...Who is Ethan Frome? In the story of Ethan Frome, we look carefully at three imperative individual characters and the life they lead together. The reader has the capacity see numerous purposes of perspectives, and see what has happened to each of the characters. One may inquire as to whether these three people truly lead the "All American" method for living, or on the off chance that they simply walked around life barley alive. Numerous individuals might believe that to be an American, you have to have been conceived in America. Some may accept that being a genuine American, is to simply live in America. The dictionary defines being an American as “a person born, raised, or living in the United States.” (Dictionary.com)One may accept that...
Words: 1619 - Pages: 7
...Ethan Frome Ethan Frome, a novel by Edith Wharton, takes place in the small town in Starkfield during the winter. The novel includes the story of Ethan a poor and lonely man, his sick wife Zeena, and her young cousin Mattie Silver who has come to stay with them. Ethan, the main character, faces many challenges to be with the one he truly loves. In the beginning when Zeena came to help take care of Ethan’s mother while she was dying, Ethan thought Zeena was the women for him. Later on when Zeena became sick and Mattie came to live with them, Ethan fell in love with Mattie and out of love with his wife. However, Ethan couldn’t show his love for Mattie because he was afraid what society would think. One major theme Wharton conveys through Ethan about society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries is that when people fear they are violating the rules of society, they risk becoming enslaved by...
Words: 736 - Pages: 3
...There is a difference between love and true love. In Ethan Frome written by Edith Wharton the readers sees the protagonist, Ethan Frome stuck between choosing his wife who he fell in love with years ago or his true love Mattie, a family member of Zeena. Mattie offers a young, spontaneous life style that Ethan craves. He knows this is wrong and holds back from admitting his true love for Mattie to Mattie and Zeena, on the other hand Zeena offers him a quiet, simple lifestyle but has the challenge of unstable health. To begin, Ethans love for Mattie is secret, it is hidden from Zeena and from each other. At many points in the novel Ethan finds him self falling for Mattie’s “hopeful young” (17) self, but is battling conflict on whether to profess his love for her or stay faithful to Zeena. The problem is he “had no right to show his feelings” (24). It is not Ethans place to show them because of the obligation he has toward Zeena and how she took care of Ethan’s sick mom. Therefore he “attached a fantastic importance to every change in her look and tone” (24). When seeing her talking to another man “he felt a pang at the thought that these two need not hide their happiness” (42). Realizing this he knew he was living a lie and quickly has to make a choice. All conflicts come to a resolution. Ethan knows his...
Words: 567 - Pages: 3
...like "All Quiet On the Western Front" and "A Farewell to Arms." Discover essays that examine the symbolism in Conrad's "Heart of Darkness." What did Conrad mean by the phrase "heart of darkness"? What does "The Great Gatsby" have to say about the American Dream? Is its picture of life in the 1920's a favorable one? How does F. Scott Fitzgerald's personal life tie into the plot and tone of this novel? Find essays that discuss Arthur Miller's intent for his "Death of a Salesman." How does the fact that "Death of a Salesman" is a play and not simple prose impact the effectiveness of the tale it tells? Find writing examples here that illuminate Edith Wharton's theme of failed marriages and confining social conventions as evidenced in "Ethan Frome" and "The Age of Innocence." What does the person of Beloved represent in Toni Morrison's "Beloved"? What made Anthony Burgess' novel, "A Clockwork Orange," so controversial when it was first published, and what is the value of difficult, sometimes shocking stories like it? Consider this the place to go for examples of literary-themed writing. Whether you're seeking a...
Words: 349 - Pages: 2
...The Novella of Edith Wharton, Ethan Frome, is a tragedy. Ethan Frome suffered tragedy because of his character flaws, errors in his judgment, and forces beyond his control. Ethan Frome married a woman, Zeena, he was lonely and not truly in love with her. When her cousin, Maddie comes to live with them Ethan becomes infatuated with her. When Maddie has to leave, Ethan and Maddie decide to kill themselves so they never would have to leave one another. In the novella of Edith Wharton, Ethan Frome, Ethan is a unique character who suffers a downfall due to character flaws, and errors in judgment, and most important forces beyond human control to in which he gains wisdom. Ethan Frome is a unique character who suffers a downfall in the tragedy of Ethan Frome for several reasons. Ethan is unique because he stands out in society. Ethan was a very tall, big man, but, “It was not so much his great height that marked him…it was the careless powerful look he had, in spite of a lameness checking each step like the jerk of a chain” (3). Ethan, because of his downfall looks tired and old. “There was something bleak and unapproachable in his face, and he was so stiffened and grizzled that [the reader] took him for an old man and was surprised to hear that he was not more than fifty-two” (3). Ethan Frome is unique compared to the rest of society. Ethan truly suffered at the end of the novella. Ethan tried to kill himself with Maddie so they could be together forever and not have to be with Zeena...
