Characters and Setting in Ethan Frome Essay

Essay #1

In the novel Ethan Frome the author Edith Wharton uses setting to convey mostly the main character; Ethans emotions and inner feelings. Throughout Ethan Frome, the characters and setting mirror each other. The quiet New England town of Starkfield is plagued by long winters in which everything lies buried under a frozen layer of snow and ice.

One major setting that is one of the most if not the most significant is the setting of winter in Starkfield. In the introduction of Ethan Frome an old local, Harmon Gow tells the narrator Guess hes been in Starkfield too many winters. This single line epitomizes Frome as a human-being and his demeanor. This harsh winter sculpts Frome and in turn reflects him. Ethan being particularly emotional and sensitive becomes emotionally hindered beneath the six-month long winter. Just as winter hinders him from escaping Starkfield so does moral acceptance stop him from revealing his passion and desire for Mattie Silver; Ethans wifes cousin. The harsh weather also constrains Ethan to his house with his unbearable wife Zeena and is forced into isolation and only enhances his feeling of entrapment in his marriage with Zeena. Winter is used to reiterate the major theme of isolation and entrapment; just like in his marriage. The imagery used to describe Zeena is cold and relentless just like the harsh winter. When Ethan sees her before her trip to Bettsbridge, she sits in the pale light reflected from the banks of snow, which makes her face look more than usually drawn and bloodless. As opposed to Mattie, her image is associated with summer, natural life and beauty. Winter also hinders Ethans ability to even have a normal conversation with Mattie. While Ethan is able to share his love of nature with Mattie he becomes awkward and quiet when the conversation even briefly reveals their true feelings towards each other and all Ethan can say is, Come along.

Another significant setting referred to repetitively is the Frome household. In the introduction the narrator emphasizes Ethan's loneliness by referring to his house as "one of those lonely New England farmhouses that make the landscape lonelier." The landscape that is referred to is the winter barren land and is juxtaposed to his house and him. The isolation of his house reflects his own isolation. Also the terrible condition of the house itself represents specifically Ethans poverty and financial situation. Even the shed sags under the weight of the snow; which is comparing the burden of winter on his mindset to the burden of winter on his house. After Ethan walks Mattie home from the dance at the church, the kitchen has the deadly chill of a vault after the dry cold of the night. This quote embodies the coldness between Ethan and his wife and that the house represents that coldness. Ethans house represents isolation and loneliness through the lighting inside. When Zeena went to Bettsbridge to get treatment in a town over the kitchen lit up with Matties presence and became "warm and bright." Even after Zeena leaves for Bettsbridge not everything becomes positive. The Fromes cat embodies Zeenas character while she is gone, breaking the pickle dish and creating tension between Ethan and Mattie and then sitting on Zeenas seat cushion that Ethan threw across the room earlier in the novel. The dish is also red like Matties ribbon she wears the night of their dinner and is never to be used and go untouched, like Ethan and Matties love.

These two settings of Starkfields harsh winter and the Frome household both help to develop the character that is Ethan Frome and are two of the cornerstones of the novel itself.