Cheyenne Pierre
Mrs. Rossi
ENG1D1
Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014 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
similar and different and it is easy to compare them both because Zeena is old and mean, while
Mattie is young and joyful. However, Zeena use to be just like Mattie and Mattie ends up being
just like the old Zeena.
Mattie and Zeena have similar traits about themselves. In chapter seven Zeena comes
home and figures out that Mattie broke Zeena’s pickle dish and she says to Mattie: “and I tried to
keep my things where you couldn’t get at em’- and now you’ve took from me the one I cared for
the most of all-” (101). In this quote, it seems as if Zeena is using “pickle dish” as a metaphor for
Ethan, saying that Mattie took the one thing/person that Zeena cared for the most (Ethan). This
shows us that Zeena and Mattie both truly loved Ethan and Zeena kicked Mattie out of the house
out of jealousy and love. Mattie and Zeena both wanted to be taken care of. There were no jobs
available for Mattie, so she ended up taken care of Zeena, much like Zeena did for Ethan’s mom,
which shows that Mattie and Zeena are both caring women willing to help others in need. Mattie
thinks that Ethan will protect and take care of her, much like how Zeena thought that Ethan
would also take care of her and pay for her expenses. Both Zeena and Mattie just want to feel
loved by someone (Ethan) and feel like they will always be protected by him, they both depend
on others to look after them and that is a personality trait that they both have in common.
Although Mattie and Zeena may have many similarities, they also have many differences
between them, some obvious and some not as obvious.
Zeena and Mattie are very opposite women. In chapter two we get a description of
Zeena’s physical appearance: “Against the dark background of the kitchen she stood up tall and
angular, one hand drawing a quilted counterpane to her flat breast, while the other help a lamp.”
(37). This description of Zeena make her sound old, unattractive and un-feminine looking.
However, we know from Ethan’s description of Mattie that she is very young and beautiful and
that many men are interested in her. Ethan becomes more attracted to Mattie because she is
happy and loving unlike Zeena. Zeena is a depressed, old woman who constantly needs Ethan to
help her because she is always “sick”. It is easy to see why Ethan and the readers prefer Mattie
over Zeena. Zeena and Mattie are both different because Zeena is old and very thin, while Mattie
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…
Plot Summary and Reflection Ethan Frome was a story of a man who actively and willingly had feelings for his wife’s cousin, Mattie. Ethan’s wife, Zeena, was in declining health so to receive assistance for housework she had called upon Mattie for help. Throughout the story, Zeena knew little of the relationship between Mattie and Ethan. As the story is being told, it reveals that Ethan goes out of his way to spend time with Mattie. When he picks her up from town, he would deliberately take…
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…
hanging forest. The rising of the sun signals “refreshing” beginnings. The inclusion of a black forest despite the bright essence of the scene highlights conflicts in Frome’s character. Just as he enters the pathway to the ominous patches of trees, Frome corrupted in his own path of life, rapidly consumed by temptation for Mattie and struggles to escape. Although Wharton portrays the landscape of Starkfield as pure, she also refers to a black forest. She incorporated this element of the land to reflect…
In the novella, Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton the environment and surroundings play a huge role in the story and also have major effects on the main character, Ethan Frome. The story takes place in Starkfield, Massachusetts, part of New England, where the climate in the winter can be quite gruesome. The weather even has an effect on the people. In Starkfield the weather and the people seem to be cold, sluggish and quiet this time of year, especially Ethan Frome. He is a man who has not even lived…
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…
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…
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…
