How Does Edith Wharton Create Suspense In Ethan Frome

Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome is structured specifically to create an aura of suspense and thrill. The prologue acts to give a fleeting insight to the mysterious character of Ethan Frome, but intentionally neglects to offer an explanation as to why he is in his current condition, thus keeping the audience on their toes. Such strategies used by Wharton create an overall effect of mystery and confusion until the very end. The switch of point of view to third person omniscient puts readers in a front row view of the lives of Ethan, Mattie, and Zeena, but prohibits them from knowing the characters’ true thoughts, keeping the level of suspense high. Wharton establishes a sorrowful mood in the novella by paralleling the weather with Ethan’s feelings and situation. The winter season and cold reality of Ethan’s life work together to initiate a feeling of misery in the reader’s minds. Both the structure and literary techniques utilized by Edith Wharton effectively place the reader in a rollercoaster of emotions and suspense, a feeling that lines up with the actual plot of the novella.
The suspenseful storyline begins with a mysterious prologue, and an unnamed narrator watches Ethan Frome. The information on Frome is …show more content…
The inability to surely know what exactly is going in their minds creates suspense in the readers since they are always guessing. Since “the narrator was not present during the crucial events of twenty-years earlier when Ethan Frome’s love affair and mash-up occurred” (Shreve page viii), he pieces together the information he received with his observations. He imagines Ethan Frome’s story, and tells it in his point of view. Therefore, the information relayed to the readers is also minimal, intensifying the