Words: 1082 - Pages: 5
...But as her life went on, it looked as though she did not benefit from her congenital quality. She was not able to use her happiness to receive the love she expected Spoon River to reciprocate. This resulted from the few flaws in her procedure that immobilized her chances to obtain the results she wanted. These flaws included her inability to express her feelings, and her inability to take the plunge and tell Spoon River her situation and desires. Her valuable beauty faded when she assumed Spoon River understood her emotions, and when she waited her whole life for the same emotions in return. One’s frailty to apply one’s beauty, in conjunction with physical force, results in the inability to obtain one’s yearning. Mrs. Williams and Ethan Frome, with rough experience, realized that this was the only way to obtain what they desired. Osborne made it seem as though she had an acceptable reason to why she never took action to express her feelings. She claimed that she could not speak due to her purity and simplicity. “[I] withered before your eyes, Spoon River, thirsting, thirsting, voiceless from chasteness of soul to ask you for love” (Masters 14-16). Osborne characterized herself as a celibate and simple woman who is limited to her desires. Because she does not show distinctiveness, she can not get the awareness of who she loves. This demonstrates the importance of individuality and distinctive components in order to grab other people’s attention and achieve what one...
Words: 732 - Pages: 3
...the days with and reassure each other that everything will turn out ok. Unfortunately, this prize is unobtainable for many and for many different reasons. Some people are not meant for love, refuse love, or for the rare case have fallen in forbidden love. Forbidden love is seen all to often; whether it is Romeo and Juliet or Ethan and Mattie, there is no escaping the curse. Ethan and Mattie have a forbidden love; after all Ethan is married to a relative of Mattie. Their situation is far from easy becuase unfortunately the author, Edith Wharton, intended it this way. Within Ethan Frome it can be disputed that, Wharton, intends for the love of Ethan and Mattie to never have a chance. Throughout the book, Wharton descriptively wrote scenes, which depicted their love having no fighting change, specifically against Zeena. Any moment in which Ethan and Mattie are alone or in some cases within a sensuous moment there is interference. Throughout the novella Ethan and Mattie show signs of deep connection varying from innocence to pure sexual attraction. Ethan is aware of his strong feelings for Mattie but is also aware that it is forbidden. “ It pleased Ethan to have surprised a pair of lovers on the spot where he and Mattie...
Words: 1450 - Pages: 6
...Make tweaks, leave comments, and share with others to edit at the same time. NO THANKSUSE THE APP Perez Ethan Frome Final Thomas Saint-Pierre Jr. Mr. Perez AP Lit and Composition 13 October 2015 An Engineer’s Dream Deferred Everyone aspires to be something greater, in life. This is no different for Ethan Frome. Like many, Ethan Frome had dreams and aspirations throughout the entire story. In some instances reality may step in between you and those dreams and remind you that you, in fact, are dreaming. Ethan Frome knows this all too well as he had to abandon his dreams because his reality made it clear he had no room to pursue them. So, what happens to a dream deferred? Langston Hughes asked this question the best in his iconic poem...
Words: 898 - Pages: 4
...Ethan Frome By; Edith Wharton This story occurred in Starkfield, Massachusetts. In the cold snow in front of a train station. Most of the individuals who lived in this community, felt as if Ethan Frome was a very quiet and sad individual. Because every single time that you saw him he was keeping to himself never saying anything to anyone. The setting was in cold snow, snow reminds you of sadness, and sorrow. The young man saw Ethan Frome by the post office which is what made him curious of him. It was Harmon Gow who volunteered for the narrator to ask Ethan to become his driver. But to only found out that accepted the offer. The story gets more interesting. When the narrator first met Ethan, he was slouched over walking towards his house. But the narrator saw him when he was walking towards the post office. When the narrator was trying to get Ethan attention he asked him to be his driver. He said that he would pay him $0.50, Ethan agreed. So then on that’s when we learned about the story. Ethan was very young when he married his cousin Zenobia Frome. But she was always sickly, always having to see the doctor so the day that she did go to visit the doctor out of the region of where they lived. Ethan was just there with her cousin who was sent to help keep up the house. Because Zeena was very sickly, but in the meanwhile Ethan felt attraction to Mattie Silver. Mattie felt attracted to Ethan too but, she was still flirting on and off with Denis...
Words: 513 - Pages: 3
...speaks heavily about symbols and ironies (pg #s), two subjects very prominent in Ethan Frome. Communion is also spoken of, as is weather. (pg #s) The thesis statement will go here when it is determined at a later time. Many meals were had throughout the course of Ethan Frome. Foster explains that meals are uninteresting and most authors dislike writing about them, so meals are always symbolic in some way. (Foster 8) Mattie and Ethan were left alone when Zeena had to make a trip out of town. They ate together that evening, and the events of the night caused a turning point in the story. The meal scene was very important as a whole, because it really cemented the feelings between Ethan and Mattie. This meal also symbolized a little slice of sex, a topic not easily discussed in Victorian literature. They were a bit awkward at first but slowly grew more comfortable with each other until… Oops! Zeena’s beloved and protected pickle dish gets broken! (Wharton 50)...
