness overhauls Ethan’s grand plan. As Wharton writes, ”But suddenly his wife’s face, with twisted monstrous lineaments, thrust itself between him and his goal” (Page 147). Ethan is distracted when he visualizes Zeena’s face, and that one moment derailed his goal. Ethan is not dead, and neither is Mattie. Instead, his beloved becomes paralyzed from the crash and she loses her ability to walk. Instead of Ethan being courageous for once, and following through with his plan, he allows his feebleness to take over. Once again, Ethan becomes tame because of Zeena, however, in this instance the simple idea of his wife makes him retract. Ethan’s last challenge is to follow his goal, yet he fails, therefore losing his opportunity of
achieving a relationship potentially involving passionate, and perhaps true love. Ethan never gets the opportunity to attempt having a true relationship with Mattie because he is incapable of following through with his plan of action, thereby disabling the chance to defeat the barriers that face him. Ethan is unable to sustain a loving relationship with neither Zeena, nor Mattie because ultimately, he is unable to conquer the hurdles in both his relationships. Zeena becomes ill, meanwhile, Ethan is unsupportive as well as unfit to handle the challenges that come with her illness. While Zeena and Ethan’s relationship is already feeble, Ethan chooses to betray his marriage completely to pursue a fresh, adulterous relationship with Mattie. When Mattie comes along, this further jeopardizes Ethan and Zeena’s marriage. Ethan’s engaging with his desire toward forming a long lasting relationship with Mattie is the cause of his marriage deteriorating. Zeena’s presence serves as a stumbling block even when Ethan first becomes enamored with Mattie. It is impossible for Ethan and Mattie to have a solid relationship while Zeena is around, and additionally, Ethan is clueless when it comes to confronting his own wife. He fails in that he does not take initiative to choose one relationship over the other, and then invest in that relationship alone. Ethan ultimately comes to realize that he can never truly love Mattie whilst Zeena is still present in their lives. Eventually, Ethan and Mattie decide to end their lives together because they believe this to be the only way they can love each other for eternity. Ethan finds himself doubting his own plan, and that moment of hesitation ultimately derails the plan. Ethan is constantly running away from hardships. He rushes into an adulterous relationship and allows his desires to conquer his better judgment and emotions, yet he is never brave enough to stand by his decision and follow through with his plan. Ethan cannot seem to sustain one devoted and affectionate relationship due to his incapacity to face his fears. Ethan can never achieve having a loving, long lasting, and committed connection because he lacks the courage to confront complex challenges that he is faced with in his relationships.
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
This quote is explaining the feeling of Ethan when Mattie Silver comes into his home. Ethan was gloomy and pretty much sick of his wife and when Mattie comes to his house she brings hope and a whole new outlook on life to Ethan. Ethan feels that she is warm person and a polar opposite compared to Zeena. Her coming transforms Ethan?s cold and depressing existence.
Ethan has dreams of leaving Starkfield and selling his plantation, however he views caring for his wife as a duty and main priority. One day, Zeena’s cousin, Mattie Silver, comes to assist the Frome’s with their daily tasks. Immediately, Mattie’s attractive and youthful energy resuscitates Ethan’s outlook on life. She brings a light to Starkfield and instantaneously steals Ethan’s heart; although, Ethan’s quiet demeanor and lack of expression causes his affection to be surreptitious. As Zeena’s health worsens, she becomes fearful and wishes to seek advice from a doctor in a town called Bettsbridge, giving Ethan and Mattie privacy for one night.
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.
His demise is when he has thoughts of running away from his present life. "Frome was in the habit of walking into Starkfield to fetch home his wife's cousin, Mattie Silver, on the rare evenings in which some chance of amusement drew her to the village" (Wharton 16). His tragic flaw is shown in this quote because he picks Mattie up after parties due to the fact that he is concern that a dangerous person might harm her. These pickups lead to his demise because every time he picks her up, they grow closer. Another event that leads to his demise is when "'I'll try to get a place in a store 'You know you can't do it. The bad air and the standing all day nearly killed you before'' (Wharton 85). This piece of evidence demonstrates Ethan's flaw because when Mattie suggests the kind of job she will have in the future, he is concern of her well-being and working conditions of that job. As Ethan starts to have romantic feelings towards Mattie, he is getting closer to his demise. When they start talking about Mattie's future, Ethan starts to have thoughts of running away from his present life. "'if I could ha' gone with you now I ha' done it'" (Wharton 86). This is Ethan's demise because once he has thoughts of leaving with Mattie his future actions are determined by this demise. His future actions eventually leads to unforeseen consequences that haunt him for the rest of his life.
