Ethan Frome Essay

Ethan Frome: The Tragic Hero
Glen Velderrain
Mrs. White
English 3A
31 January 2017
Ethan Frome: The Tragic Hero In many stories, a hero has a major flaw which contributes to his
downfall. The Story "Ethan Frome", a literary work in which the main character is brought to ruin
or suffers extreme sorrow, especially as a consequence of a tragic flaw, a moral weakness, or an
inability to cope with unfavorable circumstances. Our hero, Ethan, is the character with the tragic
flaw, which is a flaw in the character of the protagonist of a tragedy that brings the protagonist to
ruin or sorrow. His biggest flaw is the misuse of communication in the story which brings problems
with Zeena and Mattie.
Ethan's tragic flaw, which is the lack of communication
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Ethan Frome Essay
Throughout the novel, Ethan Frome's sense of responsibility lives strong enough in him to forget
about his own happiness with Mattie, to stay with his wife Zeena, and to take care of the town when
all of the others have passed away. In Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome, Ethan's sense of responsibility to
his wife and land prevents him from achieving true happiness and causes his ultimate emotional
death. Ethan Frome has a strong enough sense of responsibility to keep himself from achieving true
happiness with his love Mattie. While Ethan and Mattie sit in the sled preparing to ram head first
into the tree, he sees Zeena's face appear before him, and this reminds him that he still needs to care
for her. Sitting on the sled with his love, Ethan...show more content...
This clearly states that Ethan must sacrifice his love for Mattie because he needs to take care of
his sick wife Zeena. He must remain in his stagnant life to care for Zeena. Ethan Frome also has a
sense of duty to stay with his current wife Zeena. Ethan wishes to leave Zeena immediately and to
run away with his true love Mattie, but he knows that Zeena could not possibly support herself on
her own. Edith Wharton shows this by writing, "...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 96). This distinctly explains that Ethan's sense of duty conquers once again and
controls him to stay with his bitter wife Zeena. Most have a universal opinion that Ethan has to
stay with his wife Zeena. Another author agrees with the fact that Ethan's plans to run away with
Mattie have become thwarted by saying, "But immediately his plans are set afoot, things begin to
close in on him again: farm and mill are mortgaged, he has no credit, and time is against him"
(Howe 132). The author states that Ethan's small estate will not support Zeena, and so Ethan's sense
of duty prevails over him again. Ethan's last responsibility leaves him to care for the older
townsfolk, and his own land. As the entire town of Starkfield grows older, Ethan has inherited the
responsibilities of caring for the old and disabled. Edith Wharton demonstrates this by explaining

Ethan Frome Essay
Ethan Frome 'He was but the ruin of a man'. What factors have contributed to Ethan's tragic fate?
The first factor which adds to Ethan's tragic fate is time. The book is mainly set in the nineteenth
century and in those times things like divorce and adultery were less acceptable. Ethan would have
felt morally wrong to leave this wife working on a poor farm or just leaving her money. Ethan's
birth into a poor family and in the time he was born, meant that he couldn't really do anything so he
was left unhappy. There was no welfare state in the nineteenth century America so again Ethan had
to accept the burden of looking after his parents and wife, paying all of Zeena's medical 'needs' with
no help. Ethan must have found...show more content...
There was no telephone, radio, television, buses or cars. If you needed to contact someone it had to
be by foot or horse and Ethan '[had] been in Starkfield too many winters' so the season, added to
Ethan's plight. Even when the railroad had been introduced it had left them 'side–tracked' because
before 'there was considerable passing'. This left Ethan and his family even more alone and
desolate from the rest of the country. The second factor is the place the novel is set in. The name
Starkfield is suggestive of deprivation and lifeless souls, all contributing to Ethan's hardship. The
main season in the novel is the 'enemy' of winter. Edith Wharton uses the climate to match the
feelings of people in Starkfield, walking with a 'sluggish pulse'. Wharton uses a military metaphor
on page seven, 'Storms of February had pitched their white tents About the devoted village and the
wild cavalry of March winds had charged down to their support'. As I was saying before, the
presence of Ethan in Starkfield for the whole of his life has added to his plight. The metaphor is
showing how the residents of

