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Ethan Frome Literary Analysis Essay

¶ … Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome. You specific evidence prove thesis -- FIVE direct quotes. Use MLA format essay including citations double spaced. According Oscar Wilde, "In world tragedies:, . "Ethan Frome"

Edith Wharton's novel "Ethan Frome" discusses with regard to ideas like the failure to achieve one's personal goals and to the risks associated with fighting for these respective goals. The book's narrator appears to be especially interested in guiding readers through the story in order for them to gain a more complex understanding of what actually happened to the protagonist. The fact that the novel begins with the end of Frome's chronological experiences is intended to confuse readers and to make them feel intrigued with wanting to find out more about the central character.

To a certain degree, even with the fact that some readers might feel an early closure by acknowledging the inevitability of events occurring in the story, most are likely to be captivated by this feeling of finality. In order to truly be able to comprehend the novel, one would have to read it several times, as already being acquainted with the storyline can seriously assist the respective individual in truly comprehending Wharton's thinking. The writer's clever strategies can go unnoticed upon first readings, but this confusion can play an important role in making readers get actively involved in the text.

The novel's description of events in a town called Starkfield uses the name to emphasize the condition of the atmosphere there. The writer uses the way its inhabitants seem to have a strong connection with it with the purpose of showing how they were influenced by the environment that they grew up in. The central character, Frome, is one of the best examples of individuals having been changed by their experiences in the town. He usually takes on a cold attitude...

"If you know the post office you must have seen Ethan Frome drive up to it, drop the reins on his hollow backed bay and drag himself across the brick pavement to the white colonnade: and you must have asked who he was." (Wharton) The way the writer portrays Frome puts across a feeling of continuity, as if he was a part of the scenery.
Wharton wanted to introduce a great deal of feelings in the novel and thus revolved around Frome's character as being somewhat of an integral element in the quiet, restrained life in Starkfield. The novel addresses society's morals and people's tendency to act in accordance with a strict set of rules. Thinking promoted during the nineteenth century did not allow for certain behaviors to be acceptable, so ideas like these influenced Frome to be reluctant to focus on them until he found that there was no other alternative.

Frome's relationship with his wife is an important element in the novel, as it shows how two persons can struggle with trying to be together in spite of the fact that they resent each-other. "These alterations of mood were the despair and joy of Ethan Frome." (Wharton) The role Mattie plays in this relationship represents a type of intrigue that is surprising both to readers and to the characters in the text. Frome's wife, Zeena, is initially unsuspecting of her husband feelings toward Mattie, but as the storyline progresses she gradually becomes more irritated with his interest toward the girl and eventually expresses her fury.

The writer paints a particularly depressing picture of the central character and proceeds with showing the town and its residents as they seem to be dominated by an air of reluctant suffering. Even with this, she manages to use her prose with the purpose of captivating readers and actually making them feel impressed with the overall environment she presents. "The moon had set, but the night was so transparent that the white house-fronts between the elms looked gray against the snow, clumps of bushes made black stains on it, and the basement windows of the church sent shafts of yellow light far across the endless undulations." (Wharton)

The novel focuses on the connection between the three characters and some might feel…

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Wharton, Edith, "Ethan Frome (Middleton Classics)," Middleton Classics, 8 Apr 2013.
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