Ethan Frome

Though they lived centuries apart from one another, Christopher McCandless and Henry David Thoreau both uncovered the importance of living simplistically by retreating to the woods. When Thoreau first arrived at the house that he was to be staying at by Walden Pond, the first thing he noted was that the house was quite dilapidated. The walls were stained by the weather and had quite a few holes in them, causing the nights to be cold. The house also had no plastering nor a chimney, and the entire…

experiments in the laboratory with friendly professors of physics. After his father’s death, Ethan has to “put a premature end to [his] studies,” to care for his sickly mother and manage the farm and saw-mill (24). Ethan’s mother falls ill of isolation of the house which grows to be more of a burden than that of the fields. Following his mother’s death Ethan marries Zenobia Pierce, a distant cousin of his. Ethan and Zenobia agree to move to a large town to pursue his yearning to become an…

When Mattie Silver, Zeena’s cousin, comes over to help do housework at the Fromes, Ethan falls in love with her because of the way she listens and understands him. Zeena’s day away from Ethan gives him a chance to be alone with the person who makes him happy. The way the author describes Ethan’s perspective on Mattie is filled with positive connotations making him feel full of life…

The changing of the weather, the once joyful elements of a winter now gone. As the season comes to an end, a family’s relationship begins to wither away and die as they fight for a reason that is all too real in families today. This sets the scene for Raymond Carver’s short story, “Popular Mechanics.” “Popular Mechanics” opens with the husband of the family packing his suitcase in what appears to be the aftermath of a divorce. It then spirals into a domestic dispute between the wife and…

Symbolism plays many roles in the story of Ethan Frome. Wharton uses symbolism to reinforce the plot development of Ethan. One of Wharton’s symbols is a red ribbon. The color red is a sign of love and passion and Mattie wore the red ribbon at the dance and later at the farmhouse. The color red stands out from the crowd to Ethan which confirms his attraction Mattie. Another important symbol is the red glass pickle-dish. The dish is Zeena’s favorite wedding present and she cares a lot about…

side effect of social isolation. Throughout the novella, Ethan Frome, both Ethan and his wife, Zeena suffer from social isolation; however, the length and extent of this isolation affects them in different ways. Zeena suffers in a more obvious way, nagging for attention and having hypochondria, while Ethan suffers in a more subtle way, clinging onto any women that enter his life and having morbid thoughts when things don’t go as planned. Ethan and his wife live in the town of Starkfield, which…

Set in the bleak winter landscape of New England, Ethan the main character in Ethan Frome faces many challenges to be with the one who he truly loves. Frome Is trapped within himself when Mattie moves in to take care of Zeena, which he falls in love with Mattie and falls out of love with his wife. Ethan is faced with a challenge when it comes to loving another women and how it is going to be viewed by society. Ethan shows the distances he is willing to go to be with Mattie and take care of his…

Ethan Frome is a complex man of many talents with terrible luck, who has chosen to do good by his family instead of chasing after his own dreams. Is Ethan's life and where he is a victim of his own choices or is it his surroundings that are to blame for his dreary life style. In my honest opinion i believe that Ethan suffers from both his surroundings and himself when you have to chose a reason or reasons for Ethan's situation in life. Ethan's life style is to blame because of his own…

this scene of Edith Wharton’s novella Ethan Frome, he recalls his conversation with Mrs. Hale. Initially, this conversation provides Ethan some clarity about his ongoing internal conflict with his passions and obligations. In Ethan’s perspective, Zeena is becoming more of an unbearable burden, as she had become an “evil energy” that “had mastered him” (Wharton 50). Isolating him, Ethan looks to find comfort in Mattie, who has an emotional relationship. Hence, Ethan feels the need to run away…

In the novel Ethan Frome whom is written by Edith Wharton, isolation plays a big role in why and what the character’s do in the novel.* Zeena is the character that is isolated in the novel. Through out Zeena’s life during the novel, she goes through two major changes. She experiences herself stuck within isolation and does not know who to get herself back. She is not the only person who realizes that she is not the same. Many people including her own husband Ethan notices it. But Zeena is a…