Ethan Frome Symbolism

686 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Why symbols are important

“After the mortal silence of his long imprisonment Zeena’s volubility was music in his ears” (Wharton 29). This quote is one of the numerous times that symbolism is used in the novel Ethan Frome. From the first couple of pages to the last chapter one can see the symbols Wharton uses giving the novel such character. The symbols deliver depth and such a greater meaning in this novel. As one reads just the very few pages of the book, symbols are relevant here and there. One of the first symbols introduced is the town Starkfield. As one would mostly think Starkfield was nonetheless just a city name Wharton came up with. Meriam webster dictionary defines the prefix word “Stark” as bare, cold or empty appearance. It is now clear of how pivotal this symbol is to the story. Wharton uses this symbol to “symbolize the devastating and isolating effects of the harsh winters on the land” (Boodie). With this town we presume its an icy cold one due to the descriptions in the novel. This proceeds to the symbolism of the winter season which seems to be mostly in effect throughout the story. The winter season symbolizes feelings such as isolation and loneliness. As we all know, the winter brings on snow, ice, wind, coldness and even further in depth darkness and death. Throughout the story we see Frome hide himself in the nature of the town. With the symbolism of nature we see Ethan hiding himself through the harshness of the winter. Quoting Book Rags “ Ethan embodies the somber and bleak landscape of Starkfield itself.” With that said we can see the importance of the nature on the character’s characteristics. Revisiting the quote, one important symbol between the main characters is what silence portrays. As the quote states, Zeena’s voice was ... ... middle of paper ... ...lism. Instead of blandly describing the emotions, Wharton includes these symbols. The symbols gives the use of the reader’s knowledge and says more than any other words could have possibly describe. Works Cited Book Rags Inc. "Ethan Frome Notes on the Death and Isolation Themes." BookRags. BookRags, n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. . Shmoop Editorial Team. "Ethan Frome Symbolism, Imagery & Allegory." Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. . "Stark." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2014. . Tripod Inc. "Figurative Language, Symbols, Themes." Figurative Language, Symbols, Themes. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. .

Show More
Related

  • Theme and Symbol in Ethan Frome

    1342 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ethan Frome is the only book Edith Wharton ever wrote that the author's name is readily -and deservedly- associated with, and it has in fact been held in higher esteem than any other of her novels. This book is a brilliant makes a use of imagery and symbolism. The destiny of human existence which Ethan can never solve is more clearly sharpened by Wharton's skillful use of contrasting images and symbols. More significantly, it is by her use of this symbolic imagery that the characterization of the novel can be fully understand.

    Read More

  • Archetypes In Ethan Frome

    369 Words  | 1 Pages

    Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton is designed to be read like a fairytale. The novel contains many archetypes of a classic fairytale. These archetypes are brought to life in Starkfield, Massachusetts by the three main characters: Mattie Silver, Ethan Frome, and Zeena Frome. They can be compared to the archetypes of the silvery maiden, the honest woodcutter, and the witch. These comparisons allow the reader to notice similarities between Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome and the classic fairytale Snow White. The character Zeena Frome from Edith Wharton’s novel, Ethan Frome, resembles the evil witch from the fairy tale Snow White.

    Read More

  • Ethan Frome Symbolism Analysis

    604 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the book, Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, there is a lot of symbolism that correlates well with the situation Ethan is in from the start. Not only is death and silence a reoccuring symbol within the book, but the color red is often brought up as the story starts to develop. Several items are said to be red as the story goes on. Ethan’s scar, the pickle dish, and Mattie’s red ribbon and scarf are just a few items that are brought up in the story. This color could represent the desire he feels toward young Mattie since he is so drawn to her but refuses to tell her how he feels.

