Edith Wharton's novel, Ethan Frome, is unique in that the setting of Starkfield arguably provides more insight into the primary structural elements than the characters. It sets the tone and outcome for the rest of the novel, ultimately foreshadowing the bleak conclusion. The main characters, Ethan, Mattie, and Zeena are, in a sense, at the mercy of their surroundings. This develops a tone of entrapment, futility, and tragedy. Identify several setting components in Ethan Frome that define this depressed mood and relate them to the novel's central theme of failure and disappointment. As always, be sure support your assertions with quotations/evidence from the book. To jumpstart the brainstorming process, utilize the quotation and photo included.
Quote:"Guess he's been in Starkfield too many winters. Most of the smart ones get away" (5).
Quote:"Guess he's been in Starkfield too many winters. Most of the smart ones get away" (5).
-Brennan and Jeff
The setting of “Ethan Frome” by Edith Wharton is one of the major components in the novel because of the underlying symbolism it adds to the novel. The extreme winter conditions of the novel are the primary setting aspect that helps to establish the tone and overall feeling of the novel. At first, the winter season seems to be one of typical New England weather; however, it slowing transgresses into a bleak, harsh winter that anyone would find undesirable. The pleasurable light snow fall soon becomes a harsh blizzard with a “tattered sky” and “wind” that would “not cease” (24). With the emphasis on the extreme winter conditions, the cold icy feeling is established which introduces the loneliness of the characters in the novel. None of the main characters feel the warmth that a loving relationship provides. Zeena is not in love with Ethan and tries to prevent a future relationship between Mattie and Ethan to ensure that they receive the warmth that they want if she can’t also. The winter therefore also established the mood of depression and frustration. Ethan wishes intensely that he can have a relationship with Mattie but he is “tied hand and foot,” supporting Ethan’s frustration with being trapped by Zeena through the symbolic use of winter as stated by (125). The theme of entrapment is further explored through the use of snow in the novel. The engineer who became the story and introduced Ethan experienced first handedly the obstacle that the snow causes in Starkfield when he and Ethan “struggled” for a “mile or two” in great “exhaustion” to return to Ethan’s house from the engineer’s temporary place of work (25). In fact, the engineer was not even able to return to his residence because of the snow. He finds himself in the same predicament as many of those in Starkfield, being trapped by the conditions as stated by Harmon. Also, this introduces the theme of entrapment on a specific example in Starkfield and the entrapment of Ethan in his struggle between Zeena and Mattie. Even though the setting is seemingly simplistic, it adds immense insight into the life of Ethan through the symbolism it provides and the tone it helps to establish.
ReplyDeleteWinter in Starkfield was one of tediousness, depression, and length. Edith Wharton uses the Starkfield setting to symbolize the constant disappointment and sadness of Ethan Frome's life. The town's name portrays a clean, barren, open place - a land of nothing; thus, it portrays Ethan's frustration and apathy or boredom with his marriage to Zeena. Though Starkfield is not in a constant winter, this season encompasses the novel to demonstrate Ethan's frustration with his tedious marriage to Zeena. They have only been married for seven years, but he "...reflects grimly that his seven years with Zeena seems to Starkfield 'not so long'" (77). He dreads spending the rest of his life with Zeena and can't imagine how long a lifetime will seem when seven years already feels like a lifetime. By the end of the novel, it's still winter, and Ethan's life is still a tragedy and ends as such. The winter, by limiting transportation and travel, also symbolizes Ethan's lack of freedom and how he feels hopelessly tied down to Zeena. On one evening, after he has returned home with Mattie, Zeena tells him that "[He] might 'a' shook off [the] snow outside..." (53), demonstrating the symbolism of Ethan dragging the winter or depression inside his home and the winter representing his relationship with Zeena - cold and uncaring. A home is supposed to be a place of warmth and happiness and a safe haven from the harsh world; however, for Ethan, it's just as harsh in his home because of Zeena, making it impossible for him to escape his disappointment and frustration. Lastly, the Spartan-esque setting symbolizes the blandness of Ethan's life and the novel's overall tone.
