Ethan Frome Motif Essay

When Zeena is at the kitchen table, the author uses cold imagery. After Zeena leaves for her trip to a doctor, the kitchen seems more welcoming and comfortable because Ethan and Mattie are alone.

Edith Wharton, author of the novel Ethan Frome, speaks through her narrator to tell the ironically realistic tale of a poor, wishful New England farmer, who quickly realizes that his desire for happiness is futile. Ethan Frome’s acquaintances in town describe him as a man who has lived in the small town of Starkfield, Massachusetts for “too many winters,” yet Ethan is only fifty-two years old (Wharton 10). As the narrator relates the “tale of unremitting isolation, loneliness, intellectual starvation, and mental despair,” it is obvious that Ethan’s suffering is something “neither poverty nor physical suffering could have put there” (Faust 817; Wharton 13). The misery from which Ethan suffers is the heartbreak over the unaccomplished dreams of his past. In Edith Wharton’s novel Ethan Frome, the author examines the effects of reality on the fulfillment of the dreams of the characters and the narrator through social conventions, isolation, and fatalism.

In Edith Wharton’s novel Ethan Frome, setting is an important element. The setting greatly influences the characters, transportation, and activities.

So, it can be seen that Zeena and Mattie do have common feelings for Ethan Frome. She probably has resentment and dislike for Ethan From and even herself since it was her idea to crash the sleigh into the oak tree. Also, since her youthfulness was cut short because of an accident and there was no everlasting love that followed it.

Symbolism can give additional meaning to a variety of texts. From music to movies to novels, symbolism creates an even deeper meaning than found in a surface reading. The symbolism found within Ethan Frome adds to the inherent meaning of the text to give it an even deeper meaning. Edith Wharton uses the pickle dish, the Oak tree, and the cat as symbols to achieve deeper meaning. The pickle dish is of great significance in the novel. It is used to represent Zeena's virginity.

Although the two have a rare and precious day together without Zeena nothing happens because of Ethan’s moral values. His moral values is what keeps him isolated from Mattie and the happiness their relationship could provide “The cat who had been a puzzled observer of these unusual movements, jumped up into Zeena’s chair, rolled itself into a ball, and lay watching them with narrowed

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

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.

As I was saying before, the presence of Ethan in Starkfield for the whole of his life has added to his plight. The metaphor is showing how the residents of

However, the restraints that moral and societal concerns imposed by society on the desires of an individual are arguably the novel's most noticeable theme since the plot of the prose is centered on Ethan’s desire of a lady who isn't his better half. The novel describes ravaging soul of Ethan as he is torn between the obligation to his wife and the desire of his heart. Ethan describes Zeena as the epitome of coldness and despondency. When he saw her before she embarked on her journey to Bettsbridge, he found "the pale light reflected from the banks of snow made her face look more than usually drawn and bloodless (Wharton 39). On the other hand, Wharton’s discerption of Mattie in the eyes of Ethan is related with natural life, warmth, and summer. At the start of the Novel, He perceives Mattie's face as "like a

Motifs are interesting literary devices, treasured by many authors, to make up or help support the plotline of each story written. In the novella Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton, she uses the motif of parallelism of the setting of Starkfield, Massachusetts, and other characters such as Ethan Frome and Mattie Silver, to help describe the way that Starkfield and other factors entangle each character mentally, emotionally, and physically. The importance of this is evident, as it shows during key periods in the story.

An ineffective hero, known as a tragic hero, possesses many characteristics. Ineffective heroes are doomed from the beginning, but most importantly, are wounded physically or emotionally, in most situations, as a result of their own flaws. Ethan Frome of Edith Wharton's novel, Ethan Frome, possesses characteristics of an ineffective hero. He suffers from the beginning of the novel, stuck living with his sick parents, and as a result of his flaws, he marries Zeena and falls for Mattie, resulting in both his physical and emotional fracture. However, Ethan cannot succeed and ultimately suffers, as a result of his neediness.

When Harmon states that Ethan has been in the town of Starkfield too many winters leads to the narrator finding out that Starkfield and the town members become emotionally buried under the snow covered blanket of Starkfield?s winters. Winter in Starkfield is depressing and cold and it seems to rub off on the residents of the town. People of the town say he is cold and depressing, simply because he has been in Starkfield too many winters.

The novel Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton tells the story of Ethan Frome and the tragedy he faces in his life. The story mainly focuses on the relationships between and among Ethan, his wife, and his wife’s cousin, with whom he is in love. Wharton uses different literary devices to develop the plot, including irony as one of the most effective. The use of irony in the novel, especially in the climatic sledding scene, greatly adds to the development of the tragedy.

Ethan's silence is a main symbol in Ethan’s life. Silence is a symbol for Ethan’s cowardly actions. All he wants is laughter and loudness, but he is unable to make that happen. When ever Ethan tries to express his love for Mattie, he falls short. Ethan is very much in love with Mattie, but fails to show it. Ethan is a coward when it comes to making moves with Mattie. When they were alone together, they did not do anything, or advance their relationship in any way. When Ethan talks to Mattie, its his goal to try to say something extreamly romatic to win over her heart. But he says something like “come along.” Ethan is also silent when it comes to Zeena. Zeena took care of Ethan’s mom while she was sick, and Zeena completed him. She was loud, but got silent when Ethan married her. Ethan’s mother died, and in a sense, so did Zeena. Zeena became sick and silent, which weakened her relationship with Ethan. Zeena was no longer need, which silenced