Essay Database

Ethan Frome by: Edith Wharton- In the novel Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton draws many parallels between the plot of the novel and its setting. The setting of a cold and gloomy winter makes for an inevitably cold and gloomy plot. Ethan, Zeena, and Mattie all contribute to the gloominess of this plot by either making it worse, or having the chance to improve their circumstances and not taking it. Ethan Frome, a New England farmer, …

…problem by making Ethan and Zeena's marriage rocky and adds to the mess of their home because she is too weak to handle the work load. The parallelism between the plot and setting of Ethan Frome was shown through characters, attitudes, and circumstances. If the characters had had better attitudes, or had been a bit wiser in who they chose to spend their lives with, maybe no one would have ended up crippled and miserable.