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Symbolism In Ethan Frome By Edith Wharton

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Edith Wharton’s novel “Ethan Frome” is a story filled with symbolism. Every part of the story has a purpose and reasoning behind it. Edith wrote the story with the intention of her readers having to think about what they are reading and dig deeper into the meaning of the story. The order of events of the story was carefully decided by Wharton to entertain and create suspense for the audience. Symbolism is strongly placed in the story, things like the color red, the setting of the story, the cat, and the pickle dish are some of the most obvious symbols. In “Ethan Frome”, the color red is mentioned many times. Sometimes it is reflecting Ethan’s love for his wife Zeena while others it is representing his love for young Mattie. When referring to Mattie, an example of the symbolism is her red scarf that is mentioned in the first few chapters. “Frome’s heart was beating fast. He had been straining for a glimpse of the dark head under the cherry-coloured scarf” (22). His love for Zeena is represented by …show more content…

The author tells us that Starkfield is cold, wintery, and miserable for six to seven months out of the year. The story happens to be written in the time of this terrible season. The town is not lively because of the dangerous season they are in, just like the main character of the story Ethan Frome. Ethan is living his life taking care of his sickly wife and working all that he can. He does not get out much, if he does it is a trip to the post office going after Zeena's medicine. “At intervals, however, the postmaster would hand him an envelope addressed to Mrs. Zenobia--or Mrs. Zeena Frome, and usually bearing conspicuously in the upper left-hand corner the address of some manufacturer of patient medicine and the name of his specific” (8). Ethan is struggling mentally, physically, and financially. Frome is miserable because of his lifestyle and predicament and is trying to find new peace and

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A long time resident of Starkfield, the protagonist Ethan Frome shows he is considerate by caring for and helping others. He first shows this trait when he gives up his desire to live in a city to support his ill mother. Though he has a strong wish to leave Starkfield, he respects his duty and cares for his mother. Ethan also shows this attribute to Zeena, by looking after her and contributing to her medicine while she also falls ill. Zeena is again thought of by Ethan when the pickle dish breaks.

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Shyanne Lewis Cp English III Mrs. Hejazifar April 28, 2016 Symbolism of Color Analysis In Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, the symbolism of color plays a big role in the novel. There’s one color expressed throughout the novel. The color being red, symbolize different things for each red object. The color reveals a lot about the characters.

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447 Words | 2 Pages

Throughout the book ethan and Mattie have a growing relationship and their love is shown by Mattie's apparel. The ribbon and scarf found in Mattie’s hair and around her neck are both red and symbolise love. Ethan watches Mattie dance with “a cherry-coloured ‘fascinator’ about her head” (26).

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733 Words | 3 Pages

Andrew Comer Mrs. Metzker English IIIA 16 February 2017 Symbolism in Literature Can you recognize symbolism when you see it and understand the meaning and purpose behind it? In Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, written in 1911, the pickle dish symbolizes Ethan and Zeena’s marriage. There are three reasons that this dish symbolizes marriage: 1. The pickle dish is kept up high on the shelf and is not supposed to be touched, 2.

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812 Words | 4 Pages

This symbolizes the happiness Mattie brings to Ethan, she is the joy of the house, the light of Ethan’s world. “To him, who was never gay but in her presence…” (14) This sums up the contrast in Ethan’s normal ambience, to that when he is with Mattie. I included a few other images to add to the scene. First, I placed an old-style wedding ring up near the clouds.

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1441 Words | 6 Pages

In Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton depicts Ethan as a tragic hero who gets downtrodden by his circumstances and mainly, his personality. He has the tragic flaw of not being willing to put anyone in pain even if he benefits from it. Through this, he gets blocked from pursuing an education when he must care for his ill parents. Consequently, he also doesn’t get to socialize with other people of his age, making him feel awfully lonely. To further his tragic predicament, he marries Zeena, his cousin who arrives to take care of his mother and unfortunately, she prevents him from pursuing his love for nature and engineering by wanting to stay in Starkfield forever for her own ego.

