Starkfield as Hell in "Ethan Frome" by Edith Wharton Essay

The irony occurs in the story as Mattie ends up reminding Ethan of his wife, Zeena. Rather than being the lovely Mattie like she was before the sledding accident, Mattie now complains about her conditions. She is always bossy and condescending towards Ethan. In the beginning of the story, the author symbolizes Zeena like the cold winter, and she portrays Mattie like the warm spring sunshine (40). However, this symbolism turns out to be misleading. Frome begins to see some foreshowing of Mattie becoming like his wife when she is first alone with Ethan in the kitchen ( 53). Finally, as the story concludes, Mattie has now become the whining and complaining one (115). The irony of the story is that the two women turn out to be different after the smash-up. The idiom that says the grass is always greener on the other side turns out not to be true for Ethan. Zeena now behaves like the one who is the most caring and loving. She does away with all of her complaining to care for the two invalids. Mattie, on the other hand, has become like Zeena once was. Mattie has become the one who is like the cold harsh

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.

By taking the reader through Ethan Frome’s winding emotional journey, Edith Wharton in Ethan Frome, examines the effects of both physical, as well as emotional isolation on the human condition. The novel is set in the frigid winter, likely in the late 1800’s, in the rural, secluded, fictional town of Starkfield, Massachusetts. Ethan’s downtrodden farm is on the outskirts of this already remote, small community. Wharton strategically uses the isolated setting, Ethan’s unmitigated poverty and his loveless marriage, to cut her protagonist off from desperately needed meaningful connections. First, the failing health of his elderly parents forces Ethan to forego his dreams of a urban engineering career, to return to his isolated rural farm,

“There was no way out- none. He was a prisoner for life, and now his one ray of light to be extinguished”(Wharton 29). Miserable routines caused by terrible occurrences trappes Ethan Frome every single day. Edith Wharton opposes the idea of following any routine. Wharton expresses that routines and cycles prevent a person from expressing their own desires or achieving their personal goals in life. These cycles prohibit a person from seeing changes within their environment and possible opportunities that could improve their life. Even if a person breaks free from a routine, an endless amount of reasons exist to pull them back in. Ethan Frome momentarily escapes from his daily routine to pursue his education, but not far into this break he has to return in order to help his family. Ethan Frome somehow found a way out of his miserable routine, but failed to take that exit; resulting in a life much worse than before. Finding a way out seems like a reasonable solution to escape bad situations, but taking such a great risk to completely change one’s entire life, seems nearly impossible for any citizens of Starkfield. In the novella, Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton exemplifies how routines deny a person from reaching their full potential through the constant pull Ethan and other members of Starkfield receive to follow their normal, average routine and not follow their desires.

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

     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.

in to take care of his mother. He never did return to the college to

In the story Ethan is married to Zeena while he is in love with her cousin, Mattie Silver, that lives with them at the moment. In the book it states, “All his life was lived in the sight and sound of Mattie Silver, and he could no longer conceive of its being otherwise”(Wharton 49). To what was stated before, Ethan was in love with Mattie. He felt that his marriage with Zeena was dead and there was no fixing it. The second cited text states, “He was a poor man, the husband of a sickly woman, whom his desertion would leave alone and destitute; and even if he had had the heart to desert her he could have done so only by deceiving two kindly people who had pitied him” (97). Ethan was going to leave Zeena and move out West with Mattie, but he would have to hurt two friends to do that. This whole book really falls under the theme of courage. Ethan took bold measures to do what was right verses following his heart and hurting people that felt for him. Courage is to be defined as, “Strength in the face of pain or grief”(google). Ethan stayed courageous throughout the whole book by not following his heart and

With reference to at least two characters in the novel Ethan Frome, show in detail how Wharton uses setting to reflect character.

Wharton describes a still and serene snow scene to depict the entire mood of Starkville, the dull town where Ethan lives. Wharton shows that before Mattie arrives, Ethan continues a monotonous and bleak life at his vaccant farm with little human interaction. The white, dull, and cold snow represents the emotionless life that Ethan experiences. There is no color or hope, like sprigtime, in Ethan’s life. His future holds more of the same harsh and bitter lifestyle on his farm, while he cares for his lifelong companion, Zeena. Wharton uses the white snow as a way to further understand the rut Ethan

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.

Literature is compiled of a multitude of ways the phrases can be interpreted by the one invested into the story through different views and experiences. In Edith Wharton’s novella Ethan Frome, symbols are evident throughout, but every one of them can have numerous meanings depending on the angle a reader makes. The symbol of the pickle dish can be derived to symbolize the unhappiness and delusion in someone’s life and rebellion from the familiar every day actions.

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.

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton is a fictional novel detailing the story of a young Ethan Frome. He is in a dilemma as he cannot choose who he wishes to spend the remains of his life with. In Starkfield, Massachusetts, Ethan lives with his sickly wife Zenobia and her cousin, Mattie Silver. Mattie was instructed to assist the Fromes at their house and over time, Ethan begins to develop affection towards Mattie. A conflict arises as Zeena wishes to replace Mattie with another girl who she thinks would be of a greater help than Mattie. Ethan must decide whether he is going to stay and care for his wife or move away with the new and true love of his life. Ethan will embark a journey throughout the story as it is difficult to express his love for Mattie

An Analysis of Ethan Frome In Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome, characters survive during the turn of the century in the bleak town of Starksfield, Massachusetts. The time period presents several challenges; the societal expectations of the time period limits Ethan Frome and Mattie, as well as the opportunities presented to them b oth. In Ethan's case, he does not have access to as many educational opportunities because of his poverty. He lives in a time where many of them are only available to the wealthy. He is also expected to stay with his sick wife in spite of his indifference to her.