Ethan Frome is a bleak tale of a human being who go in love with his marital char char?s cousin, unaccompanied to gull that he doesn?t comport the means to follow by dint of on it. Ethan is fed up with hismarriage to Zeena, a sickly woman who is a move eer more(prenominal) in a rotten mood and is jealousof her stimulate cousin, Mattie Silver, because she isn?t nearly as beautiful, charming, andhealthy as she is. This is bingle of the chief(prenominal) reasons why Zeena is look for an excuse toforce Mattie dazed of the offer from the precise beginning and the excuse that she comes upwith is that Mattie is likewise furtherterfingered when it comes to taking anguish of the chores aroundthe house. So this brings up the question that if Zeena is much(prenominal) a low-pitched and spitefulwoman , past why does she go aside of her way to perplex care of Ethan and Mattie afterwards their sad ? bring step to the fore up? when she is al well-nigh too sick to experience care of herself? other questionwould be why do Ethan and Mattie root to drive their sled into the big elm shoe guide tree whenthey could have just ran away to rewardher disdain non having much gold to live on?Furthermore, what were they hoping to fill by driving their sled into a big tree?Were they stressful to commit suicide or just naughtily appal themselves?Ethan is unhappy in his marriage and ever since Mattie locomote in he finally realizeshow old and sickly his wife actually looks. Mattie is a young beautiful woman in theprime of her keep and Zenna is pretty much the opposite: ??the pale fresh reflected fromthe banks of light speed made her face look more commonly worn and bloodless, sharpened thethree parallel creases between ear and cheek, and draw complaining(prenominal) lines from her thinnose to the corners of her mouth. Though she was but sevener age her conserve?s senior,and he was only twenty-eight, she was already an old woman.?(p 28) Ethan resents thefact that Zeena is et! ernally looking for a reason to criticize Mattie for her lack ofhousekeeping ability. Mattie has been aliment with them for active agent a year and Zeena hasbeen growing more and more animated with Mattie. In order to take the pressure offMattie, Ethan would in inexplicable help Mattie with the housekeeping duties: ?He did hisbest to supplement her unskilled efforts, acquiring up earlier than usual to light the kitchenfire, carrying in the forest instrument overnight, and neglecting the mill for the elicit that he mighthelp her about the house during the day. He even crept down on Saturday nights to scrubthe kitchen floor after the women had asleep(p) to bed.?(p16-17) E precise age Ethan looks atZeena he begins to see how sick he really is of this woman. It seems as though no matterwhat he says, she?s going to respond by telling him the opposite. The dark, freezing, and snowy conditions along with the dreary atmosphere clearlyreflects the mood of the fibers in this ill-considered novel. plainly like the weather, day in andday out the characters olfactory fashion like there is non much of a sen cadencent for change. Life has create pain overflowingy routine and almost hopeless in spite of the fact that throughout most of thenovel Ethan is still place out hope that a love affair between him and Mattie mightsomehow chance and they could stripe away together, only to finally realize that its nota practical(prenominal) possibility due to a lack of currency. He front(prenominal) begins to realize this when hestarts writing a letter to Zeena telling her that he is leaving for good: ?Zeena, I?ve forefathereall I could for you, and I don?t see as it?s been any use. I don?t blame you, nor I don?tblame myself. possibly both of us give do better separate. I?m going to try my luckWest, and you can sell the get and mill, and keep the money-?(p54) As soon as hewrites that she could keep the money he realizes that if he leaves eve rything to Zeena,then there would be nothing errati! c for him and Mattie. His concerns then shift over toZeena because it was doubtful she would even be able to sell the property. Furthermore,how would she be able to keep the rear going all by herself, especially when youconsider the fact that she is a very sick woman. This is somewhat revealing because itshows that despite their married problems, Ethan still cares about Zeena?s well being. Inaddition, what is even more revealing is that Zeena takes care of both Ethan and Mattieafter their ?smash up.? What makes this so intrusive is that Zeena has been lookingfor an excuse to drive Mattie out of the house for the longest time and now here she istaking care of her and trying to help her witness from her injuries. Things really begin to reach a boiling off for when Zeena discovers the disjointed pickle supply which had a lot of maudlin value for her. despite the attempt by Ethan to coverfor Mattie by claiming that the roll climbed up the chinaware closet and tipped the dish over,Mattie quick confesses that she took the pickle dish down from the top of the chinacloset. Upon hearing this, Zeena snaps at Mattie by let out all of the frustration thathas been make up inner(a) her: ?You?re a bad girl, Mattie Silver, and I always tell apartnit.
It?s the way your father begun, and I was warned of it when I took you, and I act tokeep my things where you couldn?t get at ?em-and now you?ve took from me the one Icared for most of all?If I?d a listened to folks, you?d a gone in the first place now, and thiswouldn?t a happened.?(p52-53)Shortly before Zeena confronts Ethan and Mattie wi th the broken pickle dish, Zeenalets Ethan know that ! she has found a permutation for Mattie, who would have to moveout to make room for the new hired girl. This infuriates Ethan not only because hewould hate to see Mattie go, but because it would be very onerous for him to find themoney to pay her. This is somewhat of a massive importation because it?s the first realargument they had in their sad seven long time of marriage. One very interesting design of this novel is that it begins in the future, meaning thatEthan is 52 years old. So immediately Edith Wharton creates this aviation about Ethanwhich makes us take to know more about this black protagonist: ?When a man?sbeen setting round like a hulk for twenty years or more, seeing things that want doing, iteats inter him, and he loses his grit? indisposition and trouble: that?s what Ethan?s had hisplate extensive up with, ever since the very first helping.?(p 7) The storey then shifts twenty-four years back into the past and that is where the heart of Ethan Frome?s sto ry begins. Another interesting thing to point out is that the narrator in the beginning of the novelis somewhat of a mysterious character who adds a different voice to the story. He, justlike the reader, wants to know more about Ethan Frome and what on the button happened tohim: ?I simply matte up that he lived in a depth of moral isolation too remote for casualaccess, and I had the sense that his loneliness was not merely the result of his personalplight, tragic as I guessed that to be, but had in it the profound accumulated cold ofmany Starkfield winters.?(p8)In conclusion, Ethan Frome?s story is one of great upheaval and sadness. The hauntingimagery reflects the mood of the characters and paints a picture of unrelentinghopelessness and emotional fragility. One would enquire what would happen if Ethanand Mattie decided to run away together instead of choosing to take the path of catastrophe?The answer to that question we will never know, but what we do know is that Eth anFrome is a character who had dreams of running away! with the woman he fell in lovewith, only to see those dreams become shattered. Works CitedWharton, Edith. Ethan Frome (Signet Classics). New York:Signet Classics, 2000. If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website:
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