Wharton's Ethan Frome: Escape from Passivity
analytical Essay
2604 words
Escape from Passivity in Ethan Frome
They say that if you give a man the necessary tools and supplies, he will build himself a trap. Since this trap is made unconsciously, it cannot be escaped. The only solution that suffices is to live with this trap - for life. But is it the only solution? In Edith Wharton's tragic novel Ethan Frome, the need for affection causes Ethan Frome to gradually shed his taciturnity and bring his emotions to life. Early in the novel, Ethan's passiveness and lack of self-confidence, allow his wife Zeena to emasculate him, as well as make him emotionally inarticulate toward Mattie. Once Mattie Silvers enters Ethan's life, she awakens in Ethan the bitterness of his youth's lost opportunities, and a dissatisfaction with his joyless life and empty marriage. Gradually, Ethan strengthens and gathers the courage to defy Zeena and confess his love for Mattie.
At the start of his journey, Ethan surrenders himself to the forces of isolation, silence, and his depleted life. Soon his desire for love, in a situation where only abject coldness exists, transforms him into an emotional and confident man. Because of his emotional weakness, Ethan loses opportunities to reveal his passion to Mattie and also acquiesces to his wife's demands, while shunning out his own needs. After suffering so long with the sickly Zeena, Ethan fears unveiling his passionate feelings to Mattie, for he is bound as a husband and tradition to Zeena. Years earlier as a younger and more hale man, Ethan felt trapped in his hometown Starkfield. Mistakenly, he marries Zeena, a gaunt, sallow nagging hag, as compensation for her nursing Ethan's sick mother. Ethan and his morose, invalid wife Zeena live in a trapped, unspoken resentment on...
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... Ethan achieves his sweetheart by sloughing off his shyness and building the strength to communicate his feelings.
On the whole, does Ethan Frome ever set himself free from the weakness that traps him in a hopelessly burdened and branded life? Contrary to popular belief, solitude and the human need for passion cause Ethan Frome, the title character of Edith Wharton's tragic novel, Ethan Frome, to cast off his shy, feeble nature and embolden into an emotional man. At first, Ethan exhibits self-doubt and fears emotional expression. Upon Mattie's arrival, Ethan realizes the burdens of his depleted life. In the end, his thirst for Mattie's love encourages him to blossom into a free, strong, passionate man. For Ethan Frome, life cannot be a loveless and tragic trap. At least he hopes so as struggles and succeeds to free himself from his passivity throughout the novel.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how edith wharton's tragic novel ethan frome sheds his taciturnity and brings his emotions to life.
- Analyzes how ethan surrenders himself to isolation, silence, and his depleted life. he loses opportunities to reveal his passion to mattie and acquiesces to his wife's demands.
- Analyzes how ethan's lack of communication with his wife contributes to their miserable marriage and his inability to act out his emotions.
- Analyzes how mattie sheds light on ethan's miserable life and shows him his weakness as he permits zeena to control his emotions.
- Analyzes how zeena manipulates ethan like a toy and doesn't give him the love and care that he should.
- Analyzes how ethan's fear and submissiveness signaled development as he realized that zeena was a mysterious alien presence and evil energy.
- Analyzes how ethan's realizations of his unhappy marriage to zeena and happiness in the company of mattie precipitated his desire to build confidence.
- Analyzes how ethan's desperate cry and confession demonstrate all that zeena had suppressed. mattie radiates energy into his life.
- Analyzes how ethan moves his relationship with mattie to a new stage and speaks to her candidly about his feelings.
- Analyzes how ethan frome, the title character of edith wharton's tragic novel, casts off his shy, feeble nature and emboldens into an emotional man.
- Analyzes how zeena creates a loveless, desolate home for ethan where he never learns to express his love and affection, and uses her frail health to justify her bitter personality.
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- Weaknesses In Wharton's Ethan Fromeanalytical essayEthan Frome the main character from the book entitled Ethan Frome has many signs of weakness throughout the story. His family died, and his wife is sick. His only source of light is Mattie one of Zeena’s, his wife, cousin. In this case, Ethan suffers from the tragic flaw that he lacks strength. He doesn’t take control and shows great weaknesses by surrendering to his loneliness, not standing up to his wife to fix his past mistakes, and his inability to live without Mattie.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how ethan frome suffers from the tragic flaw that he lacks strength. he shows great weaknesses by surrendering to loneliness, not standing up to his wife to fix his past mistakes, and inability to live without mattie.
- Analyzes how ethan shows weakness of character when he surrenders to his loneliness. he returned home to care for his father who was hurt on the farm, and then proceeded to put off education.
