The Struggle For Meaning In Ethan Frome By Edith Wharton

Grief, the universal process of mourning, materializes differently in each person. Some swiftly overcome it, able to accept their loss and move on. Others concede to despair and develop Complicated Grief Disorder: “a period of mourning after a loss…that exceeds six months and is expressed through…a maladjustment and lack of acceptance of death, social isolation and suicidal tendencies” (Avrutin para. 5). Ethan Frome, the protagonist of Edith Wharton’s novella of the same name, continually struggles with this particular disorder. His struggle becomes evident through his conflicting actions and the relationships that he creates after the passing of his mother. Ethan is unable to overcome his grief due to the conflict within his mind, played out between

Whilst being overcome by continual triggers and internal conflict, Ethan leans into the “suicidal tendencies” associated with CGD (Avrutin para. 5). He believes that upon killing himself, he “sha’n’t feel anything” (Wharton 71). To add, by dying with Mattie, Ethan will not only escape his despair, but he will also end the battle between his id, ego, and superego by finally declaring a winner: his id. However, as he directs the sled down the hill, aiming for the big elm, he has one last interjection from his superego as “his wife’s face, with wasted monstrous lineaments, thrust[s] itself between him and his goal,” and “the sled swerve[s] in response” (Wharton 72). As a consequence of the swerving sled, Ethan loses the straightforward momentum needed to kill both him and Mattie. Instead, he leaves Mattie paralyzed and imprisons himself both with Mattie and Zeena forever. Therefore, ironically, Ethan’s greatest attempt at an end to his inner conflict actually traps him within it forever, creating a tragic stalemate, stuck in a home forever with his own