Ethan Frome Character Analysis

(p.93). This highlights how much Ethan truly cares for Mattie and his willingness to defend her no matter what. His love and care for Mattie is shown through Ethan’s actions as

In the final chapters, Ethan and Mattie enter the Frome household. Wharton describes that the living room has "the deadly chill of a vault after the dry cold of the night." This quote represents the deathly sled run they are about to experience. Ethan and Mattie pursued their love life to the point of death due to desperation. Ethan felt trapped in his marriage with Zenobia and found an escape in the beautiful, young Mattie Silver. He chose to die with Mattie for an escape to his isolated, unhappy life, but it only backfired in the end.

That makes him stand between what he want and what he need and all he wants, just to stop at thinking. And Ethan's thoughts become his biggest barrier to reaching happiness. Ethan loves Mattie. Ethan dreams about the happiness of him and Mattie. We know that when Ethan says, "I guess we'll never let you go, Matt," he whispered, as though even the dead, lovers once, must conspire with him to keep her; and brushing by the graves, he thought: "We'll always go on living here together, and someday she'll lie there beside me.". But there is no way that comes true when he becomes passive in front of Zeena. When Zeena figures out what is wrong in her family, and try to indirectly force Mattie to leave the farm, Ethan is passive with his feeble reasoning cannot protect Mattie. Then, Ethan plans to flee with Mattie. But once again, another thought comes up to Ethan's mind as an excuse for his passivity, and make him flinch. The narrator states, " If he gave the farm and mill to Zeena what would be left him to start his own life with? Once in the West he was sure of picking up work—he would not have feared to try his chance alone. But with Mattie depending on him the case was different. And what of Zeena's fate? Farm and mill were mortgaged to the limit of their value, and even if she found a purchaser—in itself an unlikely chance—it was doubtful if she could clear a thousand

|never showed. Ethan does Mattie's chores around the house for her and sneaks in extra time with her. Ethan found a companion who showed interest in him. It was |

Ethan has such a moral dilemma because Zeena and Mattie are so incredibly different. He struggles with which personality and character traits he likes better. Zeena has been by Ethan's side since his mother was ill and he respects her

Isolation can be the determining factor in changing one’s mindset. In Ethan Frome, Ethan faces many disappointments throughout the novel. In the novel, Ethan is an orphan since both parents have passed. His wife Zeena who is also his cousin has become the dominant one in the relationship taking over full control. While living in Starkfield, Zeena has suddenly become “sick” and is forced to bring in her cousin Mattie for help around the house. Zeena is depicted as a bitter prematurely old woman who is always “sick” while Mattie is the picture of health as well as the sweetest woman alive. When Mattie comes into the picture, she becomes the speck of happiness in which Ethan longs for but Zeena keeps taking away. This brings up a theme of failure throughout the novel.

As previously stated imagery concerning Mattie is very warm and summer-like. Mattie's face seems to Ethan like "a window that has caught the sunset". Her effect on Ethan was likened to " spring rills in a thaw". Mattie's mood changes were, to Ethan "the flit of a bird in the branches.". When Ethan puts his arm around Mattie when they are walking home it seemed that they "were floating on a summer stream." When Mattie tells Ethan that she would never want to leave his house, "The iron heavens seemed to melt and rain down sweetness."

Edith Wharton uses Mattie to express isolation and being lonely. She comes to the country with ribbons in her hair and more joy in herself. She wanted to free Ethan from the terrible society he lived in. Life in Starkfield is bleak and boring. No one comes outside or enjoys themselves. This is mainly why Ethan wants to escape the barren and poor neighborhood. Ethan is also isolated as well. He opposes society mainly because he cannot be with the one he loves and he doesn’t want to ruin his marriage to Zeena as well. When Zeena falls ill, she goes to the doctor for a couple of days and returns only to find her expensive china now ruined. Angry, she tells Ethan that she needs more hired help and plans to send Mattie away. Upset, Ethan did not know what to do . He decided to write a letter to Zeena telling her to run the farm and be by herself. However, he

When Mattie is to be sent away, Ethan and Mattie grow desperate looking for a way out of their impossible situation. They decide that it is better to die in a sledding accident together than live their lives apart. Ethan hesitates slightly, “But in a flash

Throughout the novel, the readers can gather information about who Ethan Frome is. Ethan Frome is a man who wants to feel free for once in his life. Ethan first tried to escape the isolation of his family’s farm and his ill mother when he goes off to college in Worcester. Here he was beginning to grow as a person, but was forced to drop out and move back to the farm after his father’s death. Ethan feels imprisoned by the farm, his work, and his sick wife. Mattie is Ethan’s particle escape from his isolationism, “The sweetness of the picture, and the relief of knowing that his fears of “trouble” with Zeena were unfounded, sent up his sportis with a rush, and he, who was usually silent, whistled and sang aloud as he drove through the snowy fields.” (Wharton 29). He feels as if Zeena holds him back from exceeding his full potential while Mattie makes him feel free.

To begin with, Ethan largely takes advantage of how little life experience Mattie has had. She tells him “There’s never anybody been good to me but you!” (138). Ethan doesn’t truly love Mattie, because he doesn’t wish for her to have a happy life regardless of if that would include him. Mattie is young, smart, and beautiful and could marry any young man to start a family, or perhaps further her education and career instead. Ethan makes her believe that she can only be happy with him, the only person who has ever been kind to her. This leads her to suggest that they attempt suicide, even though she is not thinking clearly (143). Ethan encourages this unwise and hasty plan simply because it allows him an easy escape from his responsibilities as a husband to Zeena.

This final decision didn’t cost Mattie her life, except her mobility. Ethan’s inability to commit has now hurt

Just as how the story started, with the three of them together in a house, the story ends with each trapped in it. Just as Harom said in the prologue, Ethan has been in “Starkfield too many winters,” but could not leave due to his duty to care for his ill parents and wife. Now the only thing stopping him is his own illness, an ironic twist of fate. The three are trapped in a cruel situation caused by disabilities as well as poverty. The harsh winters of Starkfield rage on as their ‘eternal hell’ continues. The social norms that prevented Ethan from fulfilling his desires have finally come into play. What stopped Ethan before was his duty as a husband to never abandon his wife, conforming to the idea that marriage will never put them apart despite otherwise. His morality prevents him from swindling money from two sympathetic characters in his life and running away with Mattie. Although admirable, this eventually leads to his unhappiness. Now, Ethan cannot leave Starkfield ever, due to the many factors that he caused years ago.

Frome and his wife soon allow Zenobia’s cousin, Mattie Silver to live with them due to her mother dying. Mattie works as an helping hand but somewhat forgetful in some of the things that she is supposed to do around the house causing Frome to do the things she doesn't do. After a while Frome begins really talking and spending time with Mattie and starts to catch feelings for her. The narrator soon learns about an incident with one of Zenobia’s dishes and how she tells Frome that she is hiring a new girl to help around and how they wouldn't be needing her cousin anymore. This makes Ethan angry but he knows that he would not when a battle with his wife. He tells Mattie that she has to leave and ends up later taking her to the train station.

Edith Wharton’s novel, Ethan Frome, takes place in Starkfield, Massachusetts during the winter season sometime around the turn of the twentieth century. By using flashback, first-person narrative and limited third-person narrative, Wharton tells the tale of an unfortunate man, Ethan Frome, whose world takes an ironic turn that traps him into a life of misery. The story describes Ethan’s life as it was twenty-four years prior and the ill-fated circumstances that resulted in the broken man he had become. Just like many Americans, Ethan Frome had dreams and hopes for a better future but family obligations and poverty were obstacles he simply could not overcome.