The Book Ethan Frome By Edith Wharton, Is Not A Happy One.

Ethan’s first impulsive decision was to marry Zeena as soon as his mother died. Since Ethan did this he wasn’t able to follow his ambitions.

However, the restraints that moral and societal concerns imposed by society on the desires of an individual are arguably the novel's most noticeable theme since the plot of the prose is centered on Ethan’s desire of a lady who isn't his better half. The novel describes ravaging soul of Ethan as he is torn between the obligation to his wife and the desire of his heart. Ethan describes Zeena as the epitome of coldness and despondency. When he saw her before she embarked on her journey to Bettsbridge, he found "the pale light reflected from the banks of snow made her face look more than usually drawn and bloodless (Wharton 39). On the other hand, Wharton’s discerption of Mattie in the eyes of Ethan is related with natural life, warmth, and summer. At the start of the Novel, He perceives Mattie's face as "like a

She provides the conflict by causing Ethan’s inner turmoil. She helps move the story along because of the thought she evokes in Ethan such as the thought of leaving his wife. However Ethan’s morals would never let him actually leave his wife supporting the theme of Moral Isolation

In many stories, a hero has a major flaw which contributes to his downfall. The Story “Ethan Frome”, a literary work in which the main character is brought to ruin or suffers extreme sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw, a moral weakness, or an inability to cope with unfavorable circumstances. Our hero, Ethan, is the character with the tragic flaw, which is a flaw in the character of the protagonist of a tragedy that brings the protagonist to ruin or sorrow. His biggest flaw is the misuse of communication in the story which brings problems with Zeena and Mattie.

In the novel Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, the minor character Mattie Silver serves as a foil towards the main character Ethan Frome. Throughout the novel, Ethan is a man who faces many challenges in his path causing what little happiness he has to vanish therefore illuminating the work as a whole. One may realize the faults of Ethan’s ways through theme, symbolism and irony.

After reading the book Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, the character Ethan was very different. He lived a very confused and depressed life. Ethan lived in a small town called Starkfield with his wife Zenobia (Zeena) Frome. Ethan had to drop out of school and come back home to be a caregiver for his family. Ethan was a weak and strong character in the novel.

Ethan's silence is a main symbol in Ethan’s life. Silence is a symbol for Ethan’s cowardly actions. All he wants is laughter and loudness, but he is unable to make that happen. When ever Ethan tries to express his love for Mattie, he falls short. Ethan is very much in love with Mattie, but fails to show it. Ethan is a coward when it comes to making moves with Mattie. When they were alone together, they did not do anything, or advance their relationship in any way. When Ethan talks to Mattie, its his goal to try to say something extreamly romatic to win over her heart. But he says something like “come along.” Ethan is also silent when it comes to Zeena. Zeena took care of Ethan’s mom while she was sick, and Zeena completed him. She was loud, but got silent when Ethan married her. Ethan’s mother died, and in a sense, so did Zeena. Zeena became sick and silent, which weakened her relationship with Ethan. Zeena was no longer need, which silenced

The relationship between Ethan and Zeena exemplifies separation. Zeena, a sickly woman, was often bed-bound and remained at home, such as when Ethen called her down for supper, but she remained home saying she “didn’t feel that she could touch a morsel” (46). Zeena even feels that she lost her health tending to Ethan's ailing mother, and she blames Ethan for it, as in “You grudged me the money to get back my health, when I lost it nursing your own mother!” (48). Zeena and Ethan bickered for some time, but it was Zeena who got her way.

Poverty is defined as deficiency, or inadequacy. It can be used to represent more than just the lack of money. Poverty is constant throughout the novel, Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton. Poverty is evident in almost every area of Ethan's life.

Ethan felt the pressure to get married, causing him to mistake gratitude for love. After Zeena took care of his mother, he feared being alone, so he asked her to marry him. Later, Zeena’s cousin, Mattie, came to take care of her, and Ethan fell in love with Mattie. However, Ethan's love for both Zeena and Mattie was illegitimate, as he fell in love with their actions and not the person that

Ethan being very needy marries Zeena, and once she turns cold, Ethan suffers. Ethan had been very lonely, living with his sickly mother.

Many people oppose society due to the surroundings that they face and the obstacles that they encounter. Set in the bleak winter landscape of New England, Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton is the story of a poor, lonely man, his wife Zeena, and her cousin Mattie Silver. Ethan the protagonist in this novel, faces many challenges and fights to be with the one he really loves. Frome was trapped from the beginning ever since Mattie Silver came to live with him and his wife. He soon came to fall in love with her, and out of love with his own wife. He was basically trapped in the instances of his life, society’s affect on the relationship, love, poverty, illness, disability, and life.

In Edith Wharton’s novel, Ethan Frome, one major critical theory revolves around the psychological criticism. The novel revolves around this critical theory because Wharton wanted the reader to observe how the setting becomes dependent on the emotional state of the character and vice versa. Throughout the novel, Wharton makes changes to the environment to represent Ethan’s fondness for certain characters. On the contrary, Wharton displays how the setting directly influences Ethan’s mental state. As the reader perceives this influence that each character has on Ethan Frome, they can develop an understanding of the relationships established in the novel. This critical theory will be expressed throughout the literary analysis paper, specifically in the Novel Summary section and Literary Criticism sections. The following text will analyze the drastic changes in the environment and compare it to Ethan’s mental state.

Throughout the novel, Ethan Frome’s sense of responsibility lives strong enough in him to forget about his own happiness with Mattie, to stay with his wife Zeena, and to take care of the town when all of the others have passed away. In Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome, Ethan’s sense of responsibility to his wife and land prevents him from achieving true happiness and causes his ultimate emotional death.

The novel Ethan Frome is a short story packed with detail. It takes place in Starkfield and is about a farmer named Ethan Frome. Ethan made poor decisions because he was trapped living with two women; his wife, Zeena, and his wife’s cousin, Mattie. Ethan fell in love with Mattie. When Ethan and Mattie fell in love, they made a horribly rash choice making this novel a tragedy. A tragedy in literature is wherewhen a main character or hero suffers a downfall because of a character flaw, error in judgement, or forces beyond human control. The short novel, Ethan Frome, written by Edith Wharton, is a tragedy because of Ethan Frome’s character flaws, errors in judgement and the forces beyond his control.