ReplyDeleteEdith Wharton’s characters situations in life directly reflect the frigid and harsh environment of Starkfield. When winter arrives, trees become bare, animals hibernate, and life dies. This can be directly linked to the “deadness of the community” (10). Ethan Frome seemed in sync with the “mute melancholy landscape” (12). He feels connected to the land because of his sense of obligation to his family. Ethan Frome escaped the town and went away to school, but he returned for his mother when she became ill. Leading to the conclusion that his “broken-down” farm house permanently “links” him to Starkfield (16). Also, Wharton’s characters are directly compared to nature. Mattie is “natural,” and full of life (Fedorko). Her eyes are like lively “butterflies” (Fedorko). She is constantly surrounded by the color red, which is the exact opposite of the stark white of winter. Ethan is not as lively as Mattie (Fedorko).. He is considered to be “a broken branch, that smells “of woods,” which are closely associated with a dead winter (Fedorko). Zeena is considered to have characteristic of stone. This represents distance and absence of life (Fedorko). Zeena is unhappy with life, and looks forward to death, like the winter season. Ethan Frome wishes to leave Starkfield, but is frozen by life's circumstances and bitter winter. The climate of Starkfield cripples the characters and freezes them in a depressed unchanging state.
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In “Ethan Frome” symbolism is used prominently and depicted though the scenery of Starkfield. This town is dark and dreary to begin with due to a winter setting. Nothing seems better than a “sky of iron” and the entire “village” of Starkfield laying “under two feet of snow”. The setting of winter entraps Ethan to this town, and to Zeena. He is like the “Dipper” which “hung like icicles” in the sky surrounded by “Orion” and “his cold fires” (23). Ethan is stuck just hanging there, stuck to the village, incapable of melting away because no warmth is ever surrounding him. The winter turns for a worse and Ethan becomes even further stuck as “wet snow” and “sleet” turned the roads to treacherous terrain by freezing and becoming like “glass” (87). The dreariness of Starkfield depicts Ethan’s longing to escape and his incapability to do so due to attachments and inclement weather.
ReplyDeleteEdith Wharton's novel, "Ethan Fromme" consists of a dark, bleak setting that helps portray who the characters are and describe the plot by using the setting as a key tool. Ethan is characterized as "bleak" and "unapproachable" (1)just like the town of Starkfield where he resides. The town is dreary and the town has a "deadness"(3)about it, that sucks the life out of people who stay there. People often become their surroundings, and by surrounding yourself in a setting where all is depressing in the worst sense of the word. Ethan Fromme's residence is lacking the traditional "L" shape of most houses in his country and it gives off an aura of "plaintive ugliness" (10). Ethan is trapped in this town of Starkfield because the society he lives in would look down upon him if he left his sick wife's (Zeena's) aid. He yearns for more but the entrapment of the "snow" keeps him there. Even when there is a sign of some purity, the "pure sky" it is tainted by the sunrise, "burned red" (30)and "smoke" (31) hung across the "white fields". Ironically a constant fire is burning in Starkfield, it burns in the sky, polluting the surrounding wildlife and people within the community with its deadly epidemic of a sad life. the "smoke"(31) keeps them inside like a barrier, suffocating them. And the "Big Elm" (90) destroys Ethan's will to live by taking what he and Mattie have. Ethan Fromme's setting contributes to the characters personality and the plot of the story.
ReplyDeleteWinter is always seen as dark, cold, and harsh. In Edith Wharton's "Ethan Frome", the setting of a harsh winter sets the mood and the tone of the novel because the depressing part of a harsh winter reflects Ethan Frome's harsh and depressing life with Zeena. Ethan does not want to be with Zeena forever and the darkness and coldness of the harsh winter storm isn't helping him find a way out. The setting of Starkfield is dreary and dull and the harsh winter draws in to Ethan's frustrations with his lifestyle. The theme of entrapment is depicted in this novel because not only does Ethan feel trapped by the snow, but by Zeena. Part of Ethan's dissatisfaction with his life with Zeena is because "of late there had been some signs of her disfavour, as intangible but more disquieting" (18). Not only does the theme of entrapment come out in this novel, but Ethan's lack of freedom from his life with Zeena and the harsh winter. During a cold winter, homes are supposed to be warm and cozy, "but when winter shutdown on Starkfield, and the village lay under a sheet of snow perpetually renewed from the pale skies" (3), so did Ethan Frome's life. Ethan is known throughout the town of Starkfield and most people would believe he must have a great and happy life. However, if he leaves Zeena, he feels all of the people in Starkfield will look down upon him in society. The harsh blizzard, Zeena, and society all contribute to Ethan's entrapment in Starkfield.
ReplyDeleteThe setting in Ethan Frome plays a major role. The winter season can be seen throughout the whole book. Wharton writes, "The village lay under two feet of snow, with drifts at the windy corners...You Ethan Frome walked at a quick pace along the deserted street..." (27). The snow shows that Ethan is trapped; along with being trapped, Ethan, is alone. Before Ethan and Mattie ride on the sled, the sky is said to be "as low as before a summer storm," hence, they are in the moment known as "the calm before the storm" (131). This foreshadows the rocky road they will face after the crash, or storm.
