In modern novels, most protagonists experience a great downfall due to their personality flaws. For example, the Phantom, from Phantom of the Opera, learns what true loneliness is due to his obsessive demeanor. Ethan Frome, from Ethan Frome, is no exception to this downfall. The reader can see the declining spirit in Ethan’s character throughout the story. Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton, is a tragic novella, in the classical sense by which a flaw in the hero’s character contributes to his downfall. At the start of the novella, not including the first ten pages, Ethan is shown to be lively and interactive to his environment. Not only does Wharton show him as spirited, but she describes the environment similarly: “The dancers were going faster and faster, and the musicians, to keep up with them, belaboured their instruments like jockeys lashing their mounts on the homestretch” (13). This first real setting in the story is a festive one. The dancers’ speed and the loud music not only create a stimulating vision for the reader but also reflect Ethan’s mood. Surely, Ethan is much happier without the lingering presence of Zeena. So, by making him sit alone, watching the excitement, it pulls him away from her domination. When he is alone with Mattie, his true personality shines through. Wharton writes, “Her wonder and his laughter ran together like spring rills in a thaw. Ethan had the sense of having done something arch and ingenious” (19). In this scene, Ethan laughs, smiles, and is carefree. This is one of the few moments when Ethan is alone with Mattie and only one quality makes all of those scenes similar: hope. In all of his
Sheets 2 moments with Mattie, he has the hope to escape. This scene, the opening scene, is no exception. Unfortunately, Wharton does not let Ethan’s happiness linger. In other words, she shows him cheerful for a short moment before she tears his joy into miniscule pieces. Upon the introduction of Zeena, there is a noticeable difference in Wharton’s syntax. She begins as light and jubilant, but it soon turns gloomy. She writes, “The light, on a level with her chin, drew out of the darkness her puckered throat and the projecting wrist of the hand that clutched the quilt, and deepened fantastically the hollows and prominences of her high-boned face under its ring of crimping curls” (22). Even before Zeena enters, Ethan sees a dead cucumber vine on the porch. Suddenly, this scene seems a lot more depressing. Wharton uses words such as “darkness,” “hollows,” and “puckered” in her description of Zeena. Later on she states, “Ethan passed into the kitchen, which had the deadly chill of a vault after the dry cold of the night” (22). In conjunction with the opening, her word choices seem dreary. Clearly, Zeena sucks the life out of a room, not only because of her haunting presence but also by her bitter attitude. However, Ethan’s downfall does not begin until his flaw is shown. The fault in Ethan is that he tries to help too many people, specifically two that are pitted against each other. At one moment, he is dedicated to Zeena: “I’m sorry, but it can’t be helped. You’re a poor man’s wife, Zeena; but I’ll do the best I can for you” (49). However, not much later, he refutes that statement: “You can’t go, Matt! I won’t let you! She’s always had her way, but I mean to have mine now—“ (52). Ethan jumps back and forth between Zeena and
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Mattie too much. He cannot even help himself due to this factor. The difference between these two statements is barely three pages. He surely changes his mind quickly. It is due to this that he experiences destruction. Throughout the story, Ethan slowly declines from a lively spirit to the shell of a man he used to be. By trying to satisfy both Zeena and
Prisoners of Ethan Frome Throughout the story of Ethan Frome we feel the great impression of constraint on Ethan, Mattie, and Zeena. A reader can distinguish several kinds of constraints. It is clear that Zeena is not affected by exactly the same problems as Ethan or Mattie. Nevertheless, one feels a constant lack of freedom between the characters. A lot of things, such as, the lack of money, health, the landscape, communication problems and marriage play a big role in this prison-like situation…
Ethan Frome a main character in this tragic book, makes both right and wrong choices but the wrong choices end up being the ones that will change his life forever. Sometimes when some one is torn, they end up making the wrong choices. “how ever, the post master would hand him and envelope addressed to ms. Zenopia or ms zenna frome”(4). Zeena is a hypochondriac, Ethan should have just came out plane and simple and said stop over hyping your fine. Maybe in doing so she might come to reality…
Ethan Frome is the tragedy of a married couple, the husband's mistress, and how their disposition and traits prevent them from finding happiness. In Wharton's Ethan Frome, Ethan, Zeena, and Mattie become victims of their own personality traits, which are: emotional weakness, self-absorption, lack of communication and affection, and immaturity . The characters are discontent with their lives but are helpless and ignorant; they do not realize that their own dispositions bring about problems and hurt…
Ethan Frome Theme Dissection The author focuses on many big themes throughout the novel Ethan Frome. He goes into great detail for each characters special theme. Some characters are isolated others are determined. Each theme has a consequence for the characters, some consequences are life changing others are small changes to the life that are not very noticeable. The three major characters in the novel that are affected are Zeena, Ethan Frome, and Mattie. Zeena Frome is Ethan's wife who has…
Christopher Huggins Literature 221 I010 Professor Olea 21 March 2015 Ethan Frome: Uniquely America While reading Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton there were many themes and imagery that was used to develop the environment to help illustrate the different parallels between Ethan Frome, the main character, and the many circumstances and feelings of his decisions and experiences. Many people would say that Ethan Frome is just wanting to live an American dream and have a life full of happiness. Unfortunately…
“In Ethan Frome Wharton creates a totally disinterested narrator, one whom is only curious about how the lives of others relate to him. He may talk about Ethan Frome, but he tells us nothing about him.” Discuss how narration influences your understanding of Ethan Frome. ‘Narration refers to the way that a story is told, and so belongs to the level of discourse (although in first-person narration it may be that the narrator also plays a role in the development of the story itself). The different…
For this paper I decided to compare and contrast Louise Mallard from The Story of an Hour and Mattie Silver from Ethan Frome. I thought these two would be easy to compare and contrast since they’re both love stories and take place in different settings. The first person I want to look at is Louise Mallard. In the story she finds out that her husband has been in an accident and is dead from her sister. This shows that her family cares about her, especially since they were more worried about Louise’s…
Going back to that tragic year, we find Ethan walking through snowy Starkfield at midnight. He arrives at the village church, where lights in the basement reveal a dance. Ethan loiters by the window, transfixed by the sight of a young girl in a cherry-colored scarf. He has come to the church to fetch his wife’s cousin, Mattie Silver, who has been living with the Fromes for over a year, helping around the house. Eventually, we learn that Mattie is the girl in the red scarf—and the object of Ethan’s…
Love? Many love but many hate. The setting in Ethan Frome affects the narrative of the story. Edith Wharton in Ethan Frome has the mood of being happy and angry, it affects the character Zeena, which makes love become the irony of the story. The setting that is put throughout the story of Ethan Frome is the season of winter that makes the mood become sad and angry. Zeena is always angry throughout the story. Throughout the story Zeena is angry because she knows that the only person she has is…
Title In the novella “Ethan Frome” by Edith Wharton, Mattie Silver and Zeena Frome show their different personality traits that are easily compared by the readers of the novella. Even though they seem very different, Zeena and Mattie have many things in common. Zeena and Mattie are also very opposite people based on looks and personality. Near the end of the novella Mattie transforms into a completely different person and she seems to be acting just like Zeena. Zeena and Mattie are very…