Ethan Frome Character Analysis

Edith Wharton lived a life dramatically different from those of her characters, yet she draws on her own experiences to craft her tales. This inevitably results in an inclusion of her own personal history and experience, as is dramatically evident in her novel Ethan Frome.

The strife between monogamy and the lust for another is often the cause of a marriage ending before "death do us part." The challenges of infidelity in these situations often shape the individual enduring them in mostly negative ways. The novel Ethan Frome presents a main character facing an internal battle about responsibility versus his innate immoral nature, and the author exposes this extended metaphor as a struggle to warn that the conflict between moral standards and impulsive desires may have dire consequences.

Society also is in the way of Ethan’s desires. Even when he has a night alone with Mattie “like a married couple” (89) he still can not do anything because he is reminded of his domestic duties. "he was never so happy with her (Mattie) as when he abandoned himself to these dreams." (58) When he plans to move out west with Mattie he can’t because he would not bring himself to take money “by deceiving two kindly people who had pitied him.” (161) In the end Ethan decides not to fight between social and moral order and his desires proving that he avoids “man-ing” up to conflicts. Instead he chose to abandon his burdens by abandoning his own life, and letting the destiny of Starkfield take

Ethan had “taken a year’s course at a technical college at Worcester, and dabbled in the laboratory,” however later ended his schooling because of “his father’s death, and the misfortunes following it” (Wharton 24).His action in giving up his proud studies is an example of what makes Ethan a tragic hero as he feels obligated to pursue his family’s farm instead of following his dreams through college. Not only is he troubled by leaving college for the farm, but Ethan is also unhappy with his relationship with his wife, Zeena. Zeena they were both happy until within a year of their marriage Zeena contracted an alleged illness and she becomes bitter. “He felt a chill of such forebodings,” within Ethan’s diminishing marriage with Zeena as she has become a burden (Wharton 63). Since Ethan is not capable in revealing his feelings about Zeena, it leads to the downfall of Ethan’s miserable relationship with her. than Frome begins to live a life of tragedy that evolves into suffering by the action of unthoughtful

What is it that causes the mind to question itself and allow wandering thoughts? To ponder this, a look at what it means to be uniquely American can provide some answers in the book Ethan Frome (Wharton). To be an American is a concept of being the best one can be and always striving to be better. If one finds that their ethics, or design of life is in opposing directions in their head and/or heart it can lead to confusion. Being pulled apart in our drive to betterment by chasing what one wants for their health, wealth, or relationships can cause one to self destruct, as is the case of the main character, Ethan Frome, in his quest for the American dream.

The setting of a novel is typically only the frame in which a novel takes place; it makes no grandiose overtures to become a larger part of the novel than it is. However, the setting of Starkfield in Ethan Frome is different in that the depiction of Starkfield is integral to one’s understanding of the underlying motives and feelings of the characters in the novel. The “accumulated cold of many Starkfield winters” (Wharton 5) tangibly affects the personalities and actions of Ethan, Zeena, and Mattie, mostly negatively.

“Guess he’s been in Starkfield too many winters. Most of the smart ones get away” (6).

Responsibility is relevant to Ethan Frome because Ethan feels he is responsible for taking care of Zeena and supporting her during her time of pain and illness, just as she comforted and nursed his mother when she needed it. To reimburse for the time and effort Zeena spent, not only taking care of his mother, but also comforting him, Ethan marries Zeena. At a young age, Ethan drops out of school and decides he needs to fulfill the duty of taking care of the loved ones around him. “Somebody had to stay and take care for the folks. There warn’t ever anybody but Ethan. Fust his father – then his mother – then his wife” (Wharton 5). Ethan does not want to abandon anyone during their time of agony and despair. Overlooking the fact that he

Throughout the novel, characters race not only past their families but also past their friends. Margie Young-Hunt, "…a predator, a huntress..." (21) picks Ethan as "her project" (222), although he is married to Mary, her friend. Ethan, too, chooses to put friendship aside in order to achieve his selfish goals. Ethan goes so far as to turn his own boss into the immigration office in order to won the grocery store. Perhaps the most manipulative action Ethan takes is against his childhood friend, Danny Taylor. Ethan offers Danny, in exchange for Danny’s land as collateral, $1000 to go to a rehabilitation center, even though Ethan knows Danny will use the money for alcohol (153). Ethan is willing to put his friend’s life as risk in order to won valuable land and to exact revenge on an old adversary, Mr. Baker. One night Ethan woke up and "knew Danny was gone" (195) as a result of their trade-off. However, Ethan reasoned, "In business and in politics a man must carve and maul his way through men to get to be King of the Mountain. Once there he can

One of the most important relationships in this novel is between the main character, and narrator, Daisy, and her cousin Edmond. Edmond gets the attention of Daisy as soon as they meet, although they never anticipated the relationship to go as far as it did, Once her Aunt gets stranded after a bombing takes out the transportation systems, Daisy and her cousins are alone on the farm. They don’t see this as a problem, as they feel they are more than capable of taking care of one another. Daisy and Edmond get closer, and at one point Edmond is the only person Daisy feels she needs to be “safe”, “The only thing i knew for certain was that all around me was more life than I'd ever experienced in all the years I'd been on earth and as long as no one shut me in the barn away from Edmond at night I was safe,” (Rosoff 56). Daisy’s relationship has gotten to the point that they feel safe when with each other.