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618 Words | 3 Pages

Ethan falls in love with her and remembers the red bow and scarf that she wore the night he saw her in town. The color red symbolizes the ultimate love that he expresses towards her. Mattie wears red in many of the scenes written by Wharton, which embodies the passion that Ethan feels for her. This symbol enhances the work because it creates the major conflict in the story and the relationship between Mattie and Ethan.

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411 Words | 2 Pages

Starkfield, Massachusetts (stark meaning, hard, bare, difficult) really is an environment that is supposed to be a place of eternal hardship. The winters are long and spring and summer come short. The author Edith Wharton base Starkfield, Massachusetts on the New England area. In this she quote she says the following “one of the reason [I] wrote the novella was because [I] didn't think other fiction writers had properly captured the New England landscape. [I] wanted to show the harsh and beautiful land as [I] saw it, in all its beauty and all its danger.”

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836 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout the novel “Ethan Frome”, many of the characters made irrational decisions. Quite a few of which impacted their daily life, for example Ethan’s decision to marry Zeena. Once Mattie moved into their home to carry out the housework Zeena was unable to complete due to her debilitating illness, Ethan developed feelings for her which only led to more chaos in their household. Their love blossomed into a greater intimacy than Ethan and Zeena’s marriage ever was. Not thinking logically, they pursued each other in the same house as Ethan’s wife.

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709 Words | 3 Pages

Each object that surrounds us encapsulates a certain meaning that we can interpret in many divergent ways. Even of the smallest items and tiniest actions normal conventions can be seen as something of great significance. Additionally, what may seem meaningless certainly can be the opposite. In Edith Wharton’s novel “Ethan Frome”, the author contemplates a pickle dish to symbolize not only the use of a kitchen utensil but the effect of Zeena’s attitude, the collapse of Ethan’s marriage, and the heartbreak of Mattie’s emotions.

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334 Words | 2 Pages

During her life, Edith Wharton had an affair with Morton Fullerton, a journalist for the London Times, while in a dysfunctional marriage, so she uses Ethan Frome as a “sympathetic” character to justify her actions. She uses him to parallel her life experiences of loneliness and regret; “Confused motions of rebellion stormed in him. He was too young, too strong, too full of sap of living, to submit so easily to the destruction of his hopes.” (Wharton 72). In order to have her audience feel more sympathetic toward this character, she makes him a male figure but makes him more feminine to correlate with herself; dependant on Zeena to provide for him, clinging on to a relationship he doesn’t have, can’t live alone, etc: “The mere fact of obeying

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550 Words | 3 Pages

In the story, the setting is in Starkfield, Massachusetts in the winter. Yes, the winter is usually metaphorically thought as depressing, sad and lonely, but Ethan has been around the winter of New England for a while, so he should be able to look past the stereotypical ideas, he could look at the better parts of winter as in the beautiful surroundings, and spending holidays with family. Unfortunately, Ethan cannot. He sees everything as dull and gloomy.

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1293 Words | 6 Pages

Imagery and Symbolism Edith Wharton creates the novel with a high percentage of imagery and symbolism in one. Some ways she combines both imagery and symbolism together is by a flower. Wharton states, “He had never seen any as sun-golden before, and his first impulse was to send them to May instead of the lilies. But they did not look like her - there was something too rich, too strong, in their fiery beauty”(Wharton).

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1197 Words | 5 Pages

Symbolism can use an object (like a tree of birds), or art, (like Melinda’s art project or Mr. Freeman's canvas) to represent an abstract idea. Laurie Halse Anderson uses symbolism to hint at a certain mood or emotion, rather than just blatantly saying it. So, the use of symbolism is important because it helps create meaning and emotion in a story. Symbolism makes a book fun to read, the symbolism produces a thought provoking work of art and it, (like in this book), adds meaning to seemingly unrelated objects and elicits emotions in the

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753 Words | 4 Pages

The limited opportunities and lack of choice in Starkfield also hold the characters back, particularly Ethan. Setting influences both the characters attitude and decisions, as well as limiting their lives and the choices they make. The novel takes place in Starkfield, a bleak New England town during the winter months. In fact, the narrator believes that Ethan’s character developed due to the frigid

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