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Why sociological imagination matters in contemporary society
Why sociological imagination matters in contemporary society
Why sociological imagination matters in contemporary society
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Divided between the two women, Ethan Frome is a highly confused man. He seeks to find some “ease and freedom” represented by Mattie, but society would not allow him to do so. Society instead compels him to accept its burden represented for him in the shape of Zeena, although it means the ruin of his life. The social pressure, whether it takes the form of conventional morality or any other forms, offers Ethan blind opposition at every turn, leashing his actions “like the jerk of a chain” (p.3). Aware that he has not even the money to take Mattie with him to the West, for instance, Ethan starts on foot for Starkfield to ask Andrew Hale, the village carpenter, for an advance on some lumber. In this episode, he is soon intercepted on the way by Mrs. Hale, who, appealing to his sympathy by a few kind words, baffles his attempt at the very moment when his is about to revolt.
Throughout the novel, this “invisible hand” of social pressure is constantly imaged to Ethan as a prison: “The inexorable facts closed in on him like prison-warders handcuffing a convict. There was no way out-none. He was a prisoner for life.” (p.134). A little bit later in the story, Ethan, watching Mattie's trunk being carried away in a sleigh to the station, has the feeling that “ his heart was bound with cords which an unseen hand was tightening with every ick of the clock.” (p.147). Again he expresses the same emotion later when he says to Mattie as they make the way to the station, “I'm tied hand and foot, Mattie. There isn't a thing I can do.” (p.158)
Because Ethan suffers from inner conflict in his own mind, the group pressure of convention and morality seems to have little, if any, power over him. If, indeed, social force had been involved in h...
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...f her mind were as incalculable as the flit of a bird in the branches” (p.46). To Ethan Frome, Mattie is “his one ray of light” (p.134) which gives meaning to his bleak existence but is to be extinguished by Zeena's cruelty. The image of light is further reinforce by the bright moon. Which is mentioned over and over in the novel.
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.
He deals with her complaining, overpowering and demanding personality, and she acts like she is always ‘sick.’ However, he didn’t ignore his feelings for Mattie and he wasn’t strong enough to run away and escape. When he was planning to run away with Mattie, he had to go get money from Mr. Andrew so they could run away but on his way there he met Mrs. Andrew. She told Ethan, “I always tell Mr. Hale I don’t know what she’d ‘a’ [Zeena] done if she hadn’t ‘a’ had you to look after her… You’ve had an awful mean time, Ethan Frome” (Wharton 104). After Mrs. Andrew tells this to Ethan, he doesn’t go ask for Mr. Andrew to pay him and instead goes home. He feels ashamed for for making Mr. Andrew get the money he needs because last time Ethan asked for the money, Mr. Andrew couldn’t get it. He also feels guilty for hurting his friends and he doesn’t want to leave Zeena with nothing when he runs away with Mattie. This displays again, how Ethan is a weak
Throughout the book, Ethan himself appears to be lifeless which reflected on how he lived his life due to not pursuing his dreams and remaining in the same old town his ancestors inhabited. Ethan is not the only one dreaming within the book. Mattie also pictures herself with Ethan in the future and it does come true. However, she is not Ethan’s wife like she planned to be. She is stuck with both Ethan and her cousin as her cousin cares for her and the man of her dreams. The reality they are facing becomes more of a hell than a happy ending as they imagined it would
Ethan Frome, a novella written by Edith Wharton, communicates a story of Ethan and his life living with his ill wife, Zeena, when a new lover comes into his home. Ethan and Zeena live in a place called Starkfield, a cold and lonely location situated in the New England area. Mattie comes into Ethan’s life to help her cousin, Zeena, around the house as her sickness has obstructed her ability to do housework. This causes problems for Ethan because he starts to fall in love with Mattie as she stays with the Fromes. The isolation of Starkfield prevents Ethan from living his life the way he wanted to. That causes Ethan to abandon his dreams of college and moving away from Starkfield. Ethan becomes hindered by the isolation of Starkfield because of
In the novel Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, the protagonist Ethan Frome has an unusual personality. Along with this, Ethan’s motivations seem hidden. Ethan mainly associates with his wife Zeena and his young lover Mattie. The reason his social circle is limited is because the town has shunned him. The people have isolated him due to the decisions he has made. The story begins with the new town Reverend who forms a special interest in Ethan. Furthermore, the story goes back in time to explain why the town treats Ethan the way they do.
Ethan Frome is the main character of Edith Wharton’s tragic novel. Ethan lives the bitterness of his youth’s lost opportunities, and dissatisfaction with his joyless life and empty marriage. Throughout the story Ethan is trapped by social limits and obligations to his wife. He lives an unhappy life with many responsibilities and little freedom. Ethan Frome studied science in college for a year and probably would have succeeded as an engineer or physicist had he not been summoned home to run the family farm and mill. Ethan quickly ended his schooling and went to run the family farm and mill because he feels it is his responsibility. He marries Zeena after the death of his mother, in an unsuccessful attempt to escape silence, isolation, and loneliness. Ethan also feels the responsibility to marry Zeena as a way to compensate her for giving up part of her life to nurse his mother. After marring Zeena he forgets his hope of every continuing his education and he is now forced to remain married to someone he does not truly love.
