Ethan Frome Setting Analysis Essay

Zeena was taking care of Ethan’s mother and he fell “in love” with her while she was taking care of his mother. It is said that “Her efficiency shamed and dazzled him. She seemed to posses by instinct all the household wisdom that his long apprenticeship had not instilled in him” (29). Ethan proposed to Zeena because he didn’t want to be alone, it is said in the novel that “He was seized with an unreasoning dread of being left alone on the farm, and before he knew what he was doing he had asked her to stay there with him” (29). It is unclear whether Zeena possessed a love for Ethan as Ethan claimed to of have for her. In the end of the novel Mattie is looked at as the annoying one, and he starts to care for Zeena because she is not the one inept to do household chores.

In Edith Wharton’s novel Ethan Frome, setting is an important element. The setting greatly influences the characters, transportation, and activities.

In Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, Ethan, Mattie, and Zeena become caught in a love triangle. This resulted in tragedy instead of Ethan and Mattie living in happiness together. When Ethan was attempting to decide whether to leave Zeena or allow Mattie to leave, he should have figured out a way to leave Zeena fairly well off while leaving with the one he truly loved: Mattie. Maybe he could have persuaded someone wealthy to marry Zeena or her family might have taken her back when Ethan left. Zeena was an awful wife and she should have expected Ethan to leave because she knew he loved Mattie and that she was not kind to him. Zeena was not the only one at fault. Mattie should have handled herself differently. Even though she was taken over

Without Ethan’s love for Mattie, the accident never would have occurred. Because he loved Mattie so openly, his wife, Zeena, wasn’t oblivious to his affections. Zeena’s envy led her to replace Mattie with a hired girl, which is why they were even on the hill sledding in the first place. They were reminiscing the times they had spent together and plans they wished

Mattie brings a red, warm aroma with her that lights up the house with comfort. Even after his past, Wharton presents Mattie as solace for Ethan and hope. Her red and pink aethestics protray her warm heart that Ethan is swept up with. Wharton uses warm colors on Mattie to enhance the compassion Mattie brings to the Frome’s household. Now, there is a sense of relief and hope for Ethan because he realizes that life is not over; there are still many good things waiting for him beyond his dull farm life.

Ethan’s mother was ill, so Zeena came into town to take care of her, later on his mother passed away. Ethan never really wanted to marry Zeena, he just didn’t want to be alone. Ethan always had it in the back of his head that, if his mother had passed in the spring instead of winter that things would not be this way; he would not have married

When Harmon states that Ethan has been in the town of Starkfield too many winters leads to the narrator finding out that Starkfield and the town members become emotionally buried under the snow covered blanket of Starkfield?s winters. Winter in Starkfield is depressing and cold and it seems to rub off on the residents of the town. People of the town say he is cold and depressing, simply because he has been in Starkfield too many winters.

As he watches Mattie, “Frome's heart beat fast. He had been straining for a glimpse of the dark head under the cherry-coloured scarf” (Wharton 26-27). Mattie's scarf represents her as a character, and it catches Ethan's eye in the same way she does. Additionally, the bright color of the scarf against the dull setting of the story represents the stark contrast between Mattie’s brightness and Zeena’s dullness.

The book is called Ethan Frome the author is Edith Wharton. Edith Wharton is a Pulitzer prize-winning American novelist.There is not much difference between the from the physical environment and the character's inner state. Throughout the book it continued to snow and when it snows everything dies. Just like how everything died in the snow Ethan and Mattie's parents both died. With a long winter there also come loneliness and even with the sunshine it did not change the fact that it is still winter and it is still very cold. Like the lonely long winters Ethan, Mattie, and Zeena were all lonely. A long winter could dark,sad, and depressing just like the characters’. There are many comparisons that could be drawn from the physical environment

The characterization of winter which Wharton uses illustrates that the cold, brutal nature of the season reflects the isolation and bitter qualities of life during challenging times. Throughout the novel, the weather remains intensely frigid, symbolizing not only the harshness of life in Starkfield and the loneliness which comes from having to seek shelter from the elements. Foster uses words such as “severe,” “inhospitable,” and “suffocating” (75) to describe snow, which is sustained in Frome’s world. The continuous process of struggling to withstand the psychological and physical challenges of “the isolation of a Starkfield farm” (Wharton 13) becomes unbearable for Ethan, as he consistently daydreams of breaking away from his past. It seems

Edith Wharton uses Mattie to express isolation and being lonely. She comes to the country with ribbons in her hair and more joy in herself. She wanted to free Ethan from the terrible society he lived in. Life in Starkfield is bleak and boring. No one comes outside or enjoys themselves. This is mainly why Ethan wants to escape the barren and poor neighborhood. Ethan is also isolated as well. He opposes society mainly because he cannot be with the one he loves and he doesn’t want to ruin his marriage to Zeena as well. When Zeena falls ill, she goes to the doctor for a couple of days and returns only to find her expensive china now ruined. Angry, she tells Ethan that she needs more hired help and plans to send Mattie away. Upset, Ethan did not know what to do . He decided to write a letter to Zeena telling her to run the farm and be by herself. However, he

Coldness is shown throughout the story through the lack of interaction between society. This coldness is also displayed metaphorically through the weather and the house's lights. The story states, “To enter out into that silence that was the city at eight o'clock of a misty evening in November. " The use of imagery portrays a cold fall night, which figuratively shows the coldness of society that is portrayed throughout the story. The text uses the lighting in the room to show the indifference of society.

Edith Wharton uses setting to compliment the loneliness Ethan feels while living at his farm. The village Frome lives in is, at the start of chapter 1, described as being under “two feet of snow” (Edith Wharton, 11). Snow can oftentimes be interpreted negatively because of the bitter cold it brings, symbolizing hardships and, often, death. Death of loved ones is never easy on an individual, and people are known to draw into themselves when someone close to them has passed, resulting in their own isolation. Indeed, the topic of death is brought up shortly afterwards, when Frome mentions how his father’s death, and the “misfortune following it”, led him to halt his studies (Wharton, 11). Frome was so overcome by a feeling of loss that he’d given

When Mattie is to be sent away, Ethan and Mattie grow desperate looking for a way out of their impossible situation. They decide that it is better to die in a sledding accident together than live their lives apart. Ethan hesitates slightly, “But in a flash

Ethan Frome and his wife, Zenobia (Zeena), never really know what true love feels like because they are both very lonely people. They meet when Zeena is caring for Ethan’s mother; due to their loneliness, they mistake the bizarre feeling of companionship for love. Ethan marries Zeena, not because he is in love, but because he does not want to be alone and he feels like he owes it to her for everything she is doing for him. She is aware of this and claims, “...you grudged me the money to get back my health, when I lost it nursing your own mother! And my folks all told me at the time you couldn 't do no less than marry me after—” (Wharton 83). In addition to Zeena saying that Ethan