- Narrates how he seized with an unreasoning dread of being left alone on the farm and asked his mother to stay with him.
- Explains that ethan didn't think about marrying zeena for another reason other than that he felt lonely. this fear made him marry a woman who was 7 years his senior and often was ill.
- Analyzes how ethan reveals his weakness by not being able to stand up against his wife, and fix his mistakes. when zeena found out that she had complications, the doctor had told her to hire more help around the house.
- Analyzes how ethan's third weakness was his inability to live without mattie.
618 wordsRead More - The Theme Of Isolation In Ethan Frome By Edith Whartonanalytical essayIn the book “Ethan Frome” by Edith Wharton, Ethan, the main character in the book, experiences many episodes of isolation persuading him to escape from and cope with them with outlets of hope, only leading to a life of permanent isolation. The story depicts a classic ironic switch of roles and a triangle of unusual “love.” With many people coming and going, Ethan looks to rely on someone to relieve his isolation and communicate with, only setting him up for trouble.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how edith wharton's "ethan frome" depicts an ironic switch of roles and a triangle of unusual "love."
- Analyzes how ethan's isolation manifests itself throughout the book with characters speaking about him or through depictions of , edith wharton.
- Analyzes how wharton sees the comparison between the setting and ethan in regards to their depth, and how their internal beings cannot be accessed due to different reasons.
- Analyzes how the elm tree symbolizes isolation, and how ethan's emotions, dreams and initiative suffer when snow buries starkfield.
- Analyzes ethan's situation, labeling mattie as his outlet of hope, which he can turn to in order to cope with his isolation.
- Analyzes how ethan ends up where he doesn't want to be due to his isolation with mattie as his outlet. he finds himself finding only one way out, suicide.
- Analyzes how zeena's recovery in every way fits into the category of a miracle, while mattie suffers from many harsh injuries including paralysis.
- Analyzes how mrs. hale, the character in the book that knows the fromes better than anyone else in starkfield, sums up life on the frome farm very simplistically.
2266 wordsRead More - Free Essays on Wharton's Ethan Frome: Responsibilitiesanalytical essayEthan Frome - Responsibilities 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.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how ethan frome is the main character of edith wharton's tragic novel. he is trapped by social limits and obligations to his wife.
- Analyzes how ethan falls in love with cousin mattie silver because she is the opposite of zeena.
- Analyzes how ethan's body and brain ached with indescribable weariness after taking and anaesthetic. he desperately wanted to run away with mattie but could not leave partly because of his responsibility to take care of zeena.
- Analyzes how ethan's aborted suicide attempt leads to their tragic fate, living a life of physical suffering, so badly that zeena is forced to take care of them.
- Analyzes how ethan frome's practical sense of putting his responsibilities before his self-interests had a negative effect on his life. his first decision of marrying zeena had an impact on everything he did.
705 wordsRead More - Trapped in Ethan Frome by Edith Whartonanalytical essayMany 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.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how ethan frome by edith wharton is the story of a poor, lonely man, his wife zeena, and her cousin mattie silver.
- Analyzes how society opposed ethan frome, who was a prisoner with his wife, zeena, but fell in love with her when her cousin mattie came to live with them.
- Analyzes how ethan had moral values and respect for his marriage to zeena. frome's feelings for mattie never oscillate and he wants to be with this woman who is not his wife.
- Analyzes how edith wharton uses mattie to express isolation and being lonely. she wanted to free ethan from the terrible society he lived in.
- Analyzes how ethan convinces zeena that he will drive mattie to the station no matter what happens. they both decide to commit suicide and sled into a tree for that was the only way they could be together.
- Analyzes how ethan's morals prevent him from leaving starkfield to pursue and achieve his dreams. he cannot bear to leave zeena alone with her sickness.
911 wordsRead More - Fantasy is an Escape from Fear in Edith Wharton's Ethan Fromeanalytical essayFantasy is an Escape from Fear in Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome Everyone, at some time in life, will experience fear. But, often fantasies are created in one's mind to escape that fear. Ethan Frome uses his fantasy as an escape to the entrapment of his marriage and the fear of public condemnation. Ethan Frome lives in the winter town of Starkfield, Massachusetts where "the storms of February…pitched their white tents about the devoted village and the wild cavalry of March winds…charged down to their support; and …Starkfield emerged from its six months' siege like a starved garrison capitulating without quarter"
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how edith wharton's ethan frome uses his fantasy as an escape to the entrapment of his marriage and the fear of public condemnation.
- Analyzes how the narrator, upon meeting ethan frome for the first time, thought that his loneliness was not just the result of his personal plight, but had in it the profound accumulated cold of many starkfield winters.
