Ethan Frome's tragic love story is a fairy tale gone wrong. Use specific quotes and examples to show how Ethan and Mattie's relationship does not end up as a happily ever after scenario.
Ethan Frome is a tragic love story. Every romantic moment is fraught with tension and anxiety due to the bitter love triangle from which escape is impossible.
In the four days leading up to a suicide pact between Ethan and Mattie Silver, these two lonely characters get their first real glimpse of love, friendship, and companionship, and then it all falls apart. When Ethan tells Mattie, "What's the good of either of us going anywheres without the other one now?", is frustrating for the reader because we are now seeing Ethan coming to agreement with Mattie that committing suicide is the only solution. Yet, they still manage to remain together (with Ethan'wife Zeena) 24 years later, but in complete despair.
In the last lines of the book, Mrs. Hale says, "There was one day, about a week after the accident, when they all thought Mattie couldn’t live. Well, I say it’s a pity she did . . . if [Mattie] ha’ died, Ethan might ha’ lived; and the way they are now, I don’t see’s there’s much difference between the Fromes up at the farm and the Fromes down in the graveyard; ’cept that down there they’re all quiet, and the women have got to hold their tongues." These lines show the reader the extent to how horrible the Fromes' and Mattie's lives are after the accident. Mattie is crippled and a transformed Zeena, while Ethan is stuck with both of the women and might as well be dead.
The main message of Ethan Frome is the fact that sometimes, there are no happily ever afters. Because Ethan is paralyzed in a state of inaction, he does not act upon his impulses and his love for Mattie to leave Zeena because he still feels tied down by the social necessity to care for his ailing wife.
Ethan is also constantly manipulated by the women around him, and this role reversal also halts his happy ending. Even as Mattie attempts to persuade him so that they can be joined together in death, he is not assertive enough even to do that properly, and as a result, their fates are sealed as Zeena cares for them and remains the dominant figure.
Ethan is trapped by his restrictive circumstances, and "there was no way out – none. He was a prisoner for life, and now his one ray of light was to be extinguished" (Wharton 134).
The story of Ethan Frome is often described as a fairy tale gone awry. Ethan could be considered the male version of the damsel in distress. He is trapped by Zeena, the villain. When Mattie comes to live with them, she gives Ethan hope for a happily ever after. "All constraint had vanished between the two, and they began to talk easily and simply....The commonplace nature of what they had said produced in Ethan an illusion of long-established intimacy which no outburst of emotion could have given, and he set his imagination adrift on the fiction that they had always spent their evenings thus and would always go on doing so...,"(74, 75). However, nothing in this story allows for the cookie cutter happily ever after ending. Because of Ethan's inherent weakness as a man and as a human being, he was unable to make his happy ending come to fruition. Zeena's unhealthy state and the difficulty of obtaining a divorce prevented this. Since Ethan could not come up with a viable solution to his and Mattie's problem, Mattie begged him to run them into a tree. At this point there was still potential for a romantic, although tragic, ending with two lovers committing suicide to be together forever. However, Ethan's weakness came to the surface again, and he could not go through with it. Ultimately, Ethan's weakness resulted in Mattie, Zeena, and himself living out their lives in an existance that was quite possibly worse than death.
At first, the story of Ethan Frome seems like it may end in a happily-ever-after for Ethan and Mattie. Ethan and Mattie are able to spend some time alone when Zeena leaves for a day, and Ethan considers leaving his bitter wife to be with Mattie. However, Ethan and Mattie's potential fairy tale ending soon goes awry.
When Zeena orders Mattie to leave, everything starts to fall apart. In order to prevent their separation, Ethan and Mattie decide to commit suicide together, sledding "right into the big elm" (130). While this idea is somewhat romantic, this plan fails as well. Both Ethan and Mattie end up crippled instead of dead, and they are forced to live out their lives cared for by Zeena, the person who kept them apart in the first place.
Though they get to spend the rest of their lives living together, this is not the fairy tale ending that Ethan and Mattie had hoped for. As Mrs. Hale described their situation, "sometimes [Zeena and Mattie] get going at each othere, and then Ethan's face'd break your heart...When I see that, I think it's him that suffers most" (139). In a sense, Zeena, the "villian", has won, and the two lovers cannot acheive the happiness they dreamed of, ruining their happily-ever-after ending.
Ethan Frome's complicated love triangle with his wife, Zeena, and the love of his life, Mattie, makes the novella a tragic love story.
