Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton


Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, first published in 1911 by Charles Scribner's Sons, New York

The anonymous narrator of the story, a young engineer, meets the titular character, Ethan Frome, when he comes to work near Starkville, Massachusetts. He took him for 'an old man' although in reality Frome was 'not more than fifty-two'. The narrator hears intriguing fragments of the man's life, particularly references to the "smash-up", but it isn't until snow forces him to spend a night with Frome and his family, that he discovers their secret.
In this novella, Wharton skillfully builds up a picture of Frome's isolated life. As a young man he had left the family farm to study at a technological college, but was called back when his father became ill. After his father's death, he stayed at home to tend his mother who 'got queer and dragged along for years as weak as a baby'. He then married Zeena, an older cousin who had helped nurse his mother, and found himself tied to a constantly ill wife he didn't love. The couple struggled to make ends meet. His life was monotonous until a young cousin of his wife, Mattie Silver, came to live with them. Zeena's jealousy, and subsequent pettiness towards Mattie grew, as Frome's interest in the girl expanded, leading to the shocking climax.

Frome's house is described as 'one of those lonely New England farm-houses that make the landscape lonelier. Ethan is 'the ruin of a man' and when his wife spoke, it was 'only to complain'. All in all, the picture of a domestic nightmare which couldn't get much worse, until....


Gothic Rating:

isolated setting:                                                    🕱

brooding atmosphere:                                          🕱

mental illness:                                                      🕱

religious references:                                             ðŸ•±

supernatural element:

murder:

family secret:                                                       ðŸ•±

genius/madness:

doomed love:                                                       🕱


Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton has a Gothic rating of   ðŸ•±ðŸ•±ðŸ•±ðŸ•±ðŸ•±ðŸ•±







 

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