Irony In Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome

Poverty is defined as deficiency, or inadequacy. It can be used to represent more than just the lack of money. Poverty is constant throughout the novel, Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton. Poverty is evident in almost every area of Ethan's life.

Edith Wharton’s brief, yet tragic novella, Ethan Frome, presents a crippled and lonely man – Ethan Frome – who is trapped in a loveless marriage with a hypochondriacal wife, Zenobia “Zeena” Frome. Set during a harsh, “sluggish” winter in Starkfield, Massachusetts, Ethan and his sickly wife live in a dilapidated and “unusually forlorn and stunted” New-England farmhouse (Wharton 18). Due to Zeena’s numerous complications, they employ her cousin to help around the house, a vivacious young girl – Mattie Silver. With Mattie’s presence, Starkfield seems to emerge from its desolateness, and Ethan’s vacant world seems to be awoken from his discontented life and empty marriage. And so begins Ethan’s love adventure – a desperate desire to have

Mattie and Ethan never follow their love due to Ethan's morals and the respect he has for his marriage to Zeena. He wants Zeena to be well and he takes care of her when she is ill. Frome’s feelings for Mattie never oscillate and he wants to be with this woman who is not his wife. Even though Ethan only had one night with Mattie alone, he cannot help but think of what he has done as he sits in the kitchen. Mattie presents minority, beauty, and good health- all of which Zeena does not possess. It seems he favors the more hip, young, and beautiful women than dull, boring, and unattractive women.

Edith Wharton, in her novel Ethan Frome, places such an importance in the setting, specifically the locations and climate, that it seems to function as another character. However, upon closer examination of the prologue, it is easy to see that the setting is actually a reflection of Edith Frome’s emotional state. Wharton’s attempts at linking location and climate to Ethan are aided by her skillful use of a number of rhetorical devices ultimately underscoring his brokenness, isolation/imprisonment, and hopelessness. In the prologue, Edith Wharton uses a variety of rhetorical devices, such as diction and similes, to highlight the reflection of Ethan’s brokenness in the setting. Ethan is described as “the ruin of a man,” “bleak and unapproachable,” and “bent out of shape,” which all create an image of damaged goods.

 In the novel Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton, the character of Ethan Frome plays an important role in the development of the rest of the book. He has several character traits which distinguish him from the other main characters. Also, there are many factors which play against him throughout the novel.

In Edith Wharton’s novel, Ethan Frome, one major critical theory revolves around the psychological criticism. The novel revolves around this critical theory because Wharton wanted the reader to observe how the setting becomes dependent on the emotional state of the character and vice versa. Throughout the novel, Wharton makes changes to the environment to represent Ethan’s fondness for certain characters. On the contrary, Wharton displays how the setting directly influences Ethan’s mental state. As the reader perceives this influence that each character has on Ethan Frome, they can develop an understanding of the relationships established in the novel. This critical theory will be expressed throughout the literary analysis paper, specifically in the Novel Summary section and Literary Criticism sections. The following text will analyze the drastic changes in the environment and compare it to Ethan’s mental state.

In Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton illustrates the constant confines of poverty and the immobility of social classes. On multiple occasions, she describes the desperation of the Fromes and how their extreme lack of finances limit every part of their life. Ethan repeatedly attempts to find ways to escape his oppressive life, but every time his poverty restrains him. Ultimately, he cannot move location or social class because due to his preexisting poverty. Through this, Wharton shows the reader that lack of money means total lack of possibilities.

Rights are important to everyone's well being. Women’s rights are important rights that have been long fought for. The desire to be treated equal. Feminism is a key role in the book Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton. In the novel Ethan Frome feminism is established through a parallel between Edith Wharton's life and Ethan Frome her novel.

Some believe destiny can be changed while others believe that destiny cannot be averted. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton is the perfect example of how he was in control of his destiny but throughout his life, allows the woman make all the decisions. Ethan could have changed his destiny by being honest, resuming the role of a husband, and not letting society get into the way of his desires.

Ethan and Mattie went sledding one day and went down a couple of times and the last time they were about to go down he was talking about how much he loved Mattie and it was in the tone of a goodbye which hints they are attempting suicide. They start sledding down and hit a tree which did not kill them but seriously injured them and without the medicine and tools we have today they would have to live that way forever. Dialogue from the book and movie indicates that it was suicide which was; ”She put her lips close against his ear to say: "Right into the big elm. You said you could. So 't we'd never have to leave each other any more." "Why, what are you talking of? You're crazy!" "I'm not crazy; but I will be if I leave you."” (Wharton). The author then implicates the ironic twist into the story, Mattie unable to walk and Ethan barely able to walk, live the rest of their lives under the care of Zeena who is now healthy. From the beginning of the book Zeena was the unhealthy one and being taken care of, but now nearing the end after the “accident” she is the one taking care of Ethan and Mattie which gives her a bit of a bittersweet feeling, thinking they deserved it for treating her the way they did before the

Ethan Frome is a novel written by author Edith Wharton, published in 1911.It tells the story of a man named Ethan Frome and his life in Starkfield Massachusetts. In the novel Ethan faces tough and hard decisions that need to be made. Ethan’s ill wife has a cousin that acts as a caregiver, the problem and tough decision making comes in when Ethan starts to lose love for his wife Zeena and starts to fall in love with her cousin Mattie. While he deals with these decisions the question of morality comes in to play. The question is what does it means to be moral in the novel? To be moral in the novel means to be “concerned with the principals of right and wrong behavior and the goodness or badness of human character” while in the novel the

Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome Edith Wharton has succeeded in creating a place, which by its very name, is isolated and desolate - a "mute melancholy landscape", which unrelentingly consumes those within, preventing them from ever escaping its grasp. Furthermore, Wharton's novel delves into the human psyche, to give a glimpse of manipulation and entrapment. The prevailing mood is continually bleak and tragic, with only brief interludes of hope and romance, which are quickly ruined. Indeed, the main characters are often portrayed as victims; of their life, destiny and of their harsh surroundings.

The novel Ethan Frome written by Edith Wharton is a classic novel of the early 1900’s. Wharton created a novel that is only fully comprehended in the cold winter months with snow swirling outside your home as you read with a cup of hot tea to warm you. It is an icy writing, with many different thoughts to extract from it. A main theme in this novel is society and morality are obstacles to the fulfillment of desire(SparkNotes: Ethan Frome Themes.) I agree with this yet I argue the main theme is that your circumstances determine your contentment. Through the stifling force of winter, Ethan’s alternating moods based mainly off of Mattie, and Zeena’s disappearing illnesses, it will be proven that their circumstances determined their contentment.

Ethan Frome, a story written by Edith Wharton is a story about the sad life about Ethan Frome. He is a man who has a life filled with problems and shows a man pursuing happiness. Isolation is something that affects Ethan’s life drastically. In Ethan Frome, Wharton shows Ethan being negatively affected physically and mentally by his isolation in Starkfield.

Edith Wharton’s classic tale, Ethan Frome, is an excellent example of drama literature. This book contains many exciting and dramatic moments that keep the reader interested. All of the traumatic events lead to a tragedy in the end of the book. The main characters in this book are Ethan Frome, Mattie Silver, and Zeena Frome. Ethan Frome is set in the town of Starkfield, Massachusetts and probably takes place around the early 1900s. All of the characters fates are determined by decisions they have made prior in the story. Lessons play a very important role in Wharton’s Ethan Frome, as the character’s fates make the reader sympathize for them, pass negative judgements on them, and learn from their mistakes.