Ethan Frome Tragedy

The Tragic Hero and the Tragic Story in William Shakespeare's Writing Shakespeare's tragedies are, for the most part, stories of one person,

She provides the conflict by causing Ethan’s inner turmoil. She helps move the story along because of the thought she evokes in Ethan such as the thought of leaving his wife. However Ethan’s morals would never let him actually leave his wife supporting the theme of Moral Isolation

The character Ethan Frome in the novella, Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton can be classified as an archetypal tragic hero. Ethan is archetypal, as the issues which confront him are universal. He draws on thoughts, feelings and concerns that have been part of humanity since the start of mankind. Ethan is a tragic hero as he shares in common, some of the characteristics required to be so. Two of these characteristics include that he has a noble stature and that he succumbs to hamartia. While Ethan Frome may not conform to a strict definition of tragic hero to be found in classical literature, he is an archetypal tragic hero nonetheless. What is particularly tragic about Ethan Frome, however, is that in order to be good, he has to be miserable.

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

In //Ethan Frome// Edith Wharton illustrates how Ethan views Zeena versus Mattie through the parallel scenes of when Ethan is greeted by Zeena/Mattie at the door of his farmhouse first coming home from the dance and second coming home from. Although both scenes play out almost identically, Wharton uses the slight differences to emphasize how Ethan sees Mattie as beautiful, submissive, and attractive compared to Zeena who he only sees as an obstacle. As Ethan comes up to the door the first time when Zeena waits for him, he is so infatuated by Mattie that Zeena has become but a hurdle for him to overcome. He even dreams about if a dead vine dangling was a"crape streamer tied to the door for a

We all know the word "passive" means accepting what happens or what people do without trying to change anything or oppose them. Being a passive person, Ethan lives with what is already available rather than pursuit what is new. Deciding to marry Zeena shows his passivity. After his mother's death, Zeena is the only girl exists in front of him. Ethan can leave the farm and go find his true lover, who can make him happy. But because of he is too passive, he decides to marry Zeena immediately. Continuing live on the farm shows Ethan's passivity. Ethan knows that he cannot make money from the farm, but he doesn't want to sell it. Even when he marries Zeena, she suggests Ethan sell the farm and find their luck in another town, but he doesn't listen to her. The narrator states, "When they married it was agreed that, as soon as he could straighten out the difficulties resulting from Mrs. Frome's long illness, they would sell the farm and saw-mill and try their luck in a large town.", and "Perhaps it was the inevitable effect of life on the farm, or perhaps, as she sometimes said, it was because Ethan "never listened.". From these, we can see that Ethan can choose to make an active decision, but he decides to stay with his passivity. He sticks with the farm without doing anything to change it. And one of the flat character in the story says, "Guess he's been in Starkfield too many winters. Most of the smart ones get away.". From this, we can see that he is

Ethan marries Zeena and falls in love with Mattie as a direct response to his neediness for care and company. As well, Ethan also finds it a necessity to be accepted by Starkfield, which compels him to live with Zeena and finally stops him from escaping with Mattie. Ethan’s desire for love and acceptance could have been the outcome of a neglected childhood. He had been caring for his parents from a young age, as Harmon Gow tells the narrator, “Sickness and trouble: that’s what Ethan’s had his plate full up with, ever since the very first helping”(6). Ethan spent most of his life caring for others and possibly lacked love from his own sick parents, which may be the reason for his neediness for society to be both proud of him and others to give him the care, which he had to give up from an early age, taking care of his parents. As many studies show, the young need love and affection in order to help with their self-esteem and it is a vital aspect of one’s mental health. Seeing the outcome of Ethan, a lack of care for the young, may cause detrimental effects on ones life as he or she grows

Many people oppose society due to the surroundings that they face and the obstacles that they encounter. Set in the bleak winter landscape of New England, Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton is the story of a poor, lonely man, his wife Zeena, and her cousin Mattie Silver. Ethan the protagonist in this novel, faces many challenges and fights to be with the one he really loves. Frome was trapped from the beginning ever since Mattie Silver came to live with him and his wife. He soon came to fall in love with her, and out of love with his own wife. He was basically trapped in the instances of his life, society’s affect on the relationship, love, poverty, illness, disability, and life.

Another ironic element of the sledding ride is the appearance of Zeena’s face, Ethan’s wife, during the scene. Ethan and Mattie are speeding down the hill towards the elm to what they believe will be their deaths. In one of the last instants before they reach the tree, Zeena’s face appears to Ethan. “But suddenly his wife’s face, with twisted monstrous lineaments, thrust itself between him and his goal, and he made an instinctive movement to brush it aside”. Ethan seems not to have thought about the effects his death would have on his wife, but this sudden image of his wife suggests that he feels guilty. It is ironic that he uses phrases such as “sullen self-absorption” and “evil energy” to describe his wife. Yet, she is the last person he imagines before he reaches the elm. This moment is one last time that he must brush her aside, as he attempts to break free from Zeena forever.

