Starkfield Massachusetts: A Character Analysis

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 the novel, Ethan Frome, there are two women that are apart of Ethan Frome’s pitiable existence, Zeena and Mattie. There are both acutely different from each other but they also share some similarities between themselves. Zeena and Mattie are different in many ways in the matter of appearance, their outlook on life, and their interest in Ethan Frome but eventually it shows towards the end of the novel that Mattie is not so much distinct from these qualities after “the smash up”.

Ethan Frome and his wife, Zenobia (Zeena), never really know what true love feels like because they are both very lonely people. They meet when Zeena is caring for Ethan’s mother; due to their loneliness, they mistake the bizarre feeling of companionship for love. Ethan marries Zeena, not because he is in love, but because he does not want to be alone and he feels like he owes it to her for everything she is doing for him. She is aware of this and claims, “...you grudged me the money to get back my health, when I lost it nursing your own mother! And my folks all told me at the time you couldn 't do no less than marry me after—” (Wharton 83). In addition to Zeena saying that Ethan

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

     The novel, Ethan Frome, was mostly centered around the desires of three people, Ethan Frome, Zeena Frome, and Mattie Silver. Ethan and Zeena have a passionless marriage, which makes it hard for Ethan to feel loved. So Ethan decides to turn to someone else someone that has a mutual desire for him, Mattie Silver. Ethan and Mattie had deep passion for one another despite the fact that Ethan is married to Mattie’s cousin Zenna. They been trying to hide their feelings from the out side world, but their feelings for one another take over. They decided that if they couldn’t be together now than they would be together in the after life. After Zenna chooses to kick Mattie out of their home Ethan says that he will drive Mattie to the train station. It is then they decide to try and commit suicide. They sled right into a tree at the bottom of the hill they had stopped to sled on. They both lived but were hurt very badly. This just proves to show how immense a desire for another human can become. It can take over your thoughts and actions leaving you to feel hopeless and aspirated at the same time.

(P1) In Aria Beth Sloss’ short story, “North, the narrative is told from the perspective of a child as he/she talks about his/her parents. The narrator opens the piece by telling the reader that his/her father, Thomas, was an explorer who left for an expedition and “was never heard from again” (Sloss 2). The narrative then continues into a description of the relationship between the father and mother. The mother, Mary, was considered a “wild woman” (Sloss 5) growing up. Her family had concerns that she was unsuitable for any man. Upon meeting each other, the narrator’s mother and father found common ground in that they both loved adventure and had “a habit of disappearing” (Sloss 5). As the story progresses into the couple’s married life, the father is described to be a man “in love” (Sloss 7) with the wilderness like a “schoolboy” (Sloss 7). He cannot be home from expeditions long without getting restless.  As days pass, the father spends his time planning his next adventure, a hot air balloon ride to the Arctic, something that he claims will “write his name beside Darwin’s in the history books” (Sloss 13). The father does not tell Mary of his plans and she does not tell him of the loneliness that has struck her “sudden as a storm” (Sloss 13) from his lack of presence. One day though, Mary and Thomas have sex and Mary feels as though “something dangerous is running through her” (Sloss 21). Days later, she learns she is pregnant, but does not get to tell her husband as he

When his mother, too, had fallen ill, Ethan had had no time for “convivial loiterings in the village” (Wharton 61). Once a social and admired man, Ethan now lives in a life of solitude and silence. After his mother fell ill, “the loneliness of the house grew more oppressive than that of the fields” (Wharton 61). His mother had been a talker in her day, but after her illnesses, the sound of her voice was seldom heard. When asked why, her answer would be “because [she was] listening” or “they’re talking so [loud] out there that I can’t hear you” (Wharton 61). Towards the end of her illnesses, Zenobia Pierce came to help Ethan. It was only then that Zeena’s volubility was “music in his ears”, relieving him of the “mortal silence of his long imprisonment” (Wharton 61). After his mother’s death, Ethan married Zeena, hoping to rid him of the loneliness of the farm. However, Zeena, too, eventually fell silent, and Ethan must take of her like he once did for his mother. In addition, irony also takes place during Ethan and Mattie’s first evening together. Zeena, being a hypochondriac claims that her “shooting pains” have gotten more severe and therefore must leave to Bettsbridge to see a new doctor, leaving Ethan and Mattie alone. On what should have been a romantic idyll, the evening is in fact stressful and

Ethan being very needy marries Zeena, and once she turns cold, Ethan suffers. Ethan had been very lonely, living with his sickly mother.

