For this reason, the setting of Wharton’s novella, Starkfield, Massachusetts, holds a symbol within its name. Stark, by definition, means “having a very plain and often cold or empty appearance, unpleasant and difficult to accept or experience”(Merriam Webster). This, essentially describes Starkfield perfectly. This town in Massachusetts has a barren and desolate landscape, or, as Wharton describes in the prologue, “When I had been there a little longer, and had seen this phase of crystal clearness followed by long stretches of sunless cold; when the storms of February had pitched their white tents about the devoted village and the wild cavalry of March winds had charged down to their support; I began to understand why Starkfield emerged from its six months’ siege like a starved garrison capitulating without quarter”(6). Here, Wharton portrays Starkfield as a prison under an unrelenting barrage of snow that buries its inhabitants six feet under snow. The town also buries the hopes and dreams of the inhabitants with the desolate and gloomy forces of Mother Nature.The bleak landscape adds a mood of helplessness. All of the inhabitants are, essentially, trapped by the town. Ethan himself had hopes of becoming an engineer, yet was held in the town by his marriage with Zeena and her sickliness, which may have stemmed from the depressing town. In addition to the name of the town, the setting of Ethan Frome symbolizes passion with its use of the color red. Specifically, red is always associated with Mattie Silver; her character is allways wearing red. She wears a red ribbon during Ethan and Mattie’s first dinner alone, and a red scarf at the church dance. In fact, Ethan recognizes Mattie by her scarf whirling around the dance floor. In “Chapter II,” Ethan walks to the church to pick Mattie up from her night of socializing at the
For this reason, the setting of Wharton’s novella, Starkfield, Massachusetts, holds a symbol within its name. Stark, by definition, means “having a very plain and often cold or empty appearance, unpleasant and difficult to accept or experience”(Merriam Webster). This, essentially describes Starkfield perfectly. This town in Massachusetts has a barren and desolate landscape, or, as Wharton describes in the prologue, “When I had been there a little longer, and had seen this phase of crystal clearness followed by long stretches of sunless cold; when the storms of February had pitched their white tents about the devoted village and the wild cavalry of March winds had charged down to their support; I began to understand why Starkfield emerged from its six months’ siege like a starved garrison capitulating without quarter”(6). Here, Wharton portrays Starkfield as a prison under an unrelenting barrage of snow that buries its inhabitants six feet under snow. The town also buries the hopes and dreams of the inhabitants with the desolate and gloomy forces of Mother Nature.The bleak landscape adds a mood of helplessness. All of the inhabitants are, essentially, trapped by the town. Ethan himself had hopes of becoming an engineer, yet was held in the town by his marriage with Zeena and her sickliness, which may have stemmed from the depressing town. In addition to the name of the town, the setting of Ethan Frome symbolizes passion with its use of the color red. Specifically, red is always associated with Mattie Silver; her character is allways wearing red. She wears a red ribbon during Ethan and Mattie’s first dinner alone, and a red scarf at the church dance. In fact, Ethan recognizes Mattie by her scarf whirling around the dance floor. In “Chapter II,” Ethan walks to the church to pick Mattie up from her night of socializing at the