Literary Elements In Ethan Frome

Baylee Martinich

Mr. Williams

English 2

28 February 2023

Down To Earth “He was a poor man, the husband of a sickly woman, whom his desertion would leave alone and destitute; and even if he had had the heart to desert her he could have done so only by deceiving two kindly people who had pitied him” (Wharton 8). Ethan Frome, a conflicted man trapped in a loveless marriage to his sickly wife weighs the possibility of fleeing with his lover. American author Edith Wharton adopted the ideas of Naturalistic and Realistic writing. She focused on the internal relationships of her characters. In contrast, Realism embodies the literary technique to describe story elements such as setting and characters, without using elaborate imagery or figurative

The environment in literature mainly pertains to the “social and cultural conditions that influence the life of an individual or community” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Authors try and illustrate how one tiny detail in nature can drastically affect the life of a person. In the poem “Luke Havergal,” there is a voice in his head urging him towards death, towards relief and peace from his unimaginable grief. The voice pleads” Yes, there is yet one way to where she is, Bitter, but one that faith may never miss” (Robinson 21-22). Every every waking minute is haunted by death, which keeps reminding him that better things are waiting for him beyond those gates. To enhance the theme of Discontentment, Edwin Robinson used nostalgia to contribute to the philosophy of naturalism. As he sighed, “Miniver scorned the gold he sought, but sore annoyed was he without it; Miniver thought, and thought, and thought, and thought about it” (Robinson 25-28). All Miniver dreams about is becoming rich and living this lavish lifestyle but he expects it to be handed to him with no work put forward. Robinson wrote against these common social norms to illustrate the unhealthy mindset people obtain. Frequently, authors create naturalistic conflicts to reveal why their characters react in a specific way. It started “when the loading finally began, a sleety rain

Heredity, “the process by which characteristics are given from a parent to their child” (Cambridge Dictionary), influenced much of naturalistic writers' stories. Studying the behaviors of heredity proved successful for writers because it gave readers insight to see relationships differently. For example, naturalistic writers wanted to illustrate how our physical environment contributed to the internal struggles their characters experienced. “I regret to say that some of these were ladies. It is but due to the sex, however, to state that their impropriety was professional” ( Harte 452). Since women in Poker Flats did not earn as much money as men did, they turned to prostitution as a means of subsistence, demonstrating the prevalence of heredity. Not adhering to societal norms led to getting ousted from the community shortly after. Following the philosophy of heredity, Miniver Cheevy was born into a life that he did not want; and spent it wasting away. Said that ” Miniver loved the Medici, Albeit he had never seen one; He would have sinned incessantly could he have been one” (Robinson 17-20). He would have done anything to become wealthy except put in the work to do so. The passing of Richard Cory, however, turned out to be one of possibly the biggest tales. And ” So on we worked, and waited for the light, and went without themeat, and cursed the bread; And Richard Cory, one calm summer