Ethan Frome Character Analysis

In the novel Ethan Frome, written by Edith Wharton, Ethan Frome is responsible for his own misfortune, but is also a victim of fate, due to his unhappiness and loneliness. Ethan Frome has always been a victim of fate, except when he chooses his own misfortune by sledding to his death with Mattie Silver. Ethan Frome has been a victim of fate because while studying engineering in school, his father died and his mother became ill. Her illness required him to quit school and move back to his home to provide and care for her. "Somebody had to stay and care for the folks. There warn't ever anybody but Ethan. Fust his father-then his mother-then his wife" (Prologue

The novel "Ethan Frome" by Edith Wharton was based on the moral of Fate vs. Freewill. Ethan Frome's decisions (free will) caused him many accidents later in life. After meeting Mattie Silver, Ethan's wife cousin, Ethan began to feel thrilled every time he was near Mattie. Despite of being married to Zeena, Ethan began to have an affair with Mattie. After coming back from seeking treatment, she began to suspect that Ethan and Mattie had something going on, so she decided to replace Mattie with someone else. Before Mattie left, Ethan and her went to village hill to purposely commit suicide to died together, but only ended up being injured.

    When Mattie is finally forced to go, Ethan faces the hardest decision he's ever had to make.  Both Mattie and he are in love with each other and neither of the two know what to do now that they will be separated forever.  Ethan decides to take Mattie to the train station instead of letting Jotham Powell, which turns out to be one of Ethan's many bad choices.  On their way to the train stop, Ethan takes Mattie sledding for the first time since she arrived in Starkfield(Wharton, 69).  The fun they had together while sledding only reminded them of what they would be missing when Mattie finally had to leave.  Faced with no where else to go, Mattie suggests to Ethan that they ride the sled straight in to the big elm so that they'll never have to be apart again(Wharton, 71).  Though Mattie was dreadfully serious about the suggestion,

To compensate for the bleak circumstances that surround her life, Zeena Frome, in particular, seeks to make her life more interesting. Zeena enjoys playing the role of the center-of-attention. The primary way Zeena gets attention manifests through her illnesses, which she claims result from caring for Ethan’s mother. She whines constantly of her pains and, at one point, Zeena insists that she needs to see a new doctor, which she does. She then returns home and once more complains about the hard labor that she believes she does. However, she neglects to realize that her bleak lifestyle results from her desire to stay in Starkfield, when earlier she has the opportunity to move away. Her negativity leads Ethan to eventually find

Throughout Ethan Frome, winter seems to be a prominent season that is spoken of or described. In symbolic terms, winter is a time of dormancy. It is a time when life gives way to stillness and people take the time to reflect and still their minds and souls. Although winter does, in fact, reflect despair, death, loneliness and pain, it is not all negative. The main component of a winter storm is snow and what color is snow? White. White symbolizes hope, rebirth, naivety and much more just like life in a winter wonderland might. In the case of Ethan Frome though, there seems to be a far darker meaning behind it. The fact that he's "...been in Starkfield too many winters" (Pg. 4) shows the real symbolism that's been the long-lived dormancy of Ethan's life.

“I had the story, bit by bit, from various people, and as generally happens in such cases, each time it was a different story. If you know Starkfield, Massachusetts, you know the post-office. If you know the post-office you must have seen Ethan Frome drive up to it, drop the reins on his hollow-backed bay and drag himself across the brick pavement to the white colonnade; and you must have asked who he was.”(1) The novel Ethan Frome takes place during the winter during late 1800’s to early 1900’s in Starkfield Massachusetts. The setting is significant because it brings the narrator to Ethan's house so he can tell the narrator his life story and Ethan feels like he was not allowed to leave starkfield in the story.

Ethan Frome is a tall character with disfigured shoulders, whose personality is timid, shy, repressed, reticent, and purpose as the protagonist is to attempt to confess his emotions to Mattie Silver, and deal with various situation throughout the story as he attempts to develop a relationship with Mattie. Two quotes that provide an insight into their personality are this excerpt reveals Ethan’s reticent, and shy personality being he had the opportunity to show his feelings to Mattie, however, he was unable to do so. In addition, the quote, elicits Ethan’s repressed personality, being he is reminded about Zeena when he is attempting to show his affection to Mattie.

Ethan Frome was written by Edith Wharton. Edith Wharton the author of Ethan Frome wrote the book to show how life was in the New England countryside. Throughout the story she discusses symbolism and how they add effectiveness of the story. Each symbol that was discussed in the story has a meaning behind it. So therefore, two symbols that was found were Ethan visits to the cemetery, and Zeena’s pickle dish.

Ethan Frome by Elizabeth Wharton is a short novel describing the life and downfall of Ethan Frome, as told by the man himself to an intrigued narrator spending the winter in Starkfield, Massachusetts. Ethan Frome, like many other protagonists, is burdened with a fatal flaw; This imperfection, his love for his wife’s caregiver and niece Mattie, leads to the loss of his wife and a tragic accident leaving him scarred and lame.

Character of Ethan Frome Ethan Frome, a tragic romance, first published in 1911, is widely regarded as Edith Wharton's most revealing novel and her finest achievement in fiction. Set in the bleak, barren winter landscape of New England, it is the tragic tale of a simple man, bound to the demands of his farm and his tyrannical, sickly wife, Zeena, and driven by his star-crossed love for Zeena's young cousin, Mattie Silver. An exemplary work of literary realism in setting and character, Ethan Frome stands as one of the great classics of twentieth-century American literature.

The name Starkfield means bare and difficult. It is a place of hardship, which is evident of Ethan’s multiple problems. The winters are rough and Ethan’s character reflects the characteristics of winter. The narrator learns that most people who live in Starkfield stay trapped there for the rest of their lives and “only the smart ones escape”. Ethan is an example of this, “Guess he's been in Starkfield too many winters,” (6).

The electronic beat of the Samsung ringtone crashed through dark silence, and the Snooze button waded in and out of my blurry vision. I lay there debating whether or not to get up and subject my toasty feet to the icy inferno that is my floor, and caved. Five more minutes...

There are a quite a few short stories, novels,and poetry that uses things to represent something else. This is also known as symbolism. Stories and novels such as “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston, “The Most dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, and “ The Giver” by Lois Lowry. These novels consist a great deal of symbols.Also, these symbols may have more than one meaning to them. In the novel “Ethan Frome”,there are many different things that symbolizes something. The symbols that are found in the novel, “Ethan Frome”, is the cat, the dead cucumber vine and the pickle dish.

The two living in isolation and pain decide to kill themselves for which it would be better. Isolation is enforced on Ethan and Mattie due to the circumstances they are living. Zeena is also isolated, she only speaks to Ethan or Mattie, and only to complain or demand orders. Ethan Frome and Mattie’s failure to escape themselves from this world of isolation

In chapter eight and nine of Ethan Frome, Ethan finds a note in Mattie’s handwriting telling him not to worry. He sits and thinks about the note and comes to a conclusion that he is going to leave Zeena a note saying that he is leaving her and running away with Mattie. However, he then sits on the couch in tears realizing how hard it would be to start over with nothing, and how heartbroken Zeena would be. When Ethan wakes up he realizes that it is Mattie's last day. After they have breakfast, he walks outside and tells Powell that Mattie’s dismissal is unresolved.