Conflicts In Ethan Frome
The story of "Ethan Frome" by Edith Wharton bring many different themes into question and
conflict. One of these ideas is the dispute between ethics and morals versus personal desire. In the
story, Ethan wants to leave Zeena because she is shrewish, while Mattie is kind, gentle, radiant, and
a perfect match for Ethan. Ethan's desire to leave Zeena for Mattie is therefore completely
understandable. Yet, because Ethan knows that society standards in this time period would cause
him to be severely judged as a man who abandoned his wife. The author uses variety of literary tools
to help contribute to the theme morals and ethics versus personal desires. The setting, character, and
plot contribute to the theme morals and ethics versus personal desires....show more content...
Ethan wanted to become an engineer, but he had to end his studies due to his mother's illness. He
returns back to Starkfield to run the family sawmill and farm. Then Zeena becomes ill and uses
this as a weapon to get out of labor and to cowardly control Ethan. Her doctors recommend
bringing in a helping hand, so Zeena hires her cousin. As Zeena grows more "ill", she becomes
more dominant and oppressive like a dictator. Ethan begins to feel show sympathy towards Mattie,
thus causing the two to become affectionate toward each other. Later on, Mattie breaks the pickle
dish causing Zeena to become fulfilled with rage. She orders Mattie to leave, but Ethan knows he
could dishonorably get money from the Hales. His strict codes of ethics and morals will not allow
him to do such thing, so Mattie proposed the idea of suicide. Ethan prepares the sled to hit the tree,
but by him being full of morality it causes him to think of his wife and botch the suicide leaving
Mattie to become shrewish just as Ethan. Ethan's code of morality and ethics made him second
guess his decision to leave Zeena, which causes Mattie to lose her amazing personality and ending
his personal

Ethan Frome Character Traits
Robert Chad Barrett
Mr. David Becker
Literature 221
27 March 2015
Ethan Frome, a Study in American Qualities There are many conversations about Americans, the
American Spirit, and the American Dream. These can be found anywhere: the internet, newsprint,
movies and television shows, radio broadcasts, and books. Author Edith Wharton wrote a novel
published in 1911, Ethan Frome, which uses naturalism and realism to breathe life into the title
character and story. Ethan Frome displays values distinct to Americans; he desires to better himself
and not rely on anyone else, values his time and productivity, refuses to let his environment control
him, is a private man, and he shows a very American trait by desiring change. In direct contrast to his
many American traits, Ethan Frome never realizes his own personal dream; and yet, he still
personifies the quintessential American by living the American Dream. As there are many
conversations about Americans, there too, are many variations on what the definition of the
American Dream is: what it means to be truly and uniquely American. The United States Declaration
of Independence states: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In Wharton's novel, Ethan Frome
certainly has all three of those. James Truslow Adams describes the American dream in The
American Epic as "opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement" (questia).
Opportunity, as well as liberty and pursuit of happiness easily cover more specific

Ethan Frome Analysis
Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton, is an intriguing tale about (what seems to be) Ethan Frome's crash
and what leads up to it. The narrator starts by explaining what he knows of Ethan Frome and how he
knows it. This knowledge consists mainly of snippets of information provided by other people
around the town. From this limited perspective, the narrator explains how Ethan Frome came back to
Starkfield from college to help his parents with their farm, how he ends up caring for his parents,
then later Zenobia (his wife) and Mattie Silver. He ends up falling in love with Mattie and they both
get into an accident that permanently affects them both. 24 years later, the narrator ends up meeting
Ethan and staying at his home during a storm. The narrator...show more content...
He meets Zenobia and Mattie as well. However, there's no meaningful conversation between the
narrator and either of these two characters, thereby limiting the perspective of the narrator. The fact
that the narrator's perspective is limited implies that he's making up elements of the story because
there are events and opinions that the narrator has no way of verifying. An example of this is the
fact that in the narrator's telling of the story, Mattie loves Ethan to the point where she can't live
without him, and suggests that he steers a sled "into the big elm" (71) to kill them both. However
there isn't anything outside of the narrator's story to suggest that she felt this way. The narrator
mentions that he got the story "bit by bit, from various people, and...each time it was a different
story" (1). This affects how the story plays out because we only (supposedly) know what's going on
inside the mind of the young Ethan Frome, not getting a chance to verify the accuracy of the scene
with the thoughts of someone who was actually