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton is a novel chock full of symbolism where every line has another meaning, creating another world within the story of Ethan Frome. This inner world has a lot to do with love, and what it really means, and who understands it and who doesn’t. It is a complex inner story that has many twists and turns, and really forces the reader to think outside the box to understand the messages that Edith Wharton was trying to convey. Love and conscience are the plot and strife of Ethan Frome, and really help create a deeper meaning to the book. However, Zeena’s lack of understanding of the concept of love really shines through in everything that Ethan, Zeena, and Mattie do.

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton is set in a small New England town in the early twentieth century. It revolves around three main characters: Ethan Frome, a rural farmer; Zeena Frome, his chronically ill wife; and Mattie Silver, Zeena’s cousin who lives with them in a serving capacity. These characters each have their own journey through this story, but those journeys entwine and affect everyone else with the actions each character takes. Ethan Frome as the title character perhaps has the most important journey in this novel, though, and several recurring themes affect each of his actions and decisions. Marriage, love and desire, and desire versus duty are the themes most guiding Ethan Frome as he works through his feelings for the two women in his life because they define every step of his journey from beginning to end.

When hearing the word Tragedy, it would not be surprising if several different individuals would immediately think of several unique examples of the word. Perhaps one is an opera enthusiast who immediately thinks of Puccini’s La Boheme. Another is a war enthusiast that thinks about History Channel’s new episode highlighting the harshest and bloodiest battles of World War One. Even a third one obsessed with Greek mythology could generate a handful of examples of tragedy. Tragedy, like love or comedy is a universal theme that can be used to entertain, enlighten and excite its audiences. William Shakespeare, a world renown writer, was a master of this genre writing works, including Romeo and Juliet, Othello, and Hamlet. Another lesser known

    By definition, a tragedy is a story that details the downfall of a protagonist. Most often, the protagonist (tragic hero) is a member of high society who is faced with an oppositional force, be it internal or external. In his Poetics, Aristotle states that "tragedy is the imitation of an action; and an action implies personal agents, who necessarily possess certain distinctive qualities both of character and thought; for it is by these that we qualify actions themselves, and these- thought and character- are the two natural causes from which actions spring, and on actions, again all success or failure depends...." This quote illustrates an aspect of tragedy upon which many works are based, including

In the novel Ethan Frome the overall themes are hopes,love,and plans. Ethan is caught in between loving his wife, who is very sick and who makes him angry or loving his wife’s caretaker and cousin, Mattie Silver. When Ethan’s father was sick and eventually died, his mother also became very ill and need someone to take care of her. Zeena answered the call and stayed on the farm until Ethan's mother passed. Ethan married Zeena because he was afraid of silence, just as his mother was. It was a marriage that lacked the most important thing, Love. Ethan need someone to cook and do the things he couldn’t do around the house. For many years that they were married and in a loveless relationship and subsequently Zeena, like Ethan's mother became sick as well, and now Zeena needed a caretaker and help around the house while Ethan was on the farm. They thought Mattie, a young girl would be the perfect choice. When it comes to Ethan's feelings, he does not become unsteady. As the story unfolds we come to find out that Ethan begins to gain feelings for a youthful vigor and beauty, with a sparkling personality Mattie Stevens and comes to develop some hate for Zeena.

The book "Ethan Frome" is written by Edith Wharton and was published in 1991. Ethan Frome is a poor farmer who lives with his hypochondriac wife, Zeena, in the small town of Starkfield, Massachusetts. Zeena falls ill and decides to ask Mattie to live with them and assist her with the housework. Ethan enjoyed Mattie's youthful company from the start and eventually fell in love with her. They begin to spend all of their time together: meanwhile Zeena grows suspicious of their behavior. Zeena comes home from the doctor to find her favorite pickle dish broken and lets Ethan know that she is kicking Mattie out of the house. Ethan wants to run away with Mattie, but his guilty conscious will not allow it. On the way to the train station, Mattie contemplates the hopelessness of their situation and suggests they kill themselves. They plan to sled in to the large elm tree at the bottom of the hill, but they survive. It is ironic that Zeena is left to take care of both crippled Mattie and unhappy Ethan. It seems as though no matter how hard Ethan Frome tries to escape his tragic life, the circumstances will not allow for any change.