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.
Ethan Frome, who has to face multiple conflicts throughout the book with his nonstop dream to be an engineer which is crushed due to the illness of, Zeena, his cousin, but who also happens to be his wife. Also a love begins to grow mid way through the book between a girl named Mattie and Ethan, even though he is still married to Zeena which ultimately leads to the distance between their love. In the book Ethan Frome, the feeling of isolation in Ethan and Zeena becomes more prominent, while anger grows between Ethan and Mattie from having denying their love, which contributes to the many mistakes and downfalls Ethan has to face throughout the book.
After hearing the story of Ethan Frome, Ethan is actually a very strong person. He is emotionally strong. Throughout the story, Zeena always got on Ethan for even the smallest things but she does not know how aggressive she is coming off. Zeena always boss Ethan around and make him do everything. Then she takes most of his money then use it to go see a doctor that will supposedly help her.
”(Wharton 3). Because of his loneliness, he asked Zeena to marry him without thinking it through. He had no feelings for her and desperately hoped it would make him feel better. While being married to Zeena, his unhappiness peaked and caused him to fall in love with another girl who was the Fromes’ maid, Mattie Silver. Romance was in the air and most definitely not between Zeena and Ethan.
Alongside the other actions, Zeena made numerous poor decisions leading to the tragic outcome of the story. Some of the major poor decisions were the root of everything else I have listed here making this the biggest and most important topic to be discussed. One of the examples I noticed would be the decision of firstly marrying Ethan, while being aware of the feelings he has had for her cousin, Mattie. Following that was another poor decision which was allowing Mattie to come work and stay in their home while still acknowledging the lingering feelings Ethan had for Mattie.
Melissa Palacios English 3A Feb. 21 2017 The novel Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton is about a tragic hero, Ethan who is not in love with his wife, but another person named Mattie. An important symbol in this novel is a pickle dish. This dish symbolizes Ethan’s relationship with his wife. The pickle dish first appears in chapter 4 of the novel.
Ethan being left all alone lead him to marry the only person around Zeena who had been taking care of his mom. Ethan's marriage with Zeena was a very poor decision by the two, they both were unhappy with the relationship they had but Zeenas parents thought that it was the least he could do for taking care of his mom. “Yes; and my folks all told me at the time you couldn't do no less than marry me after” page 42 Another choice that led to Ethan's fate was that of deciding to not let Jotham Powell take Mattie to the train station and do it himself. “I want you should stay here this afternoon, Ethan,” his wife said. “Jotham can drive Mattie over.”
Ethan chooses his duty to Zeena over his dream with mattie he would receive when proposed with the option of moving to the West, he decides against it because of what he owes to Zeena. He doesn 't knows if she would not be able to support herself and that clouded future is why he doesn 't agreed to leave. Again, Ethan chooses between duty to Zeena and seeking his personal dream when he and Mattie were going to take their lives so they would not have to live without each other. Throughout his time with Zeena, he was forced to choose between duty to his family and his dreams. He could have left and continued his dream of being an engineer but instead he married her do to a sense of payment for what she had done for his mother.
Throughout the novel, Wharton juxtaposes Ethan's feelings for Mattie and Zeena through
Edith Wharton writes to those people whose lives or dreams have become restricted by other people or natural causes to show them that what other people shouldn’t dictate how they live and the decisions that they
Ethan’s bad choices of leaving school, feeling lonely and marrying Zeena and then also being avoidant when he wants to leave her. Obviously, Ethan Frome’s tragedy is all caused by his personal decisions. One of many ignorant choices Ethan makes is when his mother gets ill, somewhere in the beginning of the story. During this time, Ethan dropped out of college.
Happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being which can be defined by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Sadly, Ethan Frome, the main character of Edith Wharton’s novel “Ethan Frome” didn’t often have the luxury to experience such an emotion. The story of Ethan Frome takes place in the cold, gray, town known as Starkfield during the winter. The main character, Ethan Frome, is an isolated farmer who is struggling to maintain living conditions, all while caring for his cold wife Zeena who is faking her illness. Everything changed for him when his wife’s cousin Mattie Silver arrives to help out at the farm after having nowhere else to go.
That looks on tempests and is never shaken” (Lines 1-7). In Edith Wharton’s classic, Ethan Frome, this theme is present for protagonist Ethan Frome, who falls in love with his maid, Mattie, and forsakes his wife, Zeena. Ethan and Mattie’s flirtation with infidelity sets a catastrophic series of events into play: Zeena is jilted by the lovers’ betrayal, Mattie asks for the irrational way out of her situation, and all three characters make destructive decisions. Ethan’s indifference toward his wife and lack of compassion for her illnesses clearly demonstrates Ethan and Zeena’s loveless relationship.
Both Zeena and Ethan have varying responses, however both showing some commitment to repair their union. In Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton utilizes a broken pickle dish, to represent the views of espousement, and the representation of their varied human actions. Ethan and Zeena Frome’s marriage represents a union based on obligation rather that love. Throughout the story, Ethan is a weak and submissive husband under the control of a domineering wife.
After all, the narrator “began to piece together this version of the story” through information given to him by Ethan Frome. Of course Zeena appears to be the epitome of the quintessential antagonist. It is only natural that bias was introduced, for Ethan would certainly not paint himself in a negative light, and due to his infatuation with Mattie, she too is spared from any condemnation. Through no fault of Ethan Frome or the narrator, the narrator’s “piecing together” of Ethan Frome’s life is incredibly unreliable and it is incredibly subjective. Unless a reader mulls over the effects of utilizing certain types of narration, Zeena will forever be seen as the villain of the story.
