Edith Wharton

Edith Wharton Edith Wharton was born Edith Newbold Jones into the wealthy family of George Frederic Jones and Lucretia Rhinelander on January 24 1862 in New York City. She had two brothers, Frederick and Henry. When Edith was four years old they moved to Europe, spending the next five years of their life traveling throughout Italy, Spain, Germany and France. Edith continued her education under private tutors back in New York. She learned French and German, and she studied literature, philosophy,…

In Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, Ethan is shown to have many internal and external problems. This brings the question, “What is the primary cause for these problems?” into the readers mind. Many readers would say it is Zeena and her illness always bringing Ethan down. Some people say it is Maddie leading him on to get with her. The real source of all of Ethan’s problems is where he lives, Starkfield. Starkfield has basically ruined Ethan’s chance of true happiness from the beginning by holding…

Starkfield; where “the vitality of the climate and the deadness of the community” perfectly affects a place where nature is the ruling factor (Wharton 7). Edith Wharton 's Ethan Frome depicts a town that is heavily affected by nature and through her rich language, Wharton creates a world that is abundant with imagery, but lacking in the development of characters. It 's people are a product of their environment and thus cannot escape it 's role in their lives. Thus nature in the novel is…

Sweeping POV: The Reason Behind The Three Narrators The title character from Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome is an enigma. His memory of when he visited Florida (the one time he actually left Starkfield) is buried under the monotonous experience of dealing with the snow year in and year out. When an unnamed engineer stays in town due to a union strike, he asks around and finds out bits and pieces of Frome’s life out of curiosity. Two important people he asks are Harmon Gow and Mrs. Hale. They’re…

the House of Mirth, wants to have a happy life with “wealthy and true love” . However, she never gets what she needs even until the last day of her life. The main reason that leads to her tragedy is the society perspective. Written in 1905 by Edith Wharton, the House of Mirth depicts a full character of Lily - a twenty-nine years old lady. Lily is well conscious…

With bountiful snowfall and harsh winters, Edith Wharton establishes an inhospitable setting for her piece of literature, Ethan Frome, which gives the book a frigid and depressing atmosphere. The cold nature of the book explains the protagonist’s, Ethan Frome’s, need to search for companionship in other people. The fear of existing alone and forgotten in the gelid winter appears to be too much to bear for Ethan Frome. He pounces on the first opportunity that arises and marries his mother’s…

Zeena to marry him, even though he did not love her. Years later, Zeena’s cousin Mattie Silver came to live with the Fromes after her father’s death, and Ethan realized he loved Mattie, even though he was still married to Zeena. In Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton uses symbolism to create sympathy for Ethan and Mattie, and a distasteful feeling toward Zeena. Thus, though Ethan’s responsibility lies…

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…

Significance of Setting in Ethan Frome In the novel Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, the setting plays a significant role in many facets including the plot, the decisions of the characters, and the development of the overall atmosphere. The setting of the novel, Starkfield, is a cold, lifeless place with long winters that often make the townspeople downhearted. The town’s six month winters cause the people to stay indoors and keep to themselves. The long, bleak winters also have a remarkable…

In Ethan Frome, author Edith Wharton illustrates that archetypal images are prominent in her novel through the characters of Mattie and Zenna, who show the struggle of Ethan Frome and his hardship of a decision of picking a girl. Mattie, Ethan’s love interest, is representative of summer, hope, warmth and the love that she has for Ethan. On the contrary Zeena, Ethan’s wife, represents winter, cold, everlasting, desolation, and a only half alive state of mind and being. Both of these characters…