Ethan Frome Themes
The two novels that I chose to discuss in this paper is the novel "Ethan Frome" by Wharton and "So
long, See You Tomorrow by Maxwell. The author, Edith Wharton allows the symbols in the book to
convey her reoccurring theme in this novel. Throughout history, relationships have evolved and gone
through dramatic changes based on the social norms at the time. This is because all three of those
characteristics were expected of relationships in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries,
but by now all of them seem to be purely optional. In the past, marriage and romantic relationships
were handled with a certain amount of formality. Society today seems to operate in a totally different
way. Men and women spend time together without being...show more content...
Being married to one person for over twenty years is treated as a rare occurrence, something that
has been rumored to be possible but is largely thought to be unattainable. Being in a relationship
used to be seen as a prelude to marriage, and marriage itself had a certain sanctity that was
protected by society in general. On the other hand, relationships can mean a number of things today.
Two people will enter into a relationship because they are insecure, to avoid loneliness, to rebound
from a previous relationship, or to simply enjoy the companion without any consideration of the
future; beginning a relationship with the hope that it will lead to marriage is extremely uncommon.
"[I]n earlier days going steady had been more like the old–fashioned 'keeping steady company.' It
was a step along the path to marriage, even if many steady couples parted company before they
reached the altar. By the early 1950s, going steady had acquired a totally different meaning. It was
no longer the way a marriageable couple signaled their deepening intentions. Instead, going steady
was something twelve–year–olds could do, and something most fifteen–year–olds did do. Few steady
couples expected to marry each other, but for the duration of the relationship, acted as if they were
married. Going steady had become a sort of play–marriage, a mimicry of actual marriage. (Bailey p.

Ethan Frome Essays
Ethan Frome The novel Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton tells the story of Ethan Frome and the
tragedy he faces in his life. The story mainly focuses on the relationships between and among
Ethan, his wife, and his wife's cousin, with whom he is in love. Wharton uses different literary
devices to develop the plot, including irony as one of the most effective. The use of irony in the
novel, especially in the climatic sledding scene, greatly adds to the development of the tragedy. The
sled ride which Ethan and Mattie take at the end of the story is full of irony. They often talk of
going sledding together. In the first conversation that the two have in the novel, sledding becomes
one of the first topics. Mattie relates an incident, "Ned...show more content...
They see a collision with the elm as a way to avoid parting. Mattie suggests, "Right into the big
elm...So 't we'd never have to leave each other any more". The irony is that sledding, an innocent
pastime, becomes a tool the lovers use to try to escape their situation. Another ironic element of the
sledding ride is the appearance of Zeena's face, Ethan's wife, during the scene. Ethan and Mattie are
speeding down the hill towards the elm to what they believe will be their deaths. In one of the last
instants before they reach the tree, Zeena's face appears to Ethan. "But suddenly his wife's face, with
twisted monstrous lineaments, thrust itself between him and his goal, and he made an instinctive
movement to brush it aside". Ethan seems not to have thought about the effects his death would
have on his wife, but this sudden image of his wife suggests that he feels guilty. It is ironic that he
uses phrases such as "sullen self–absorption" and "evil energy" to describe his wife. Yet, she is the
last person he imagines before he reaches the elm. This moment is one last time that he must brush
her aside, as he attempts to break free from Zeena forever. When Mattie is to be sent away, Ethan
and Mattie grow desperate looking for a way out of their impossible situation. They decide that it is
better to die in a sledding accident together than live their lives apart. Ethan hesitates slightly, "But in
a flash

Ethan Frome Essay
The Novella of Edith Wharton, Ethan Frome, is a tragedy. Ethan Frome suffered tragedy because
of his character flaws, errors in his judgment, and forces beyond his control. Ethan Frome married a
woman, Zeena, he was lonely and not truly in love with her. When her cousin, Maddie comes to live
with them Ethan becomes infatuated with her. When Maddie has to leave, Ethan and Maddie decide
to kill themselves so they never would have to leave one another. In the novella of Edith Wharton,
Ethan Frome, Ethan is a unique character who suffers a downfall due to character flaws, and errors in
judgment, and most important forces beyond human control to in which he gains wisdom.
Ethan Frome is a unique character who suffers a downfall in the tragedy...show more content...
This was an error in his judgment that led to him suffering his downfall.
Forces beyond human control are the most important aspect to the downfall of Ethan Frome. Fate
is the major force beyond his control. The night before Maddie had to leave Ethan and her were
discussing going down the hill eventually. Then the next night it was fate that, in order to get to
the train station, they had to drive past the hill. Ethan comments, "We were to have gone down
last night" (79), so they decided to go down then. If fate had not taken them past the hill they
would not have gone down. It was also fate that there was a sled by the tree; if there had been no
sled they could not have gone down. Maddie says, "'but there isn't a sled round anywheres' 'yes,
there is! Right over there under the spruces'" (79). If there was not a sled then they would not have
been able to go down the hill. However fate allowed the sled to be there.
Having suffered physically and emotionally from hitting an elm tree while sledding Ethan Frome
gains insight. He learned that trying to run away from his problems will never work. Ethan
attempted suicide to run away from Zeena and be with Maddie, because he didn't understand "the
good of either of [them] going anywheres without the other" (81). Instead of getting away from
Zeena, she was taking care of him and Maddie at the end of the novella. Ethan also gained the
wisdom of knowing what it is like to be ashamed. "He's that proud he don't even like

Ethan Frome Essay

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