Winter in Ethan Frome Essay

But when the winter shut down on Starkfield, and the village lay under a sheet of snow perpetually renewed from the pale skies, I began to see what life there- or rather it negation- must have been in Ethan Fromes young manhood (Wharton 14)

Ethan Frome has been living in Starkfield all his life during the depressing winters of Starkfield. The most significant events in Ethans life have taken place during these depressing winters. The death of Ethans mother and father takes place in the winter. Fromes marriage to Zeena is due to his desire to be content during the Starkfield winters. It is also during the gloomy Starkfield that the tragic accident takes place. In Ethan Frome, author Edith Wharton connects Ethan and Zeena with winter and cold while spring and warmth links to Mattie Silver. Wharton ties the changes in the weather to the idea that weather is the stifling force in love.

Wharton presents winter as a dark force in Fromes life. This can be put into light when Frome marries Zeena. Frome thinks that the wedding would not have happened if his mother had dies in spring instead of winter thus saving him from his disastrous marriage with Zeena (Wharton 59). The wedding occurs because he does not want to be alone during the winter months after the passing of his mother. The author associates the death of Ethans mother to the marriage with Zeena. Both events represent loss in Ethans life. The death of Fromes mother is the death of a parent while the marriage to Zeena is the loss of himself to his unloving wife. During the spring and summer months, Zeenas cousin, Mattie Silver, comes to take care of Fromes ailing wife. When Zeena leaves to care for her dwindling health in the winter, Mattie and Zeena have the perfect opportunity to express the feelings they have for each other. Mattie cooks dinner for Ethan and sets out the pickle-dish. While Mattie and Frome are having dinner, the cat, which symbolizes the presence the Zeena, breaks the pickle dish. The cat causes the pickle-dish to [fall] to the floor with a crash ruining the night for both. The broken dish symbolizes the shattering marriage between Zeena and Ethan. The author relates the uniformity of the two with the dish and when it is broken it represents the slow demolition of the marriage. This happening in the winter also adds to the troubles that Frome goes through to discover love. When Zeena comes home, Ethan learns that he needs to let Mattie go and hire another girl to help around the house. Zeena tells Ethan he she is a great deal sicker and needs to have a hired girl around the house to help out more (Wharton 87, 89). Wharton links Zeenas health to the departure of Mattie. Zeena is suspicious of the growing relationship between Mattie and Ethan and uses her failing health as a way to dispose Mattie. Zeena wishes to get rid of the factor that is tearing her marriage apart. The tragic accident occurs during the Starkfield winter. Mattie suggests that her and Ethan coast right off sot well never come up anymoresot wed never have to leave each other anymore (Wharton 130). Wharton sets the accident in the winter to represent how terrible events always happen in the winter. The accident led Mattie to stay in Starkfield because she is now a cripple. The author demonstrates how conflicted Ethan is and what led him to decide to run into the elm. The author illustrates the scene as a dark place to portray the tragic event that is take place.