Essay on Ethan Frome

Submitted By annielsanchez17
Words: 998
Pages: 4
Open Document
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 falling in love with her own cousin, as Ethan grows distance from her she starts to notice that her husband is growing closer to her own cousin Mattie Silver. Zeena begins to become angrier as the winter goes she is angry at the fact that she could be spending a nice day but instead she has to be home because she is sick and has to be watched by someone. Zeena does begin to obsess on what Ethan does when he is out with Mattie, she became so paranoid that he was going to do something to Mattie that he couldn’t do when she was around, so when Ethan and Mattie went out and came back home Zeena had locked them out she would always leave a key underneath the mat that was outside of the door and this time she did not leave it under there just to see what Ethan would do since the door was locked but little did she know that Ethan saw her shadow underneath the door. “Their arms had slipped apart and they stood motionless, each seeking to distinguish the others faces”(Wharton42) As the winter progresses Zeena becomes more depressed as Ethan doesn’t talk to her because he pays more attention to Mattie then he does to her. In some way Zeenas rage towards Mattie causes her to tell Ethan that the new doctor that she had went to go see recommended that she needs someone to help her with things around the house and to take care of her, Ethan refuses because he knows that he loves Mattie and he cannot let her go easily “He whispered, as though even the dead, lovers once, must conspire with him to keep her; and brushing the graves he thought: ‘We’ll always go on living here together, and some day she’ll lie there beside me’(Wharton45) The way that characters are set to say things changes the way that everything is told as discretion. Zeena is the one that is always affected by what Ethan does throughout the story. Zeena is sick and she hopes that she can be taken care of by Ethan because she feels as if he needs to pay her back in a way because she was the one that took care of his mother while she was still alive.

At the end of the story Zeena is affect by the way that they both try and commit suicide because that’s the only way that they could actually be together head stone by head stone, and if they lived they knew that they couldn’t have a chance of being together, after everything they got into a sled accident and they did not die they were both injured and after Zeena needing someone to take care of her she ended up taking care of both Mattie and Ethan because they were both hurt, Zeena took in Mattie when the doctors said it was okay for her to be moved locations “If it was good enough for Mattie I guss it’s good enough for a hired girl”(Wharton129)

Love becomes the irony in the story. Love is the irony because winter is cold and frail as of summer that is full of warmth and happiness, love should be in the
Show More

Related Documents: Essay on Ethan Frome

Essay On Ethan Frome

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…

Words 333 - Pages 2

Ethan Frome Essay

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…

Words 1214 - Pages 5

Ethan Frome Essay

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…

Words 582 - Pages 3

Ethan Frome Naturalism

The Lasting Imprint of Naturalism and Realism on a Century’s Canvas The climax of Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton conveyed a very dramatic and tragic: “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.” (Wharton Chapter 9). The event of Mattie and Ethan purposely running into the elm tree occurred in this work because they both wanted…

Words 1717 - Pages 7

ethan frome essay

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…

Words 805 - Pages 4

Ethan Frome Essay

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…

Words 1534 - Pages 7

Ethan Frome Essay

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…

Words 744 - Pages 3

Symbolism In Wharton's Ethan Frome

Bethany Blanton Mrs. Sites English 12A Short Essays 1. Some ways that Wharton uses symbolism to reinforce plot development in Ethan Frome by using the red ribbon, the cat, the pickle dish and the sleigh ride. The red ribbon in the story is wore by Mattie Silver. In Starkfield Mattie stands out, she wears the red ribbon and red scarf, which is very noticeable in the little town; this symbolizes how Mattie stands out in Ethan’s life. The cat in the story represents the presence of Zeena in the house…

Words 291 - Pages 2

Ethan Frome Setting Analysis

The novel Ethan Frome is written by Edith Wharton. In Ethan Frome, the narrator, is an engineer living in Starkfield, Massachusetts, seeks travel help of a somewhat mysterious man in the community named Ethan Frome. One winter night, Ethan invites the narrator into his home to get out of the terrible weather. This is where the narrator receives the full story of Ethan’s life. When Ethan was younger, he took care of his sick parents until they passed. After they died, he married his wife, Zeena, who…

Words 526 - Pages 3

Symbolism In Wharton's Ethan Frome

heart to burn with a passion of feelings for someone. In the novella, Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton presents the motif, red in order to accentuate the affection Mattie has for Ethan, reveal her delicate body language, and to symbolize her passion of love towards someone whom she cherishes. Although Mattie is young, she posses the ability to express her feelings towards Ethan. Wharton makes Mattie express her affection towards Ethan by detailing her actions during the encounter with Zeena in the frigid…

Words 481 - Pages 2