When Zeena reveals to Ethan that she is forcing Mattie to leave, Ethan is devastated and his idea of any happily ever after he had dreamed of with Mattie is shattered. After Zeena tells Ethan that Mattie must leave, "Ethan looked at her with loathing. She was no longer the listless creature who had lived at his side in a state of sullen self-absorption, but a mysterious alien presence, an evil energy secreted from the long years of silent brooding..She had taken everything else from him; and now she meant to take the one thing that made up for all the others" (94-95). This goes to show that through losing Mattie, Ethan is losing everything he has, including a happily ever after. Through Ethan being stuck with his wife whom he doesn't love while being consumed with passion and desire for Mattie whom he will never be with, Ethan Frome is a tragic love story.
Ethan Frome's tale is indeed very tragic. For starteers,his unattainable love is paralyzed, his face is maimed, and he is forever doomed to live with his controlling wife in the end of the story. Even when all hope is lost that Mattie and Ethan will ever be together, Wharton still attempts to pluck heartstrings by being melodramatic, "He got his face down close to hers, with his ear to her mouth, and in the darkness he saw her eyes open and heard her say his name." (135). But at this point in the story, most readers are already frustrated with Ethan's indecisiveness. Regardless, the fact that Ethan and Mattie could have existed as a couple but were instead tied together as cripples, is an effective take on the tragic concept.
In every fairytale, there is a happy ending. This is not the case in Ethan Frome. It’s actually kind of like a nightmare. The two lovers, Ethan and Mattie, end up living a sad and tragic life in the care of Zeena after a pathetic attempt at suicide. Even though they are living together, they cannot be romantic because Zeena is in the way. This lifestyle has changed their characters. Mrs. Hale remarks, “Mattie was, [kind] before the accident; I never knew a sweeter nature. But she’s suffered too much—that’s what I always say when folks twell me how she’s soured” (139). Ethan has also become a very sad person. The situation has taken a toll on him emotionally. Mrs. Hale believes that he is the character that has suffered the most. She thinks that, “…if she ha’ died, Ethan might ha’ lived…” (140). Ethan is suffocated by Zeena and he feels very guilty about the pain he has inflicted on Mattie. He can’t forgive himself.
Channing, Wonderful incorporation of relevant quotes with great analysis of the relationships within the novel. Meera, I love your opening lines. Anne Stuart - super tracing of the story with wonderful supporting quotes - particularly impressive with analysis of intimacy. Andrea - wonderful in-depth analysis of tree incident. Elizabeth - you definitely gave great twists on the happily ever after. Coleen - Ethan is indeed melodramatic Deidre - great job with showing the effect of all the characters.
8 comments:
Ethan Frome is a tragic love story. Every romantic moment is fraught with tension and anxiety due to the bitter love triangle from which escape is impossible.
In the four days leading up to a suicide pact between Ethan and Mattie Silver, these two lonely characters get their first real glimpse of love, friendship, and companionship, and then it all falls apart. When Ethan tells Mattie, "What's the good of either of us going anywheres without the other one now?", is frustrating for the reader because we are now seeing Ethan coming to agreement with Mattie that committing suicide is the only solution. Yet, they still manage to remain together (with Ethan'wife Zeena) 24 years later, but in complete despair.
In the last lines of the book, Mrs. Hale says, "There was one day, about a week after the accident, when they all thought Mattie couldn’t live. Well, I say it’s a pity she did . . . if [Mattie] ha’ died, Ethan might ha’ lived; and the way they are now, I don’t see’s there’s much difference between the Fromes up at the farm and the Fromes down in the graveyard; ’cept that down there they’re all quiet, and the women have got to hold their tongues." These lines show the reader the extent to how horrible the Fromes' and Mattie's lives are after the accident. Mattie is crippled and a transformed Zeena, while Ethan is stuck with both of the women and might as well be dead.
The main message of Ethan Frome is the fact that sometimes, there are no happily ever afters. Because Ethan is paralyzed in a state of inaction, he does not act upon his impulses and his love for Mattie to leave Zeena because he still feels tied down by the social necessity to care for his ailing wife.
Ethan is also constantly manipulated by the women around him, and this role reversal also halts his happy ending. Even as Mattie attempts to persuade him so that they can be joined together in death, he is not assertive enough even to do that properly, and as a result, their fates are sealed as Zeena cares for them and remains the dominant figure.
Ethan is trapped by his restrictive circumstances, and "there was no way out – none. He was a prisoner for life, and now his one ray of light was to be extinguished" (Wharton 134).