ReplyDeleteEthan Frome is a story of despair. Its characters are typical of modernist literature. They are enstranged, hopeless, and, most of all, trapped by their roles in society. Through their interactions, both internal and external, each character is driven deeper and deeper into a state of desperation, which eventually culminates in a single moment of tragedy that permanently alters their lives. It goes without saying that in order to successfully express these feelings, Wharton must first create an environment suitable for such a tragedy. This setting acts as a catalyst for the misfortunes that occur, magnifying their impression on the reader by placing them in an unmistakably eerie light. Wharton's setting in this case almost contrasted with the darkness of the story, yet also supplemented it. It is set in the dead of winter, a time known for being joyful and also a time of darkness, when nature seems to wither silently as the biting cold sweeps through like a spirit of death to all it touches. It is this face of winter that Wharton draws out in Ethan Frome, using the freezing weather to impress a feeling of desolation for the characters.
ReplyDeleteThe setting described when Ethan decides death with Maddie is better than life with Zeena reflects his indecision. he goes from the "shade" to the dim "dusk" light in the open, and the slope "was deserted". The clouds "that annonced thaw" and the end of winter were in the sky. (147) The setting reflects Ethan's feelings that "winter" is finally coming to an end and he will be free. He comes out of the dark and into the light, essentially enlightnement, when he finally has the guts to do something, even if that something is killing himself. But in the end he returns to "darkness" and the fleeting light was only an illusion. He hears his "the Sorrel whinney" and just says, "I ought to be getting him his feed" and thus comes crashing back to reality. (149)
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, the name "Starkfield" gives the initial impression of a “bleak” and “unapproachable” (1) place. Also, when one thinks of winter it brings to mind a cold, barren time when everything is engulfed in snow, the trees have lost their color, and a lingering atmosphere of “deadness” (3) seems to engulf everything. The cover illustration that Jeff and Brennan used in the prompt does a good job of portraying this image and it foreshadows the bleak conclusion of the novel. The surroundings of the characters ultimately does control them more than they control it; the main example being the elm tree that Ethan and Mattie crash into. They couldn’t control the tree and it ends up destroying their lives, which correlates with the central theme of failure and disappointment. Also, it is hypothesized that Ethan has “been in Starkfield too many winters. Most of the smart ones get away” (90). This is a symbol of how the cold weather of a New England winters can make a man’s soul “cold” as well.
ReplyDeleteThe bleak setting of the story is, in a way, is twisted even in the most “joyful” of moments. When Zeena leaves for the doctor, and Ethan is outside working anticipating the following hours alone with Mattie, he is suddenly reminiscing about when she first arrived and “how she had shivered with cold when the northerly gales shook the thin clapboards and the snow beat like hail against the loose-hung windows.” (50). Even in a moment like this, where everything seems to go right and in Ethan’s favor, a brief second of his joy which equates to a story of depressing cold seems to set an odd twist onto the audiences mood. I believe that Wharton intended for the story to STAY morbidly depressing, and she must tone all happiness down to a minimum, or even destroy it in a way that would assume the position of reality versus fiction. The characters are stuck and a grey world where to them, a moment of joy is still, to us, a feeling of stark and barren stoic-esqe auras.
ReplyDeleteOverall, everybody seems to have a solid grasp on the significance of the setting in Ethan Frome. Wharton certainly designed it to be a central part of the plot structure. Natalie, Shane, I particularly enjoyed your insight on the nature of the cold, barren climate and how the season seems to drag out in the novel. When you first open Ethan Frome, it indeed seems to be only a background element of setting, but it quickly consumes the novella's central purpose. Everybody did a great job pointing out the false moments of happiness that splotch the plot, only to be crushed by an ongoing series of setbacks. Liked the icicle analogy Clayton...good job guys.
ReplyDeletePerhaps one of the mosy interesting comparisons in Ethan Frome is the analogy of winter vs. summer, heat vs. cold, and light vs. dark. Winter to Ethan is despair and entrapment while spring means freedom and escape. Mattie is Ethan's spring. She is his hope, warmth, and happiness. When they are together, there is always a light in Ethan's life, and Warton describes them mixing like, "spring rills in a thaw." The exact opposite is true for Zeena. Her spring is the absense of Mattie. Whenever there is a possibility Mattie being sent away, Zeena's strength improves and she is heated by some inner warmth. All characters in Ethan Frome are trapped by the long, depressing Starkfield winters, but they each have their personal spring to keep them warm. Spring means hope, but that hope is constantly dashed by oppressive wintery weather. In the end, it is the presence of winter and a seemingly pleasant winter pastime that culminates into Ethan and Mattie's horrific accident.
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