ipl-logo

Ethan Frome Character Analysis Essay

645 Words3 Pages

Winter Different emotions bubble up during certain seasons of the year. Humans tend to become effected by the weather rather easily depending on their personal opinion of that particular season. In Edith Wharton’s novella Ethan Frome, the cold winter has a strong presents within the book. Winter dominates the overall feel of the book through the impending misery and loneliness throughout the town. Winter is most often associated with despair and fear of the unknown. At the post office after talking to Ethan, he seems very concerned about him after seeing the cut on his face. He goes on to tell his friend there that Ethan has been in “Starksfield too many winters” (4). Ethan has been scared to leave Starksfield in fear he wouldn’t be able …show more content…

When Ethan was taking Mr. Hale to Corbury Flats during the icy winter months, Ethan was very cold to Mr. Hale every time they were together. Even when Hale was tried to make friendly conversation to Ethan all Hale saw was that “he never turned his face to mine” (7). Ethan chooses to make himself alone, and during the harsh winter he retract into himself and forget about his twisted personal life. Ethan doesn’t truly want to be friends with anyone else in the town, since all of his focus is being put towards Mattie; along with only looking out for himself. All of the people in Starksfield tend to become introverts when the winter months begin to hit. After discovering the Zeena will be sending Mattie away for a new hired girl, Ethan goes into a fit of rage trying to defend Mattie. His loneliness strives from Ethan believing Zeena had “taken everything from him” (44) through the winter months. The darkness and harshness of the winter creates isolation from the outside world, or for Ethan his wife telling him she had had enough of his affair. People choose to act in ways they normally don’t act, they feel like the people around them are out to get them, even when they are not. This in turn causes the people in Starksfield to dive deeper into their own personal lives. Which only causes more problems to surface which only leads to the need to further retract into their

Show More
Related

  • Ethan Frome Character Analysis

    525 Words  | 3 Pages

    As result of several illnesses within his family, Ethan was forced to stay in Starkfield without a degree or the life he truly desired. Zeena’s constant state of hypochondria pushed Ethan farther away from his goals and closer to an unhappy marriage. When the new help arrived in Zeena’s cousin

    Read More

  • Theme Of Isolation In Ethan Frome

    116 Words  | 1 Pages

    Ethan Frome, who has to face multiple conflicts throughout the book with his nonstop dream to be an engineer which is crushed due to the illness of, Zeena, his cousin, but who also happens to be his wife. Also a love begins to grow mid way through the book between a girl named Mattie and Ethan, even though he is still married to Zeena which ultimately leads to the distance between their love. In the book Ethan Frome, the feeling of isolation in Ethan and Zeena becomes more prominent, while anger grows between Ethan and Mattie from having denying their love, which contributes to the many mistakes and downfalls Ethan has to face throughout the book.

    Read More

  • Duties Caused By Characters In Ethan Frome By Edith Wharton

    496 Words  | 2 Pages

    The description of how Mattie made him feel when he touched her. Ethan want happiness so bad that he was willing to end his own life to be with Mattie, but when Him and Mattie decided to end their life, A picture of Zeena flashed through his mind. “But suddenly his wife's face, with twisted monstrous lineaments, thrust itself between him and his goal, and he made an instinctive movement to brush it aside. The sled swerved in response, but he righted it again, kept it straight, and drove down on the black projecting mass. There was a last instant when the air shot past him like millions of fiery wires; and then the elm…”, He thought about the commitment he made with Zeena.

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Red Convertible

    681 Words  | 3 Pages

    Erdrich uses the changing of seasons to emphasize how reality exposes the falsehood of an ideal world. During the carefree summertime, life seems glorious and free. The idealistic summer world gives man the false impression that life will always be that way, enabling him to lose sight of reality. As autumn approaches, however, it shatters that idealistic view of the world. It can never be restored (5 words).

    Read More

  • Morality In Ethan Frome By Edith Wharton

    772 Words  | 4 Pages

    “As her young brown head detached itself against the patch-work cushion that habitually frame his wife’s gaunt countenance, Ethan had a momentary shock. It was almost as if the other face, the face of the superseded woman, had obliterated that of the intruder.” (Wharton Chapter 5). During his night alone with Mattie he can’t help but be reminded of his domestic duties as he sits in the kitchen. Ethan is excited to get a night with Mattie but can't control the feeling of Zeena being around.