Words: 636 - Pages: 3
...describes someone’s transition into something more than themselves through trials that must be overcome. Ethan Frome is the story of a failed hero that was removed from his own story around the time that he met his mentor the kind, older professor. Edith Wharton wanted us to understand how Ethan Frome veered off course, how he failed to acknowledge the circumstances of his life, and failed to understand his failure, so that we can gain a better insight toward the depths of humanity, how we are all the heroes of our own story, failed or otherwise. Ethan fails to realize that in his own journey he has already failed, even said by the author that he thought so. “He was too young, too strong, too full of the sap of living, to submit so easily to the destruction of his hopes.” (Wharton, 71). He is unable to find happiness because he is on an adventure he is unable to complete. Frome is derailed from his adventure in a succession of three examples of mortality, the first being his father’s death, which pulled him out of Florida and back to Starkfield, the second being his mother’s sickness...
Words: 920 - Pages: 4
...Edith Wharton’s novel, Ethan Frome, tells the depressing and bleak story of a New England native living with unfulfilled dreams and desires. The title character of Ethan Frome is very similar to the Underground Man in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s 1864 existentialist novel, Notes From Underground as both of them contain similar characteristics. Delving deeper into these comparisons of the two characters, it becomes clear that these two pieces of literature share a similar theme. This shared theme was the suppression of the individual and their emotions. Clear examples that help to suppress the emotions of the characters in these novels are the depressing settings and the relationships they form with other characters in the story. In Ethan Frome, Ethan lives in the dreary New England town of Starkfield, caring for his sickly and abusive wife, Zeena, all while developing feelings for her newly arrived cousin, Mattie. Throughout the novel, Ethan expresses his love for Mattie to himself, never to her or anyone else directly until the end of the story. This has lead Ethan to become a shell of a...
Words: 1105 - Pages: 5
...Ethan Frome Quiz In Wharton's New England, Barbara White describes in vivid detail the importance of the setting of Ethan Frome. White describes the frozen atmosphere in the story to be “void like” and refers to winter in Starkfield like an isolated chain of despair. She points out that there really is no color in the story of Ethan Frome, except for the occasion where symbolism takes place. For example, the red pickle dish is symbolic to Ethan and Zeena's marriage. When the red pickle dish breaks, so does his crumbling relationship with his wife. She also wrote about the hindrance of snow. White describes it as being organized and blocks Ethan in making crucial decisions. An extremely good point that she mentions was when the pickle dish...
Words: 289 - Pages: 2
...Explore the ways in which Edith Wharton Presents themes of imprisonment and entrapment in Ethan Frome and consider the ways in which The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald illuminates this. In the novel Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton explores the themes of imprisonment and entrapment. The characters portrayed in her novel are trapped and imprisoned by many elements including their environment, loveless marriage, predestination, mind-set, religion and many more. These themes are also explored in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Firstly, one of the key factors that Edith Wharton presents imprisonment and entrapment is the setting and environment of Ethan Frome. The bleak and isolated town of Starkfeild is immediately imagined by the reader due to Wharton’s description of the landscape through the narrators eyes and how it seemed to be “emerging from its six month siege like a starved garrison” This brutal simile of the town suggests to the reader that the Starkfield is under attack from the elements and subsequently they begin to imagine how this type of environment may affect the characters life’s and particularly their freedom. Indeed, Wharton portrays the main character, Ethan Frome, as a reflection of Starkfield and “an incarnation of the frozen woe”. This metaphor, in part, epitomises Ethan’s personality of a slow, illiterate man whose motivation has halted or froze. This instigates sympathy from the reader that will be ever present throughout the novel. Similarly, F...
Words: 1404 - Pages: 6
...Edith Wharton. Her short stories, novels, and personal biographies were riddled with naturalistic traits. Wharton used symbolism in Ethan Frome to enhance the naturalistic themes of the novel. Naturalism was a strong movement in the 1900s which took the literary world by storm. Using the theory that nature is an unconquerable force, always acting against man, literature was filled with all variations of naturalistic motifs and symbols (Campbell Naturalism). Themes of predestination, astrological influence, and natural moralistic values were strong (Bellman 140). Scenery was often used to convey the mood of characters through their observational view of it (Moore). Naturalism says that humans are animals, so their connection with nature is deep and vital. Feelings and desires are distinctly linked to the animalistic traits of humans’ ancestors, proving that instinct is something set by nature within the body, and cannot be ignored. Common characteristics of a naturalistic novel are found in that the characters are always lower-class, the characters always live by passion and instinct, and that free will is always terribly far from their grasp (Campbell Naturalism). Dramatic scenes of desperation are a sine qua non, like the scene where Ethan and Mattie from Ethan Frome tragically drive themselves into a tree in an attempt to commit suicide (Wharton Frome 170). Pressured upon the reader are the facts that natural sin is always present within, nature is an ‘indifferent force’, and that...
Words: 1421 - Pages: 6
