The Grass is Always Greener

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The Grass is Always Greener
Elizabeth Gilbert, an author, writes, “You were given life; it is your duty (and also your entitlement as a human being) to find something beautiful within life, no matter how slight.” Nature, music, and art are all natural sources of this beauty that must be found. Neuroscience, however, indicates that the most beautiful images to men are those of women. Edith Wharton utilizes this concept of beauty in her novel, Ethan Frome. Wharton uses Ethan’s female cohabitants and their contrasting and changing physical appearances to point to the theme that hasty decisions lead to regret.
Ethan’s life exemplifies the well-known idiom stating that “the grass is always greener on the other side.” Zeena, his wife whom he married hastily due to his fear of loneliness, is the proverbial “side of the fence” from which he views what could have been. At a mere thirty-five years of age, and “already an old woman” (57), she brings no joy to Ethan. Ethan constantly sees her as an image of repression, with her “sallow face […and] down-trodden heels” (109). Zeena, in every way,...

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