    Read More

  • Symbolism Of Isolation In Ethan Frome, By Edith Wharton

    1032 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ethan exist as a product of his environment because of the situations he’s been through because of the isolation involved with Starkfield. Confinement provides a huge role in Starkfield, many of the couples in the town are with each others cousins and close relatives, this just shows the extreme isolation surrounding the entire New England town. The town of Starkfield represents an overall symbol for isolation mostly because of how the author depicts landscape and weather and the confinement of the townspeople and Ethan. The novella shows how isolation and confinement can influence a person's future goals and overall life. “I simply felt that he lived in a depth of moral isolation too remote for casual access,”(Wharton, 12) the quote shares how even though Starkfield itself is isolated, the farm Ethan lives on is even isolated from the town of Starkfield. Overall, Ethan remains isolated and continues to stay away from the majority of the town by remaining in his farm house for the better part of his

    Read More

  • Powerful Winter Imagery in Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome

    1479 Words  | 3 Pages

    Powerful Winter Imagery in Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome. Ethan Frome, the title character of Edith Wharton's tragic novel, lives. in his own world of silence, where he replaces his scarcity of words with images and dreams and fantasies. There is striking symbolism in the imagery. predominantly that of winter, which connotes frigidity, detachment, bleakness.

    Read More

  • Trapped in Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

    911 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many people oppose society due to the surroundings that they face and the obstacles that they encounter. Set in the bleak winter landscape of New England, Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton is the story of a poor, lonely man, his wife Zeena, and her cousin Mattie Silver. Ethan the protagonist in this novel, faces many challenges and fights to be with the one he really loves. Frome was trapped from the beginning ever since Mattie Silver came to live with him and his wife. He soon came to fall in love with her, and out of love with his own wife. He was basically trapped in the instances of his life, society’s affect on the relationship, love, poverty, illness, disability, and life.

    Read More

  • Symbolism In Ethan Frome

    1506 Words  | 4 Pages

    Symbols are what takes a novel to another level and without them a novel would be very one dimensional and readers would lose interest. The color red is very prevailing in Ethan Frome. We associate red with blood, love, hate, passion, danger, and countless others. There are many items in this story that are specifically described as red. Ethan’s scar, the “"cherry-coloured fascinator” (Wharton 32), the pickle dish, and the sun. It seems as if the red symbols are related to angsts in Ethan’s life. The red pickle dish is a symbol of Ethan and Mattie’s marriage. When it breaks, Zeena is devastated, but Ethan, not so much. The idea of passion between the two ties into the color of the dish, red. Also, keep in mind that Mattie was the one who took the dish out of the china closet, which resulted in the cat breaking it. Just like how she broke Ethan and Mattie’s marriage. Another symbol is the tree at the end of the snow slope. Ethan sees Zeena’s face on the tree. The tree symbolizes the desire to be belligerent towards Zeena. Ethan could have avoided the crash into the tree if he wished. Even though both Ethan and Mattie ended up injured, Ethan was glad he hit “Zeena”. The night that Ethan had walked with Mattie home, he notices “A dead cucumber vine dangled from the porch like the crape streamer tied to the door for a death" (Wharton 56). This symbolizes and foreshadows a death to come. The death of Ethan Zeena’s marriage,

    Read More

  • Ethan Frome: List of Quotes explained

    1263 Words  | 3 Pages

    This quote is explaining the feeling of Ethan when Mattie Silver comes into his home. Ethan was gloomy and pretty much sick of his wife and when Mattie comes to his house she brings hope and a whole new outlook on life to Ethan. Ethan feels that she is warm person and a polar opposite compared to Zeena. Her coming transforms Ethan?s cold and depressing existence.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Metaphor In Ethan Frome

    1010 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are several reoccurring elements that appear in Ethan Frome; the most noticeable and perhaps the most meaningful is the reoccurring metaphor that compares the characteristics of winter to every part of Ethan and his life. This metaphor illustrates the longing that Ethan feels to find a balance between love and responsibility, and the dissatisfaction that he experiences when it becomes obvious that he cannot have

    Read More

  • The Reading Experience In Ethan Frome, By Edith Wharton

    844 Words  | 2 Pages

    The creative writing techniques that Wharton uses within her writing enhance the story and make it worth reading. Wharton is very descriptive in almost every aspect of her story. This gives the reader another element to the story rather than just reading dialogue or general descriptions. A point where Wharton gets descriptive, is when she starts to explain Frome’s house and how “ the image (of itself) presents of a life linked with the soil, and enclosing in itself the chief sources of warmth and nourishment, or whether merely because of the consolatory thought that it enables the dwellers in that harsh climate to get to their mornings’ work without facing the weather, it is certain that the ‘L’ rather the house itself seems to be the center, the actual hearth-stone of the New England farm” (Wharton 11). This shows how detailed Wharton can get. It not only gives the reader a g...

