Analysis Of Ethan Frome By Edith Wharton

Infidelity is the action or state of being unfaithful to a spouse or other sexual partner. Ethan Frome is revolved around Ethan Frome cheating on his wife and his internal struggle between two opposite women that tear at his heart. Because of his indecision between Mattie and Zeena, he forfeited his happiness and reputation which highlighted his value of responsibility to others and stability; which showed Wharton’s message of the book is that morals and ethics are stronger than human desires. Ethan Frome was a completely different person around Mattie. Wharton often described the setting when they were together as “warm and bright” (Wharton 59), Those words are often associated with happiness and joy because they illustrate comfort and hope.

Wharton used the first-person point of view in the prologue and epilogue to convey the importance of how the townspeople perceive Ethan Frome and his situation after the smash-up. The people of Starkfield had a slight disrespect towards Ethan because there are “rare occasions that one of the older men of the place detained him for a word” (5). The narrator’s developing perception of Ethan was influenced by biased accounts of the citizens of Starkfield. With only reading the prologue, the reader could tell that the smash-up was taboo and no one wanted to associate themselves with a sinful person. He lost his reputation and his constant “grave mien” indicated that he was not happy. Ethan received his manly stature and dominant reputation by taking care of Zeena and he did not want to give that up; therefore, he chose to not kill himself and Mattie, which ended in his sorrow. He was in the same position before and after meeting Mattie. He chose Zeena, but only for his image, not because of her love. The decision of stability of being sad but respected tells the reader that Ethan could not bear for people to look down on him and that the male expectation had a greater influence on him than