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.

Powerful and well-crafted novels spin from archaic yet timeless tales. Thus leaving readers to find their solace between the conflicts and turmoil within the plot. A vast majority of stories contain paradoxical themes and morals that consequently, temporarily confuse the reader, and creating their interpretation of the novel. The Time Traveler’s Wife contains themes of love, fate against free will, time, and more messages written between the lines. Henry DeTamble has a genetic disorder called Chrono-Displacement, which causes him to become temporarily displaced in time against his will. Therefore, it is possible to meet his determined soulmate, Clare Abshire when she is six, and he is thirty-eight- also when she is twenty, and he is twenty-eight. Alternating between childhood and adulthood perspectives, Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife contains a problematic love story that portrays the consequences of isolation due to a predetermined belief in love, evident in Clare’s monotonous life. Moreover, the novel illustrates that living according to destiny oppresses a fulfilling lifetime. Many instances throughout the book that demonstrate this are The List, Alba’s conception, and Henry’s final letter.

“I never had a policy; I have just tried to do my very best each and every day” (Abraham Lincoln). Abraham Lincoln made it a personal goal of his to do the right thing, no matter what. In the novel, Montana 1948, by Larry Watson, Sheriff Hayden attempts to do the same thing. David, the son of Sheriff Hayden, shares his story on how his uncle, Frank, has been raping Native American women. Sheriff Hayden didn’t know whether or not to arrest Frank because he was his brother that he grew up with. Later he found out there was way more to the story, Frank murdered Marie, their maid, whom they considered a part of their family. Making the difficult decision of arresting Frank, Frank is kept in Sheriff Hayden's basement until he could find a jail

One of the most important themes in the book ‘Ethan Frome’ is one way or another you reap what you sow. Many tragedies occur in the life of Ethan Frome time to time and although some are inevitable , other just simply occur because of his actions and mistakes. From the initiation , Ethan was surrounded by illness and in the end of the book he was forced to watch for his wife and wife’s disabled cousin. Nonetheless , Ethan Frome suffered all around for his actions.

In the beginning of the story, we are introduced to a woman named Alice, whom has been divorced 2 times and is currently on her 3rd marriage with a man named Mr. Waythorn. Mr. Waythorn is happy with his new wife and is not bothered by the fact that she has already been married twice. Certain situations arise so that Mr. Waythorn bumps into both of Alice’s previous husbands. He is uncomfortable meeting them at first however; he begins to have a new understanding of his wife. When Waythorn meets Mr. Haskett, one of Alice’s ex’s, he becomes disturbed that he is kind and tender person who seems to show a real gentleness to his daughter.

“Shallow men believe in luck or in circumstance. Strong men believe in cause and effect.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson). In the novel Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton, it tells a story of a futile love between Ethan Frome and Mattie Silver. Ethan Frome was born on a farm in Starkfield, Massachusetts and has spent nearly the totality of his life there. He went away to college at Worchester but begrudgingly, returned after his father’s death and stayed to take care of his mother whose health was rapidly declining. That’s when he met his wife, Zeena, a woman seven years his senior, who came to his home to help his ailing mother. Due to uncontrollable external and internal forces they married. As for Mattie Silver, she was a daughter of a cousin of Zeena’s from Connecticut. Mattie’s father led the family to believe that they had a thriving business, but after he passed the family found out he made poor investments and because of that all their money was gone. Then after Mattie’s mother died, she was left with fifty dollars and the sale of a piano to her name, jumping from relative to relative hoping to have somewhere to stay. (Wharton 31). Once she meets Ethan, while Zeena and her family are quite cold to Mattie, Ethan shows her sympathy and compassion. Within this novel there is a loving and passionate force that tears apart the household. Ethan had many dreams that are now scattered in the wind and lost due to the prospects of time. There is a multitude of aspects of