Ethan Frome, a fiction novel written by Edith Wharton relies on the setting of Starkfield, Massachusets to shape its inhabitants’ lives, their behaviors, and decisions. Starkfield provides a cold, lonely, and dark, isolated atmosphere, allowing Wharton to portray the characters in the novel as miserable and feeling trapped. The characters’ lives become unwanted, broken records similar to the continuous and never changing setting and climate of Starkfield. The use of imagery illustrated in the novel prolongs this repetitiveness and results in the demise of all of the characters, from the beginning of the novel until the very last page. The main character, Ethan Frome suffers from his loveless marriage within lifeless Starkfield, but no matter
…show more content…
Thus, the “Starkfield chronicle” follows Ethan Frome through his struggle to enjoy life and break through the figurative gray clouds that restrain him to his repetitive daily existence (Wharton 4). As Ethan’s love for his cousin Mattie grows while in the presence of his unbearable wife Zeena, he fights to break normalcy in his life and show his affection towards Mattie. Ultimately, the never changing setting and climate parallels life in the Frome household as it is the factor that halts the characters from evolving. As Ethan attempts to veer away from Zeena, color and warmth gradually appear when he is with Mattie, but never last long enough for Ethan to taste a long lasting change. Repetition of Ethan’s life already exists, but the joy he experiences with Mattie also comes and goes. Unfortunately, Ethan “is a part of the mute melancholy landscape, an incarnation of its frozen woe, with all that was warm and sentient in him fast bound below the surface” (Wharton 5). The description of Starkfield is a metaphor for Ethan’s life as Starkfield prevents Ethan from feeling alive with Mattie by burying him under the cold snow and ice, which symbolizes his …show more content…
His mind, body, and soul are manifested by his surroundings on the farm and the dullness of Starkfield that he feels he has no control over his life. According to Ethan, “his heart was bound with cords which an unseen hand was tightening with every tick of the clock” (Wharton 63). Not only does this quote infer that Ethan’s heart is torn and restrained by Zeena from experiencing love with Mattie, but when the pickle dish breaks and Ethan picks up the pieces, he tries to release and mend his heart. After the dish breaks and “the shattered fragments of their evening lay there,” it is only a reminder that this is not the first nor the last time Ethan will metaphorically attempt to fix his life and fill it with excitement. (Wharton 35). The fact that Mattie pulls down the pickle dish that Zeena never uses from the shelf to use at dinner symbolizes Ethan’s quest for a new beginning, but when the dish breaks, Starkfields evil reality sets back in and Zeena gets in the middle of the situation just before Ethan can take delight in
Thus, the “Starkfield chronicle” follows Ethan Frome through his struggle to enjoy life and break through the figurative gray clouds that restrain him to his repetitive daily existence (Wharton 4). As Ethan’s love for his cousin Mattie grows while in the presence of his unbearable wife Zeena, he fights to break normalcy in his life and show his affection towards Mattie. Ultimately, the never changing setting and climate parallels life in the Frome household as it is the factor that halts the characters from evolving. As Ethan attempts to veer away from Zeena, color and warmth gradually appear when he is with Mattie, but never last long enough for Ethan to taste a long lasting change. Repetition of Ethan’s life already exists, but the joy he experiences with Mattie also comes and goes. Unfortunately, Ethan “is a part of the mute melancholy landscape, an incarnation of its frozen woe, with all that was warm and sentient in him fast bound below the surface” (Wharton 5). The description of Starkfield is a metaphor for Ethan’s life as Starkfield prevents Ethan from feeling alive with Mattie by burying him under the cold snow and ice, which symbolizes his …show more content…
His mind, body, and soul are manifested by his surroundings on the farm and the dullness of Starkfield that he feels he has no control over his life. According to Ethan, “his heart was bound with cords which an unseen hand was tightening with every tick of the clock” (Wharton 63). Not only does this quote infer that Ethan’s heart is torn and restrained by Zeena from experiencing love with Mattie, but when the pickle dish breaks and Ethan picks up the pieces, he tries to release and mend his heart. After the dish breaks and “the shattered fragments of their evening lay there,” it is only a reminder that this is not the first nor the last time Ethan will metaphorically attempt to fix his life and fill it with excitement. (Wharton 35). The fact that Mattie pulls down the pickle dish that Zeena never uses from the shelf to use at dinner symbolizes Ethan’s quest for a new beginning, but when the dish breaks, Starkfields evil reality sets back in and Zeena gets in the middle of the situation just before Ethan can take delight in