Ethan Frome Character Analysis Essay

Then, when it comes to the big “smash up”, Ethan gets hurt pretty badly which symbolizes the almost irreversible consequence of him trying to escape his own sour circumstances. After the accident, the sled gets broken which is quite important because it shows Ethan’s dreams shattering right in front of him. Generally, the symbolism in Ethan Frome resonates throughout the entire novel, amplifying the themes of loneliness, regret, and mighty power of shattered desires. Wharton employs an incredibly unique narrative technique to enhance the tragic aspect of Ethan Frome’s lifestyle.

Ethan cared for both of his parents right up until their deaths’, even postponing his education. Throughout his affair with Mattie he is constantly thinking of Zeena and how it would affect her. Even when Mattie and Ethan are about to sled into the tree, Ethan is thinking of his horse being hungry when he says “he’s wondering why he doesn’t get his supper…” (Wharton 71). His selflessness and the way he worries about others is his tragic flaw.

Winter usually represents a type of represents sadness. In this story, it represents also represents a type of sadness because winter has always been cold, sunless, wet, and dark. This is true because everyone who died in this story died in the winter. Even though it says “As . . . in the winter he was an active child, his eyes were bright and quick to laugh.

Covered by only a thick blanket of soft snow, desolate land stretches for miles in each direction. In the wake of another storm, calm wind whistles through barren trees. Slowly melting in the first rays of sunlight, icicles hang from the tips of tall evergreen trees. Grey buildings stand, with their wooden sides heavily weathered by the harsh winters endured. With deserted streets and quiet houses, Starkfield sleeps silently.

Doomed to remain in an ever-stagnant state of being like that of the bones of his past ancestors deep in the frozen ground of cemetery that houses them. As his own antagonist, he forces himself to be frozen in his death while still breathing by never taking a risk to change his fate of ending up being buried beside his wife in Starkfield while he longed for another. Whether progressive or detrimental, Ethan time and time again refuses to take his life into his own hands and make decisions to change it. In the end, Ethan truly is a dead man walking, accepting his life as it was and simply waiting it out until it’s

Engraved on the graves on the knoll were the words, “Sacred to the memory of Ethan Frome and Endurance his wife who dwelled together in peace for fifty years” (33). Essentially, Ethan is trapped, for he cannot escape his marriage for moral reasons and he remains fixed in Starkfield to nurse Zeena’s inconsistent illness. Ethan, actually, does most caring for the people of Starkfield as Harmon Gow notes, “I guess it’s always Ethan done the caring” (2). Ethan traps himself with his marriage to Zeena, and sadly he does not realize it soon

Here, this quote presents a vivid description of a winter night and the narrator's experience of being in a snowy landscape. The focus is on the winter night, the real snow, and the dim lights of small Wisconsin stations. The emphasis on the winter setting creates a sense of coldness, emptiness, and desolation. Just as Nick feels empty after the loss of Gatsby. Winter is often associated with barrenness, as the landscape loses its vibrant colors and is covered in a blanket of white

The changes in the winter weather, the thaws, storms and continuous snow evoke Ethan’s emotions and the way he exists with the other characters. In Starkfield, the lifeless winter drains Ethan of all patience and love of his wife. Like a New England winter, Ethan’s relationship with his wife is dead, without a chance of rebirth in the spring. On the contrary, despite the winter season, Ethan sees nothing but beauty when he is spending time with Mattie. Like the winter months, it’s as if Ethan’s emotions lay dormant, but remain and begin to flourish with his comforting

Out of all her points and persuasive techniques, I believe White’s key point is that the weather became “an agent” in Ethan’s story. The weather kept Ethan from obtaining glue to fix the pickle dish, which inevitably led to the sledding crash that resulted in Mattie’s paralysis, all of which was a part of White’s argument. Without the wintery weather, Ethan could have easily gotten the glue and would have had no way to go

The sky, swollen with the clouds that announce a thaw, hung as low as before a summer storm.” Throughout the novel, there is also a very visible overarching theme of determinism. Determinism, the theme in this novel, is the philosophy that all events are caused by an individual’s environment and prior events outside of an individual’s control. One example is Ethan’s marriage to Zeena. He married Zeena because “he was seized with an unreasoning dread of being left alone on the farm,” (59).

Mattie, Zeena and Ethan were all responsible for their own actions which resulted in them getting what they deserved. Ethan Frome was a young, 28 year old man, who lived in Starkfield, Massachusetts and was married to Zenobia Frome. Zeena helped care for Ethan’s mother when she was dying, which is how they got to know each other. After the death of his mother, Ethan began

In this quote, the narrator is saying that Ethan has experienced many Starkfield winters, leading to Ehthan’s loneliness and

He felt he was compelled to this duty via his parents’ lifestyle. He grew unsatisfied with his life as he battled with wanting to free himself from the work he was encumbered with as the result of his parents’ conditions. This internal conflict depicts a perfect example of the hereditary conflict in naturalistic literature, as Ethan begrudgingly accepts the responsibility of inheriting his family’s farm, fearing guilt if he left his

In Edith Wharton’s novel, Ethan Frome, setting plays an important role. The novel takes place in the fictional town of Starkfield, Massachusetts, in the winter and most likely during the early 1900s, a time better known as the Progressive Era. The Progressive Era brought about change and innovation in many areas, such as education and transportation. This change doesn’t really occur in Starkfield, however. Due to poor transportation, the residents of Starkfield become stuck during the harsh winter, and the majority of the rest of the year in this isolated town.

In the story, the setting is in Starkfield, Massachusetts in the winter. Yes, the winter is usually metaphorically thought as depressing, sad and lonely, but Ethan has been around the winter of New England for a while, so he should be able to look past the stereotypical ideas, he could look at the better parts of winter as in the beautiful surroundings, and spending holidays with family. Unfortunately, Ethan cannot. He sees everything as dull and gloomy.