The story of Ethan Frome is often described as a fairy tale gone awry. Ethan could be considered the male version of the damsel in distress. He is trapped by Zeena, the villain. When Mattie comes to live with them, she gives Ethan hope for a happily ever after. "All constraint had vanished between the two, and they began to talk easily and simply....The commonplace nature of what they had said produced in Ethan an illusion of long-established intimacy which no outburst of emotion could have given, and he set his imagination adrift on the fiction that they had always spent their evenings thus and would always go on doing so...,"(74, 75). However, nothing in this story allows for the cookie cutter happily ever after ending. Because of Ethan's inherent weakness as a man and as a human being, he was unable to make his happy ending come to fruition. Zeena's unhealthy state and the difficulty of obtaining a divorce prevented this. Since Ethan could not come up with a viable solution to his and Mattie's problem, Mattie begged him to run them into a tree. At this point there was still potential for a romantic, although tragic, ending with two lovers committing suicide to be together forever. However, Ethan's weakness came to the surface again, and he could not go through with it. Ultimately, Ethan's weakness resulted in Mattie, Zeena, and himself living out their lives in an existance that was quite possibly worse than death.
At first, the story of Ethan Frome seems like it may end in a happily-ever-after for Ethan and Mattie. Ethan and Mattie are able to spend some time alone when Zeena leaves for a day, and Ethan considers leaving his bitter wife to be with Mattie. However, Ethan and Mattie's potential fairy tale ending soon goes awry.
When Zeena orders Mattie to leave, everything starts to fall apart. In order to prevent their separation, Ethan and Mattie decide to commit suicide together, sledding "right into the big elm" (130). While this idea is somewhat romantic, this plan fails as well. Both Ethan and Mattie end up crippled instead of dead, and they are forced to live out their lives cared for by Zeena, the person who kept them apart in the first place.
Though they get to spend the rest of their lives living together, this is not the fairy tale ending that Ethan and Mattie had hoped for. As Mrs. Hale described their situation, "sometimes [Zeena and Mattie] get going at each othere, and then Ethan's face'd break your heart...When I see that, I think it's him that suffers most" (139). In a sense, Zeena, the "villian", has won, and the two lovers cannot acheive the happiness they dreamed of, ruining their happily-ever-after ending.
Ethan Frome's complicated love triangle with his wife, Zeena, and the love of his life, Mattie, makes the novella a tragic love story.
When Zeena reveals to Ethan that she is forcing Mattie to leave, Ethan is devastated and his idea of any happily ever after he had dreamed of with Mattie is shattered. After Zeena tells Ethan that Mattie must leave, "Ethan looked at her with loathing. She was no longer the listless creature who had lived at his side in a state of sullen self-absorption, but a mysterious alien presence, an evil energy secreted from the long years of silent brooding..She had taken everything else from him; and now she meant to take the one thing that made up for all the others" (94-95). This goes to show that through losing Mattie, Ethan is losing everything he has, including a happily ever after. Through Ethan being stuck with his wife whom he doesn't love while being consumed with passion and desire for Mattie whom he will never be with, Ethan Frome is a tragic love story.
Ethan Frome's tale is indeed very tragic. For starteers,his unattainable love is paralyzed, his face is maimed, and he is forever doomed to live with his controlling wife in the end of the story. Even when all hope is lost that Mattie and Ethan will ever be together, Wharton still attempts to pluck heartstrings by being melodramatic, "He got his face down close to hers, with his ear to her mouth, and in the darkness he saw her eyes open and heard her say his name." (135). But at this point in the story, most readers are already frustrated with Ethan's indecisiveness. Regardless, the fact that Ethan and Mattie could have existed as a couple but were instead tied together as cripples, is an effective take on the tragic concept.
In every fairytale, there is a happy ending. This is not the case in Ethan Frome. It’s actually kind of like a nightmare. The two lovers, Ethan and Mattie, end up living a sad and tragic life in the care of Zeena after a pathetic attempt at suicide. Even though they are living together, they cannot be romantic because Zeena is in the way. This lifestyle has changed their characters. Mrs. Hale remarks, “Mattie was, [kind] before the accident; I never knew a sweeter nature. But she’s suffered too much—that’s what I always say when folks twell me how she’s soured” (139). Ethan has also become a very sad person. The situation has taken a toll on him emotionally. Mrs. Hale believes that he is the character that has suffered the most. She thinks that, “…if she ha’ died, Ethan might ha’ lived…” (140). Ethan is suffocated by Zeena and he feels very guilty about the pain he has inflicted on Mattie. He can’t forgive himself.
Channing, Wonderful incorporation of relevant quotes with great analysis of the relationships within the novel.
Meera, I love your opening lines.
Anne Stuart - super tracing of the story with wonderful supporting quotes - particularly impressive with analysis of intimacy.
Andrea - wonderful in-depth analysis of tree incident.
Elizabeth - you definitely gave great twists on the happily ever after.
Coleen - Ethan is indeed melodramatic
Deidre - great job with showing the effect of all the characters.
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