The book says, “His wife had never shown any jealousy of Mattie, but of late she had grumbled increasingly over the house-work and found oblique ways of attracting attention to the girl 's inefficiency(Wharton, chpt 1).” This means Zeena knew about the love affair. Because Ethan and Zeena did not honestly love each other, the affair did not bother Zeena. Eventually, though, Zeena wants to force Mattie to go back home. Ethan and Mattie are extremely devastated by this. Ethan is not in love with either girl, but cannot leave either one. What happened next was a sleigh riding accident. Ethan purposely drove a sled into a tree hoping to kill Mattie and himself. By doing this he could escape all his responsibilities. He would not be abandoning anyone technically. The immaturity in Ethan 's personality is shown through this event. The accident caused Ethan and Zeena to be obligated to care for Mattie for the rest of their lives. Because the accident was intentional Ethan should be held accountable for it. He was supposed to be a mature adult who made the right decisions. He failed at this. Ethan should have been put in jail for this mishap. Moreover, Mattie did die that day because her liveliness
Several Years after their marriage, cousin Mattie Silver is asked to relieve Zeena, who is constantly ill, of her house hold duties. Ethan finds himself falling in love with Mattie, drawn to her youthful energy, as, “ The pure air, and the long summer hours in the open, gave life and elasticity to Mattie.” Ethan is attracted to Mattie because she is the opposite of Zeena, while Mattie is young, happy, healthy, and beautiful like the summer, Zeena is seven years older than Ethan, bitter, ugly and sickly cold like the winter. Zeena’s strong dominating personality undermines Ethan, while Mattie’s feminine, lively youth makes Ethan fell like a “real man.” Ethan and Mattie finally express their feeling for each other while Zeena is visiting the doctor, and are forced to face the painful reality that their dreams of being together can not come true.
...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.
...controllable circumstances brought him back home, it was he who chose to stay and risk losing all hope for the life he had dreamed for. Ethan's decision to be with Zeena did nothing but make his already dreadful life worse. When Mattie finally arrives, it's almost like a small burden has been lifted from Ethan's shoulders and he is almost allowed to live again. Lacking the ability to make decisions, Ethan worsens his life by letting things just slide by; and by not standing up to Zeena, the outcome leaves Ethan more desperate and lonelier than he was before.
Ethan Frome marries Zenobia (Zeena) after the death of his mother in "an unsuccessful attempt to escape the silence, isolation and loneliness of life" (Lawson, 71). But, after time, he finds his life again becoming silent, as it was with his mother. Their lack of communication is continually making the marriage more misera...
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 began reading, I thought Zeena was simply an ill wife, with her hard-working husband. While Ethan battled his feelings for Mattie, I was angry.
Only the ruthlessly devoted and heartless can make it to the top without feeling bad about who they knocked down to triumph. Ethan cant strive for a higher level of happiness because so many factors pull him down. To leave Starkfield with his love, Mattie, he would need more money than he can afford, and to get this he would be forced to lie and compromise his friendships. Ethan decides not to lie about a loan from the Hales, and in this decision he proves he cannot let go of his morals, because that would make him more miserable than he was to begin with. His conscience holds him back even more, as he is constantly reminded of what would become of Zeena if she was left alone to care for herself. His inescapable fate is foreshadowed by the gravestones that lie on his property, which echo the lifestyle he is obligated to live with Zeena in Starkf...
Ethan quickly realized that this marriage with her wouldn’t give him the sense of happiness that he wanted, but instead made Ethan feel even more alone and even less happy than he was after his mom had died “.makes him feel further removed from happiness.” (Hoffman). This situation furthers once Mattie arrives at the Frome household and Zeena begins to isolate herself in her room, complaining that she is sick and needs bed rest. This sense of isolation is especially shown when the Narrator tries to talk to Ethan and gain more details about his life, but Ethan won’t talk “, he has trouble obtaining further details. Ethan’s isolation is evident in their conversation.”