    Read More

  • What Is The Cause Of Change In Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome

    1043 Words  | 5 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Edith Wharton Rhetorical Devices

    438 Words  | 2 Pages

    She “had mastered him” and as a result, Ethan “abhorred her”. Ethan also tries to assert power in his actions, but in the last sentence, it shows that he “took a wild step forward”, but then stopped to go back to Zeena. This shows that Wharton does not agree with traditional gender stereotypes as they cause discontent and prevent happiness in the marriage, though ironically Ethan acts like the woman and Zeena acts like the man in the relationship. In addition, metaphors are used to further develop the discontent; they dramatize and exaggerate how Ethan feels. In the passage, Ethan’s “long misery… rose up in his soul” and “a flame of hate rose in him”.

    Read More

  • Ethan Frome By Barbara White: Literary Analysis

    429 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Ethan Frome Tone Analysis

    833 Words  | 4 Pages

    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).

    Read More

  • Characteristics Of Ethan Frome

    308 Words  | 2 Pages

    A long time resident of Starkfield, the protagonist Ethan Frome shows he is considerate by caring for and helping others. He first shows this trait when he gives up his desire to live in a city to support his ill mother. Though he has a strong wish to leave Starkfield, he respects his duty and cares for his mother. Ethan also shows this attribute to Zeena, by looking after her and contributing to her medicine while she also falls ill. Zeena is again thought of by Ethan when the pickle dish breaks.

    Read More

  • Ethan Frome Quotes

    984 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Is fate getting what you deserve, or deserving what you get?” (Jodi Picoult). Ethan Frome, written by Edith Wharton in 1911, embodies this quote. In Ethan Frome, all three main characters, Ethan, Mattie and Zeena have made decisions that will affect the rest of their lives. Ethan and Mattie had an inappropriate relationship behind Ethans significant other, Zeena 's, back which caused each of them to be emotionally distraught.

    Read More

  • Ethan Frome Literary Analysis

    738 Words  | 3 Pages

    The tragic novella of Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton focuses on adultery in rural New England. Stressing the importance of relationships, the narrator tells the story of Ethan Frome, a man searching for love. Despite being married to his cousin Zeena, he only views this civil union as a moral obligation. Then, he ventures into an adulterous relationship with Mattie Silver, and begins to understand what love is really about. The author often focuses on a red pickle dish, a treasured wedding gift, which unexpectedly shatters.

    Read More

  • Geography Matters By Thomas C. Foster: Chapter Summary

    438 Words  | 2 Pages

    Foster explains that almost all readers know that warmer months, most of the time, symbolize rebirth and happiness, while colder represent decay and sadness. This is true of the time frame of The Road, they are in an eternal winter because the disaster released so much ash that no sunlight could reach the earth’s surface. This makes their journey even harder because not they not only have to overcome fear and starvation, but also the cold. Towards the end of their journey, the monotony of their days and the coldness is emphasized to show that the man was getting sicker and closer towards death. McCarthy might have chosen a cold earth to make their trials seem more worse because the man and boy had to look for both food and supplies to keep them safe and warm.

    Read More

  • The Theme Of Love In Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome

    763 Words  | 4 Pages

    That looks on tempests and is never shaken” (Lines 1-7). In Edith Wharton’s classic, Ethan Frome, this theme is present for protagonist Ethan Frome, who falls in love with his maid, Mattie, and forsakes his wife, Zeena. Ethan and Mattie’s flirtation with infidelity sets a catastrophic series of events into play: Zeena is jilted by the lovers’ betrayal, Mattie asks for the irrational way out of her situation, and all three characters make destructive decisions. Ethan’s indifference toward his wife and lack of compassion for her illnesses clearly demonstrates Ethan and Zeena’s loveless relationship.

    Read More

  • Ethan Frome: A Personal Tragedy

    550 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about Ethan Frome Character Analysis Essay

Open Document