    Read More

  • Free Essays on Wharton's Ethan Frome: The Story Begins

    641 Words  | 2 Pages

    The novel, Ethan Frome, begins with a statement from the narrator who reveals that the story was told to him in bits from various people who told it differently each time. The story is set in Starkfield, Massachusetts, a small rural New England town whose name reflects its sluggish and bleak nature. The narrator recounts the first time she saw Ethan Frome, the "most striking figure in Starkfield" who is not striking because he is handsome, but because of the air of ruin that surrounds him. At that time a man of fifty-two years of age, he seems much older. One member of the community, Harmon Gow, tells the narrator that Frome had an accident twenty-four years ago that left the right side of his body considerably damaged. Everyday, Frome goes to the post office about noon, receiving little in the mail except the newspaper, but every once in a while he gets a letter addressed to Mrs. Zenobia, or Mrs. Zeena. Harmon tells the narrator that the accident which caused Ethan's current physical condition was very severe, but Ethan was a tough man and strong enough to live on. Harmon also tells him that Ethan had to stay in town, where most of the smarter people born there end up leaving, because he had to take care of his family, specifically, his father, mother, and wife.

    Read More

  • Intersectionality In Ethan Frome

    859 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ethan Frome as a character represents a litany of ways that social class and gender are used to hold individuals to specific stereotypes. Frome is a poor man, who despite holding much potential in his youth, is setback by his upbringing and ideal of toxic masculinity. These attributes are inherently intersectional because the novel takes into account struggles specific to gender, and class. These struggles as described by Nicki Lisa Cole in Definition of Intersectionality: On the Intersecting Nature of Privileges and Oppression creates " a unified system of oppression."

    Read More

  • morals versus desire

    775 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... consists of only grey and white. His morality had never been shaken until Mattie had entered his life and Wharton took that into consideration when describing the setting. After Ethan’s accident though, society began to somewhat pity him because giving into his desires came with great consequences. “All the dwellers in Starkfield… had had troubles enough of their own to make them competitively indifferent to those of their neighbors… Ethan Frome’s had been beyond the common measure…”(10). This quote in particular demonstrates the slight sympathy that society had for Ethan, because even though each person has their own unique problems, society relates to battling with desire and observing the consequences that come from giving in to desire inhibits pity.

    Read More

  • Isolation In Ethan Frome

    1393 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ethan is not happy with his life and feels that it is his obligation to stay on the farm and work like his parents had “readers discover a man who feels overwhelmed by family responsibilities and who cannot free himself from what he believes to be family expectations.” (Witkosky). This obligation, and what Ethan believes to be his family expectations, ultimately helped lead to his decision in staying in Starkfield and not pursuing a happier life with Mattie elsewhere. Ethan also feels that even though all of his family members had died a long time ago, he still senses their presence, and he feels pressured to continue the family custom “Ethan senses their presence; in his eyes, the headstones on their graves, located near his farm, are like sentinels who guard and enforce family custom.” (Witkosky). Lastly the location of the Frome household in rural Massachusetts did not help the fact of Ethan’s isolation and his inability to socialize with others. Wharton symbolizes this loneliness and isolation by giving the town of Starkfield a cold and frozen setting, which is symbolic towards Ethan’s inability to move forward in his life “, the lack of social mobility in rural Massachusetts plays a role in Ethan's acceptance of the idea that he has no chance for advancement.” (Witkosky). Ethan’s ability to not being able to move forward

    Read More

  • Ethan Frome’s Irresponsibility: Edith Warton's Ethan Frome

    900 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...decisive. He and his wife might have moved out to the city, where Ethan could have pursued his engineering career. And, when Mattie Silver came to live with them, Ethan Frome, content with his lot in life, would not have fallen into the love that caused his hardships. Ethan caused his own misfortune by not even attempting to make a change in his unsatisfactory life. As one of the ladies in town, Mrs. Hale, says: “I don’t see’s there’s much difference between the Fromes up at the farm and the Fromes down in the graveyard” (157). Ethan exists lifelessly. His unwillingness to change, lack of self-responsibility, sense of obligation, and lack of inner strength and courage all add up to his irresponsibility in creating his own misfortune, which sends him to his living grave.

    Read More

More about Ethan Frome Symbolism

Open Document