The Witch Wins in Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

Ethan is a victim of his social and physical environment, because in the book it says that Frome was poor, and that the saw-mill and the arid acres of his farm yielded scarcely

When Ethan passes by his family’s graveyard, the narrator says, “For years that quiet company had mocked his restlessness, his desire for change and freedom” (Wharton 30). Ethan reflects on his year attending college in Worcester and working for an engineer in Florida before his marriage to Zeena. After his marriage, Ethan makes plans to move with Zeena to a big city where they can “see the world,” yet his circumstances stand in his way of his success (Wharton 42). Ethan never forgets his desire for a better life. The fifty-two year old Ethan Frome continues to buy a copy of the Bettsbridge Eagle, a magazine that tantalizingly displays ads for “Trips to the West,” business success stories, and the latest scientific discoveries (Wharton 9). However, as the young Ethan grows wiser and realizes the impossibility of life beyond Starkfield, his dream

The two were ultimately different in the beginning of the story but eventually Mattie has to endure what Zeena did and it makes Mattie more alike to Zeena. Irony is seen since in the beginning it may have seemed that Zeena had a terrible life but in the end Mattie was the one stripped of all that she

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,

Elizabeth Ammons writes in her essay “Ethan Frome as a Fairy Tale,” that “Ethan Frome is designed to be read like a fairy tale” (Ammons 138). Although the novel itself is bleak and a little dark, we still recognize the characters as ones from the fairy tale Snow White. In the novel Mattie Silver comes to live with Ethan and Zeena. Mattie takes care of Zeena along with the household chores. When Mattie and Ethan begin to fall for each other Zeena notices. The silent tension in the house grows greater and greater every day Mattie is in the house. In a search for their fairytale ending the two try to take their own lives, little did they know it would lead to nothing but misery. In her novel Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton

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

Her feelings of isolation are only intensified by the apparent lack of emotion and affection she receives from her husband Ethan, followed by the betrayal and pain accompanied with becoming aware of Ethan’s passion for Mattie as opposed to her. In another light, Mattie’s feelings of loneliness are less developed throughout the novel, but still heavily apparent. She is orphaned and practically family-less when she seeks refuge from her isolation in the ironically desolate Starkfield farm and mill of the Frome’s. Mattie becomes so completely consumed with the fear of losing this only source of companionship, when Zeena appeals to have her essentially thrown out of their household that Mattie resorts to the ideal that suicide would be better than having to return to a world of solitude. On the surface, Mattie and Zeena appear to have little in common, but on the internal level these two share more than most.

Ethan Frome written by Edith Wharton was an astounding yet surprising novel. The theme that really stood out the most in this story was courage. Throughout the story Ethan has to build the courage to deal with his feminine conflicts that change his outlook towards other characters. The discussion of characters and their choices will take place throughout this essay too.

People have many dreams that they want to accomplish during their lifespan on earth. However, not all of the dreams can be fulfilled. The dreams and desires of a person can be hindered by interfering forces which might be external, social and environmental factors, or internal like lack of will. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton demonstrates how social factors, including rules and expectations, and environmental factors such as weather and landscape, hindered the protagonist from accomplishing his dreams. These factors together with his lack of will, played a major role in the tragedies of Ethan.

Throughout the novel, Ethan Frome’s sense of responsibility lives strong enough in him to forget about his own happiness with Mattie, to stay with his wife Zeena, and to take care of the town when all of the others have passed away. In Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome, Ethan’s sense of responsibility to his wife and land prevents him from achieving true happiness and causes his ultimate emotional death.

Felipe Armesto once said, “Every hero is somebody else’s villain”. Every individual who considers someone to be a hero can also be portrayed as a villain. In the novel, Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton she portrays her male protagonist as both a hero and a villain. As a result, the reader can view the plot as any other human who can make mistakes. Ethan Frome a tragic hero whose greatest challenge is finding true happiness in his life. This observation presents the question: how can an individual play both roles where someone could feel sympathy for him, but also show contempt? It is this emotional reaction that the reader has for the protagonist that makes this more appreciable by a contemporary audience.

As previously stated imagery concerning Mattie is very warm and summer-like. Mattie's face seems to Ethan like "a window that has caught the sunset". Her effect on Ethan was likened to " spring rills in a thaw". Mattie's mood changes were, to Ethan "the flit of a bird in the branches.". When Ethan puts his arm around Mattie when they are walking home it seemed that they "were floating on a summer stream." When Mattie tells Ethan that she would never want to leave his house, "The iron heavens seemed to melt and rain down sweetness."

Edith Wharton uses Mattie to express isolation and being lonely. She comes to the country with ribbons in her hair and more joy in herself. She wanted to free Ethan from the terrible society he lived in. Life in Starkfield is bleak and boring. No one comes outside or enjoys themselves. This is mainly why Ethan wants to escape the barren and poor neighborhood. Ethan is also isolated as well. He opposes society mainly because he cannot be with the one he loves and he doesn’t want to ruin his marriage to Zeena as well. When Zeena falls ill, she goes to the doctor for a couple of days and returns only to find her expensive china now ruined. Angry, she tells Ethan that she needs more hired help and plans to send Mattie away. Upset, Ethan did not know what to do . He decided to write a letter to Zeena telling her to run the farm and be by herself. However, he

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 Ethan's perpetual lack of control over his destiny through Nature which binds him to Starkfield with no hope of escape. Nature always has control over his life, and even when he attempts to take back any control over his life, it unrelentingly oppresses him. In the prologue, Wharton establishes that Winter dominates Starkfield like a military, blockading the people into isolation. Nature's winter surrounds the people and sends the "wild cavalry of March winds" to assist "the storms of February" that