From the beginning of the story, society opposed Ethan Frome in any ways. To begin with, he was a prisoner with his wife, Zeena. Just because Zeena took care of his mother as she was dying, Ethan felt like she was the woman for him. However, when Zeena’s cousin Mattie came to live with them, he instantly fell in love with her, and felt nothing but audacity towards his wife. When Zeena goes away due to her illness, Ethan and Mattie sit at home planning their future ahead of them. He plans to elope and run away with Mattie, but he cannot lie to his neighbors, Mr and Mrs. Hale in order to achieve the money he needs. In the end, Ethan decides to abandon life itself along with his true love Mattie. Ethan was a prisoner to poverty. When he was young, he wanted to leave his family farm in order to move to a larger town to become an engineer. However, that plan backfired and he was trapped in Starkfield for life. Society does not want Ethan to be happy for he committed adultery and treated his wife like she didn’t matter. The gravestones in his yard are a reminder t...
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Ethan Frome Symbolism, Imagery & Allegory." Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. .
The narrator, upon meeting Ethan Frome for the first time, thought "he seemed a part of the mute melancholy landscape, an incarnation of its frozen woe, with all that was warm and sentient in him fast bound below the surface." He "had the sense that his loneliness was not merely the result of his personal plight, but had in it…the profound accumulated cold of many Starkfield winters" (Wharton, 9).
Mrs. Hale tells the narrator that if Mattie had dies, Ethan may have lived, but as things are, his existence is a kind of a living death. In addition, in chapter two, he had asked his dead ancestors, at their graves, to help him keep Mattie with him. We find that his natural ally is death and life is his enemy. Mrs. Hale believes that Mattie? surviving the accident is literally a fate that is worse than death, since the dead hold their peace, whereas Mattie and Zeena are often mad at each ther, adding to Ethan?s suffering and unhappiness.
Due to Mattie's injuries, and Ethan's inabilities to leave Starkfield, he remains at his home in an uncomfortable relationship with Mattie and Zeena. Even though he still had Mattie at his side, he was not living the life he wanted in the "west" with Mattie. There was no real "difference between the Fromes up at the farm and the Fromes down in the graveyard." Ethan gave up his life to stay at the farm with the woman he loves, and the woman he does not, resulting in him being subconsciously tied to Starkfield. Ethan's "father's accident" and his mother's falling "ill" results in Ethan's sacrifice of his career "to be an engineer" and makes him stay in Starkfield to marry Zeena. Even with opportunities that come along to change Ethan's continuous cycle of his life, he still ends up sacrificing everything to fulfill his duty and obligation to his wife
Meanwhile, how could she keep the farm going? It was only by incessant labour and personal supervision that Ethan drew a meager living from his land, and his wife, even if she were in better health than she imagined, could never carry such a burden alone" (Wharton 73). This evidence demonstrates Ethan's quality of his kind and loving nature towards others. The reason is when he wants to leave Zeena, he thinks about her future and how she will suffer to support herself. He cannot bear Zeena's pain, so he puts her future and their marriage before his dreams. His dream is to "leave with Mattie the next day" (Wharton 72). Another example when Ethan is a very concernful person is when "she would have suffered a complete loss of identity" (Wharton 38). This quote demonstrates Ethan's concern for Zeena because Ethan's dream is to move to the metropolitan area, but Zeena's sickliness will make her look inferior to the city. Ethan's concern for Zeena's image prevents him to "sell the farm and saw-mill and try their luck in a large town. Ethan's love of nature did not take
Based on how I was raised, I was angry that Ethan liked another while his own wife struggled with her own health. I thought he could do more to help his wife. The quote shocked me, I didn’t think of Zeena like that. I thought of her as a sickly, caring wife. I was wrong and this section gave me a new version of what was happening.
Ethan quickly realized that this marriage with her wouldn’t give him the sense of happiness that he wanted, but instead made Ethan feel even more alone and even less happy than he was after his mom had died “.makes him feel further removed from happiness.” (Hoffman). This situation furthers once Mattie arrives at the Frome household and Zeena begins to isolate herself in her room, complaining that she is sick and needs bed rest. This sense of isolation is especially shown when the Narrator tries to talk to Ethan and gain more details about his life, but Ethan won’t talk “, he has trouble obtaining further details. Ethan’s isolation is evident in their conversation.”
He is physically isolated from the world and is also cut off from the possibility of any relationship. Due to his new situation, he looks for an outlet in order to relieve himself from this isolation. Luckily enough for him, Mattie comes around in order to help Zeena out due to her illness. Wharton writes, “...the coming to his house of a bit hopeful young life was like the lighting of a fire under a cold heart” (Wharton 33). As Smith recognizes in this comparison, he says that “His (Ethan) life of isolation changes, however, when Mattie Silver comes to stay with him and his wife” (Smith 96). Smith correctly analyzes Ethan’s situation, labeling Mattie as this outlet of hope that he can turn to in order to cope with his isolation. Wharton herself shows that Ethan truly did view Mattie as his outlet for hope, mainly due to his love for her, which Mattie shares equally for him. This love sprouts from many things including attractiveness, conversation, understanding, and listening, many of which he lacks for his whole life and where most of his isolation roots itself. Wharton writes, “She had an eye to see and an ear to hear: he could show her things and tell her things, and taste the bliss of feeling that all he imparted left long reverberations and echoes he could wake at will” (Wharton 28). This is a fancy way of saying that they Mattie not only listened to Ethan, but also
In the novel Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton creates an interesting plot revolving around two star-crossed lovers. Unfortunately, there is only one important thing that gets in the way of these lovers, a wife who’s a hypochondriac. Zeena, the wife, finds herself in a particular situation, a situation where she needs to figure out how to get rid of Mattie. She tries everything to get rid of her, especially her illness, using it as an excuse to get what she wants, oppressing Ethan’s desires and needs. Despite her malicious actions, she creates a justifiable reasoning of her intent. In Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton creates a psychological response in regards to Zeena. Rather than being depicted as the villain of the novel, Zeena is merely the victim of