- Analyzes how frome is unable to escape the dreariness of the town of starkfield. each day while passing the headstones on his property he feels as if they are mocking him.
- Analyzes how ethan frome marries zenobia after the death of his mother in an unsuccessful attempt to escape the silence, isolation, and loneliness of life. their lack of communication makes the marriage more miserable.
- Analyzes how ethan frome finds silence between him and zeena and the dreariness she carries. the pale light reflected from the banks of snow made her face look more than unusually drawn and bloodless.
- Analyzes how ethan frome falls in love with mattie in an attempt to escape the entrapment of the failing marriage.
- Narrates how mattie, being young and single, often went to gatherings in town, and ethan took it upon himself to meet her afterward and escort her home.
- Analyzes how mattie, while escorting her home, wants to tell her his feelings and thoughts, but the fact that he had no right to show them made him attach a fantastic importance to every change in her look and tone.
- Analyzes how zeena decides to visit a doctor in the neighboring town. ethan dreamed of them being alone together, spending the evening sitting by the fire, as if they were married.
- Analyzes how ethan's entrapment with zeena is disrupted by the eerie sense of her presence, and the broken red dish.
- Analyzes how ethan and mattie realize their mutual feelings, but zeena's return forced them back to dreadful reality.
- Analyzes how zeena is able to manipulate her husband by using her health to justify her actions and personality.
- Analyzes how ethan tries desperately to find a way for them to escape together, but discovers the true reality of his entrapment of their marriage to zeena.
- Analyzes how edith wharton wrote ethan frome because it vividly reflected her dreary life. abandoned of any love as a child from her mother, she found herself relying on illicit love.
978 wordsRead More - Pursuit of Happiness in Edith Wharton's Novel, Ethan Fromeanalytical essayWhile everyone is legally intitled to the pursuit of happiness, the truth of the matter is that very few ever achieve it. Ones morals, standards, conscious, or perhaps even fate, keep them from accepting a pure form of satisfaction. While a person can search and struggle their entire life for happiness, the truth of the matter is, that they will never be happy with what they have infront of them. The character Ethan, portrayed in Edith Whartons novel, Ethan Frome, is emotionally weak, he battles constantly with what he wants, how to get it, and what is ethically right. Ethan was obligated to care for his wife Zeena until death, but his misguided decisions lead him to be concerned only with his immediate happiness. Much like Ethan in Ethan Frome, people who concentrate on personal happiness, without factoring in personal responsibility, set themselves up for a painful reality check.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that while everyone is legally entitled to the pursuit of happiness, the truth of the matter is that very few ever achieve it. ethan, portrayed in edith whartons novel, is emotionally weak.
- Analyzes how ethan struggles to find a way to reverse his fate so that he can head west with mattie and be happy with his true love.
- Analyzes how ethan and mattie re-awakened their boyish desires for an exciting future, but are too old and obligated to zeena's health to fulfill them.
- Analyzes how ethan lives in shame and mediocrity, facing every day with zeena and mattie, consumed by guilt instead of misery. he failed at succeeding because he put his selfishness in front of his obligations.
743 wordsRead More - Sacrifice In Ethan Fromeanalytical essayOne might think sacrificing things in life would lead to simplicity and happiness. However, in the novel Ethan Frome written by Edith Wharton, the character Ethan from shows that sacrifice can be heartbreaking and tragic. Ethan Frome sacrifices his figurative life, and happiness, as well as logic and reasoning for obligation to convey that love, is never enough.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how edith wharton's ethan frome shows that sacrifice can be heartbreaking and tragic.
- Analyzes how ethan frome's love for mattie keeps him blind from the grand scheme of his situation.
- Analyzes how ethan sacrifices everything to fulfill his duty and obligation to his wife zeena, despite mattie's injuries and his inability to leave starkfield.
- Analyzes how ethan is blinded by zeena and sacrifices his happiness to live out his days and the farm with her.
- Analyzes how ethan frome sacrificed his life, happiness, and logic in the end to demonstrate that love does not stand a chance against loyalty and obligation.
832 wordsRead More - The Development of the Novel and Characters In the novel Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton, the character of Ethan Frome plays an important role in the development of the rest of the book. He has several character traits which distinguish him from the other main characters. Also, there are many factors which play against him throughout the novel.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the character of ethan frome plays an important role in the development of the novel.
- Analyzes how speech renders some importance in the novel. abbreviated words like "wurst kind" and "more'n enough" were used throughout. this misuse shows that frome and the other characters were not well educated.
- Analyzes how ethan frome was motivated by mattie silver. he dreamed of being with her and not with his wife zeena.