This caused Ethan to begin to think and act as he never had before, which even caused him to almost rob a bank and commit suicide. The pressure from his family for him to become rich, so they could be happy stressed him out to the extreme, and he didn’t know what to do to relieve all the strain that he had to deal with. Once his good friend, a banker, told him secrets to robbing a bank, his mind jumped to robbing the bank so he could just be cheerful and make his family satisfied, too. In the end, though, he realized that his own and his family’s need for money turned him into a dishonest and a man who shouldn’t be

Despite his unsettling pride for his talent, Silas has labeled himself as the “black swan” of his family. Moreover, his outward expressions of “he doesn’t know why he isn’t quite good” and “worthless though he is, he won’t be made ashamed to please his brother,” unveil Silas’ lack of pride in comparison to his hierarchy of a sibling. Nevertheless, their seven mile distance kept them even farther away on a mental standpoint. Refusal to encounter his brother because of his never-ending wealth and exemplified profession in create a subsequent boundary in relevance to Silas’ low-paying, yet indescribable work-ethic. Seemingly distraught relations with his brother are a result of Silas profusely refusing to be ashamed in the mere light of his

Desire vs. Morality and Duty: Throughout the novel, Ethan seems to struggle with managing his desire for Mattie and his duty as a husband. This theme is apparent throughout the entirety of the novella. It starts before the book even begins. Ethan, in the first chapter, admits to often walking Mattie, his wife’s cousin, home just to spend few minutes alone with her. However it is first mentioned in the book when Ethan is standing alone, just watching Mattie dance. He knows he has a wife to get back to, but yet all he can imagine is being in that party and being the one who is dancing passionately with Mattie. Although, his sense of duty and morality is not only because of his relationship with Zeena, but because he fears the way his society would react to such a scandal. Although his desire to leave Zeena, a sour and sickly old woman, is somewhat understandable, he knows that his society would shun him if he abandoned her for another woman. Later in the book, this theme is again apparent when Zeena must leave to see a new doctor about her illness. Ethan loses his sense of duty to her, and lies to Zeena so that he can spend time with the one he so desires. However in chapter nine, this theme is most apparent. After Zeena tells Ethan that she is to throw Mattie, the love of his life and the last force that could make him happy, out on the streets to make room for a new hired girl, Ethan devises a plan to run off with Mattie. He spends an entire night making

Werther, the protagonist, is obsessed with Charlotte, the main female character. Together, they form a genuine companionship, spending time together and offering advice to one another. Despite their deep connection, such as when they bonded over Klopstock, Charlotte rejects Werther romantically, as she is already bound to Albert. Due to Werther’s all-in or all-out mentality, when rejected by Charlotte romantically, he first becomes obsessive and, due to Charlotte’s steadfast rejection, chooses to isolate himself from her completely. By removing Charlotte from his life, he had no other companions to turn to other than Wilhelm, a character with whom he corresponded with only through

After being pressured to earn a hefty income by his family, he makes the decision to turn in his boss, Alfio Marullo, into the authorities for being an illegal immigrant. Marullo gave Ethan so many things such as easter gifts for the kids, a job at the grocery store, and eventually the store itself. Regardless of these gifts, Ethan still lets his greed and selfishness get the best of him and sacrifices his friend for his own benefit. This is where readers first get a glimpse of Ethan’s self-serving nature. He justifies his betrayal by claiming that he did not scheme up an evil plan, but rather he “watched it grow and only guided it with the lightest touch” (Steinbeck 187). No one knows his involvement in Marullo’s deportation which makes Ethan conjure up the idea that “no crime is committed unless a criminal is caught” (Steinbeck 187). He does not recognize the extent of his terrible decisions and soon causes a domino effect of unfortunate situations. His actions consequently lead to him to provide the town drunk and long time friend, Danny Taylor, the option of suicide. He provides funds to Danny to sober up but deep down Ethan knows what the money is actually for, Danny’s death. Before anyone knew that Danny is deceased, Ethan recognizes that “Danny was gone [he] knew Danny was gone” (Steinbeck 153). Danny’s death altered the presence of Ethan’s