Naturalism is a type of literature that attempts to apply scientific principles of objectivity and detachment to its study of human beings. Naturalism took place from 1890-1915. Some characteristics of Naturalism include: Survival of the fittest, violence (force vs. force), animal imagery, determinism, and taboo topics. Also, Naturalism is aimed at the lower class and is about the darker side of life. Ethan Frome is a novel written by Edith Wharton in 1911. The novel contains multiple attributes of Naturalism. Ethan Frome contains the following characteristics of Naturalism: Survival of the fittest, determinism (natural forces), and taboo topics. Survival of the fittest was one of the main characteristics of Naturalism found in the novel Ethan …show more content…
During chapter four of Ethan Frome, Ethan has a really powerful thought. “There the silence had deepened about him year by year. Left alone, after his father’s accident, to carry the burden of farm and mill, he had no time for convivial loiterings in the village; and when his mother fell ill the loneliness of the house grew more oppressive than that of the fields. His mother had been a talker in her day, but after her “trouble” the sound of her voice was seldom heard, though she had not lost the power of speech. Sometimes, in the long winter evenings, when in desperation her son asked her why she didn’t “say something” she would lift a finger and answer: “Because I am listening”; and on stormy nights, when the loud wind was about the house, she would complain, if he spoke to her: “They’re talking so out there that I can’t hear you.” This shows Ethan is having a very rough life because of natural forces. Later in the story, Ethan and Mattie find themselves alone again. They were going to go coasting, but it was too dark. In chapter 5 Ethan states: “No, I didn’t forget; but it’s as dark as Egypt outdoors. (Wharton 38). This quote is clearly a force of Naturalism at work. They were going to go coasting, but the force of Naturalism kicked in, and therefore, it ruined Ethan and Mattie’s plans of going
Ethan Frome’s mother becoming ill was the first step toward the destiny that would keep Ethan in Starkfield forever. This destiny required his wife, Zeena, to become sick as well. It was necessary for Ethan to remain there since it would lead him to meet Mattie Silver, who would push him even closer to his fated downfall. Ethan, Zeena, and Mattie’s destinies were tangled together because of the conjoined circumstances that surrounded the three of them.
This results in little greenery or any sign of new life in the town. Much like Ethan, growing things around him are smothered by the cold snow, with the potential to grow, but not allowed to. The coldness outdoors is similar to the metaphorical coldness in Ethan’s life. Ethan is not seen as a happy man on the outside, and is not happy on the inside either. He is stuck in a marriage with a coldhearted woman that he must now take care of.
Edith Wharton published her novel Ethan Frome in 1911. Throughout Wharton’s novel, readers can see where she builds up patterns of behavior, and especially imagery. Symbolism can allow the charecters to express more clearly to the readers. Her attention to small details and use of structure shows Ethan’s complicated life to the readers. Ethan Frome has a lot of characteristics throughout Wharton’s novel.
At first the reader is drawn to Ethan’s love of his ailing father, and his mother, eventually even his own wife in their constant care. Ethan is represented as a fairly loving man, and this is only emboldened when the story steers toward the subject of Mattie Silver. Ethan displays an almost endless capacity of love for her on the minutest of details. He takes on the responsibilities of the house chores as he realizes that Mattie is simply not able physically to do so, on top of his own chores. He even takes up driving her the miles to town on an almost daily basis in addition to all of his already mounting responsibilities.
Ethan’s agreement that death is better than parting is an example of cognitive dissonance that directly affects the plot of the novel. Cognitive dissonance is best described as an inconsistency in the beliefs that one holds, which is prominent in the thoughts as opposed the actions taken by Ethan. He is essentially given an ultimatum when Zeena threatens to fire Mattie; Ethan must make the decision to act upon his desires without the benefit of time as he had once thought he had. Before this is thrust upon him, he has the general cognition that he should not pursue Mattie. This is evident in his lack of action during their dinner without Zeena.
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.
”(98).To explain, once Ethan had seen the change of Zeena and Mattie, he had accepted where his life had lied. Ethan suffers knowing that he would never be able to run away and be happy with Mattie, especially after she had changed so drastically. Furthermore, Ethan realized that it would be exceptionally wrong to leave the woman who had changed in an act to take care of him for the woman he really loved. Zeena had dedicated her life to making sure the two were brought up anew, and in exchange, Ethan realized that his life was to be her husband and provide for her in whatever way she deems necessary, even if they do not love each
When Cather had to move to Nebraska, she hated it for the first year or so. This shows Naturalism because she sulked over the fact that she had to move. Likewise, in the story, Alexandra had gone through some tough times. Cather wrote, “She began to wonder whether she would not do better to finish her life alone. What was left of life seemed unimportant.”
One of the ultimate downfalls that an individual can express is loss. Individuals experience this through all types of forms, including financial trouble and physical disability. Deprivation can be portrayed in the entertainment industry as well, such as movies, plays, and books. In the novel Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton presents the three points of loss throughout the plot by using mental wreckage through plot, emotional damage through imagery, and physical disability through setting. The first type of casualty that Edith Wharton introduces to the audience through plot was mental wreckage.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s, “The Yellow Wallpaper”, exhibits the domestic entrapment of women by society in the 19th century by adopting a naturalistic approach to the mood, tone, and other literary elements used in the short story. Naturalism is a genre of literature that started in the late nineteenth century, around the time “The Yellow Wallpaper” was published, and is originated from realism. According to literarydevices.net, naturalism focuses on “natural forces predetermining a character’s decisions” while realism is about free will and the decisions a character makes in response to a situation. The major forces that control our unnamed narrator’s actions in “The Yellow Wallpaper” are her figurative and physical environment and her relationship with John.
Nature is not only the trees, leaves, and, soil but, it encompasses a wide variety of things that cover both physical, mental, and even spiritual elements. Most important to Feige is that “Nature is infinitely large and varied”, omnipresent throughout the world (9). Nature can not be confined to a single presence but underlies in everything in the world. By Feige’s definition of nature “A body’s flesh blood and bone” also fall into the natural order of the world which expands nature’s reach to all of mankind. The main idea Feige stresses to the reader about nature, is that everything from a wooden farm to the American Republic is rooted in the natural order of things.
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116 says, “Let me not to the marriage of true minds. Love is not love. Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove. O no! it is an ever-fixed mark.
Edith Wharton focused her novel Ethan Frome, around the tragic story of the man himself. Ethan lived with his sherd wife, Zeena, and discovered early on in there marriage that happiness was not in the card for him, as he gave up his dreams for fear of being alone. Years into their marriage Zeena's cousin, Mattie, comes to stay with the Fromes. Ethan soon finds himself entranced by the girl, longing to be with her over the women he was married to. The two find themselves falling in love and are devastated when they hear that Zeena has arranged for a new aid to come.
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.
"In these short stories, as in most of his work, Crane is a consummate ironist, employing a technique that most critics find consistently suggests the disparity between an individual 's perception of reality and reality as it actually exists. " This quote is written by poetryfoundation.org and applies to Stephen Crane 's "The Blue Hotel" as the entire story exists in the irony of one of the few characters introduced, the Swede. Being a consummate ironist means Stephen Crane is very skilled in the forming of his irony 's which can make it sometimes difficult to recognize all of them throughout his works. Other ironic situations occur throughout the story which will be explained in detail. American Naturalism is a form of literary genre that first originated as an art movement