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The Role Of Social Pressure In Ethan Frome By Edith Wharton

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In everyday life, people are put under many pressures and are expected to be perfect to society. In Edith Wharton’s, best-known and most popular novel, Ethan Frome, this idea is highlighted, showing the protagonist’s breakdown. Ethan Frome struggles against the rules of society and his duty to his family, fighting a battle within himself between what he wants in order to be happy and what he feels he must do to satisfy his family and society. Frome struggles between his desire for his wife’s cousin, Mattie, and his sense of duty toward Zeena, his wife. The pressures that come from the responsibilities in the Frome household lead to Ethan Frome’s emotional breakdown, showing how societal pressures can lead to harmful self-doubt. Ethan does

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