- Analyzes how frome changed throughout the novel. he was unhappy, ruled by his wife again after the accident, and anxious to see what was going to happen between mattie and him.
- Analyzes how zeena's decision to make mattie silver, her cousin, live in another town, shattered ethan’s world and he was distressed into almost running off to the west with his true love.
- Narrates how frome and mattie silver's moments before the sledding accident gave them a sense of ease that neither of them had ever felt before. they decided to commit suicide mutually and failed.
- Analyzes how edith wharton's novel "ethan frome" created a vivid character image for the actual character of ethan. these themes help develop the novel and other characters.
930 wordsRead More - Ethan Frome Symbolism Analysisanalytical essayThroughout 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
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes the symbolism of death and silence in edith wharton's ethan frome. the color red is often brought up as the story develops.
- Analyzes how the red of the scar ethan has can contribute to symbolism within the story. it can be compared to a symbol used in another book which involved commitment to adultery.
- Analyzes how ethan imagined a life without lopez 2 and mattie. he could not get away from zeena, nor run away with the girl he felt drawn to.
- Analyzes how ethan appears lifeless in the book, reflected on how he lived his life due to not pursuing his dreams. mattie also dreams of being a future wife.
- Analyzes how a quote in the book is trying to say that if mattie hadn't lived through the accident, he might have gotten the chance to pursue his true desires.
604 wordsRead More - An Analysis Of Edith Wharton's Ethan Fromeanalytical essayEdith Wharton’s Ethan Frome takes place in the fictional town of Starkfield, Massachusetts. However, the economic and geographic problems of the town are not fictional, and were shared by many around the United States, specifically in the approximately 25 years of the early 20th century when the story took place. While these decades are known for their innovations in technology, travel, communication, and manufacturing, only a small and insignificant number of these innovations were present in the story, and they did not impact it in any meaningful way. Simply put, this poor, small, and rural town had seen the great changes in the world around it, but remained largely unaffected by them, further relying on the old ways of living. Therefore, the setting is a particularly driving force in the story because of its use of a harsh winter climate to advance the plot line, both before the arrival of the Narrator and during his stay, and because of its use of economic conditions to restrict certain plot advancements, which would have been otherwise present
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how edith wharton's ethan frome takes place in the fictional town of starkfield, massachusetts, but the economic and geographic problems of the town are not fictional.
- Analyzes how the harsh winter climate affected the story. harmon gow and ruth hale sparked the narrator's curiosity in ethan frome’s story, but their depictions were incomplete.
- Describes how the storm held off, and the clearness in the west seemed to their inexperienced eye the pledge of a fair evening. but at sunset the clouds gathered again, bringing an earlier night.
- Analyzes how the narrative shifts to a third-person view after the narrator follows ethan into his home. without this convenient blizzard, he may have never had the opportunity to be alone with him.
- Analyzes how the setting of a story allowed the events of the story to take place. if ethan had never married zeena, he would have never had the same experiences that make up the plot.
- Narrates how he feared being left alone on the farm after seeing his mother's funeral, and asked her to stay with him. he thought it wouldn't have happened if her mother had died in spring.
- Analyzes how ethan's mother died during the winter, and he married zeena to prevent the rise of emotions. the motive for this action was the onset of a particular part of the annual climate.
- Analyzes how the combination of climate and economic misfortune combined to limit the plot of the three main characters.
- Analyzes how mrs. hale ended, sighing, "that they're all shut up there 'n that one kitchen." in summertime, on pleasant days, they move mattie into the parlour, or out in the door-yard, and that makes it easier.
- Analyzes how the characters' lives were limited towards the end of the story, through a forceful combination of climate and economic condition.
- Explains that the setting allowed mattie to work for the household. zeena chose an inexpensive option to help her illnesses because the family did not have money to spare for an expensive treatment.
- Explains that ethan was aware that the female opinion of the neighbourhood was divided, some glorying in the prestige conferred by operations while others shunned them as indelicate.
- Analyzes how the family's poor economic condition led them to choose an inefficient, inexpensive option to help zeena with her illnesses.
- Analyzes how the economic conditions of the setting had halted ethan's plans to run away with mattie. this limitation altered the plot inline and forced the characters to stay in the set.
- Narrates how he was a prisoner for life, and now his one ray of light was to be extinguished.
- Analyzes how ethan was a prisoner to the setting and all that came with it, but he had no money to run away with mattie, and this economic aspect of his environment forcefully drove him to hurt himself in the long run.
- Concludes that wharton's use of climate in the story had given the narrator the ability to tell story, the main characters, and the economic situation of the town limited the characters' choices.
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