Edith Wharton intertwines color symbolism in her novel Ethan Frome to provide descriptions about the characters and their personalities. Ethan, Zeena, and Mattie are symbolized by colors many times throughout Ethan Frome, and are all symbolized by a specific color as well. Zeena is representative of the color black, as it represents her darkness. Mattie is representative of the colors white and red, as it shows her effervescent personality, but reveals her turbulent side as well. The color grey represents Ethan, and his inability to choose between black and white; it shows his despondent and repugnance.
The color black is representative of Zeena: cold, dark, and mean. It symbolizes death and despair; almost like evil, how she prospers when other people suffer. It is dark like the nights of Starkfield winters. “The light, on a level with her chin, drew out of the darkness her puckered throat and the projecting wrist of the hand that clutched the quilt… ” (Wharton 47). This shows her grotesque look and in a way her attitude towards life. She doesn’t look good, feel good, and doesn’t treat others …show more content…
She also possesses the color red however, which shows her rebellious side, and habit to succumb to temptation.“... He remembered how everything looked: the red-and-white quilt on her narrow bed… ” (Wharton 147). This is just an example of Edith Wharton using the colors red and white to symbolize Mattie. Mattie is symbolized with red many times, mainly through her red scarf and the red ribbon through her hair. Even right at the start of the story, Ethan is trying to catch a glimpse of Mattie’s face Another quite obvious color symbolization is Mattie’s last name, “Silver”. Silver is like white and shows her ebullient perky side, and connects her to the beautiful white fluffy snow of Starkfield. This and many others is how the colors red and white coincide with Mattie, and describe her character and
The color black is representative of Zeena: cold, dark, and mean. It symbolizes death and despair; almost like evil, how she prospers when other people suffer. It is dark like the nights of Starkfield winters. “The light, on a level with her chin, drew out of the darkness her puckered throat and the projecting wrist of the hand that clutched the quilt… ” (Wharton 47). This shows her grotesque look and in a way her attitude towards life. She doesn’t look good, feel good, and doesn’t treat others …show more content…
She also possesses the color red however, which shows her rebellious side, and habit to succumb to temptation.“... He remembered how everything looked: the red-and-white quilt on her narrow bed… ” (Wharton 147). This is just an example of Edith Wharton using the colors red and white to symbolize Mattie. Mattie is symbolized with red many times, mainly through her red scarf and the red ribbon through her hair. Even right at the start of the story, Ethan is trying to catch a glimpse of Mattie’s face Another quite obvious color symbolization is Mattie’s last name, “Silver”. Silver is like white and shows her ebullient perky side, and connects her to the beautiful white fluffy snow of Starkfield. This and many others is how the colors red and white coincide with Mattie, and describe her character and