Wharton's Use Of Tone In Ethan Frome By Edith Wharton

Ethan Frome is in the unfortunate predicament of living a life with a woman he no longer desires, or perhaps had never desired in the first place. His heart belongs to another woman, yet he has no choice but to stay with his present wife, for a multitude of reasons that include those relating to himself and those that come from the pressure to do what’s expected of him. Ethan’s inability to properly assess and express his innermost feelings, both because of his own lack of self-confidence as well as societal expectations, leaves him stuck in a loveless marriage, forcing him to choose between his wife and the woman he has feelings for. Wharton uses tone to show Ethan’s dismay about his love life. When viewing the dance scene from outside, Ethan notes how odd it is that Mattie could dance with Denis “without appearing to feel the offence of his look and touch” (Wharton, 13). Ethan’s tone here is one of disgust. He regards Denis Eady disdainfully and wonders why Mattie doesn’t feel the same. He can’t be vocal about his antagonism toward Denis and confront Mattie about why she regards him as an acquaintance because of the implications of a married man being curious about the affairs of a young woman, so he stays silent and watches the …show more content…
When Ethan is sledding down the hill in hopes of slamming into the big elm tree at the bottom, “suddenly his wife’s face, with twisted monstrous lineaments, thrust itself between him and his goal, and he made an instinctive movement to brush it aside” (72). Even after Ethan had rashly decided to end his life with Mattie alongside him, he couldn’t help but think of his wife and perhaps what she would think. This moment of insecurity is very telling because it shows how indecisive Ethan is and how he hadn’t completely accepted leaving Zeena to fend for