“I wonder, among all the tangles of this mortal coil, which one contains tighter knots to undo, and consequently suggests more tugging, and pain, and diversified elements of misery, than the marriage tie.”
-Edith Wharton
Some critics may consider Ethan Frome a modified fairy tale. Fairytales like Snow White and Cinderella always have a happy ending, with the princess marrying a beautiful prince. If this is the trend, then why did Ethan not run off and marry Mattie? Incorporating a pertinent critical article (these are two good critical articles: http://www.fofweb.com/lit/default.asp?itemid=we54 and http://www.fofweb.com/lit/default.asp?itemid=we54) and Wharton’s quote listed above, differentiate between the classic fairytales, like Snow White shown above, and Edith Wharton’s fractured fairy tale, Ethan Frome.
For all who comment after 1/3/11, please use a critical article to write your own fairytale ending while differentiating between the classic fairytales, like Snow White shown above, and Edith Wharton’s fractured fairy tale, Ethan Frome.
December 14, 2010 at 9:50 A.M.
Altering the centuries old tapestry of the classic “fairytale”, Edith Wharton creates a new cosmic saga involving a triumvirate of characters: Zeena, Mattie, and Ethan, the “…the witch, the silvery maiden, the honest woodcutter..”, respectively (Ammons). However, rearranging the threads of ages and traditions, Wharton introduces the reader to a fairytale in which the witch does not triumph, and the “…tugging, and pain, and diversified elements of misery…” do not abate (Wharton). First, Wharton places Ethan, an very unlikely damsel in distress, as the protagonist. Ethan, whose name contains letters so coincidentally found in Edith Wharton’s own, not Mattie, bears the burden of the struggle with the evil Zenobia, a name that pays homage to the great and iron-handed female ruler of Palmyrene Empire in the 3rd Century AD. In another role reversal, Mattie plays the role of the “Princess Charming” who attempts to save Ethan from his bond of servitude to Zeena. Mattie and Ethan become a modern Hanseldee and Greteldum, trapped in a house not of gingerbread, but of suffering and emotional torment. Wharton again twists the concept of a “happily ever after” with the inclusion of mental entrapments, unlike the physical incarceration of a tower or castle. Normally, in a fairytale, if the antagonist leaves his or her quarry unguarded, they escape. There are no physical shackles restraining Mattie and Ethan to their New England home, just circumstances and fear. The “…evil energy secreted from the long years of silent brooding…” channels through Zeena’s familiar, the cat, to keep her prey entrapped in their situation of hopeless love even when she is miles away in another town (94). Lastly, Wharton defies the vision of the “Sleeping Beauty” by creating characters that have no escape but to seek eternal slumber. Mattie, the Aurora of the story, begs Ethan to deliver her from Zeena by a fatal kiss of death, rather than a kiss of awakening and life by aiming “Right into the big elm” (130). Instead of vanquishing their oppressor, in the end, their oppressor vanquishes them. Wharton, in Ethan Frome, shows the tragic outcome of a fairytale love introduced into a realistic world.
ReplyDeleteEdith Wharton’s life was no fairy tale. Filled with disappointment and depressing events, such as a divorce from her loveless marriage, Wharton could easily connect with the “element of misery” she portrayed in her novels. “Ethan Frome” embraces the traditional role of a fairy tale but depicts the unhappy ending that no reader wishes to witness.
ReplyDeleteThe women in this novel play an important role in creating this inverted story, specifically through Wharton’s use of descriptive diction towards their outward appearance. She describes Mattie as “forgetful and dreamy,” (36) showing her ability to be the novel’s princess, while Zeena’s sickly and manipulative nature represents the witch. In Ammons critical essay, she compares “Ethan Frome” to the popular fairy tale, Snow White. She claims that the “terror of Wharton’s story” is the “contrast between Zeena’s victory…and the stepmother’s defeat” (Ammons 2). Zeena is a corrupted character in “Ethan Frome” and triumphs over her husband through her scheming plot to separate Ethan and Mattie. Caring only about her own desires, Zeena “does not shrink the task” of “hurting and depriving [them] of hope and joy” (Ammons 2). Even Ethan describes his marriage as “seven sad years” (112) to show the torture he endures while living with his self-absorbed wife. In Arthur Miller’s book, “The Crucible”, ties can be made between Abigail Williams and Zeena Frome. Other than the ironic fact that both took place in New England, William’s novel also centers on the Salem Witch Trials. Abigail’s character is filled with manipulation and evil as she tries to win over the heart of John Proctor, even trying to convince society that his wife, Elizabeth, is a soulless witch. In comparison, Zeena creates a “mysterious, alien presence” (118) with “an evil energy from the long years of silent brooding” (118).
The true reason for Wharton’s “element of misery” in “Ethan Frome” is that Ethan lives within his own fairy tale with Mattie, but becomes corrupted by the failed suicide attempt and the slow, gradual change of his princess into a witch. At the beginning of the novel, Mattie is portrayed as a carefree, cheerful woman but her blood tie to Zeena could not prevent the inevitable; that they were more similar than they wished to believe, especially after the sledding accident. Ethan lives within a world where the women are not the princess’ but the corrupted villains, and they prevail. Even though Wharton’s novel has the morals of the traditional fairy tale, it certainly does not portray any happy ending for the reader to embrace.
Fairy tales, laced with perfection, happiness, and love till “happily ever after”, are nearly unattainable in real life. However, Edith Wharton incorporates pieces of an ideal fairy tale with the harsh realities of life to form a fractured fairy tale in her novel Ethan Frome. Like many fairy tales such as Snow White and Beauty and the Beast, the story is set in the remote location of Starkfield with a “frozen landscape” (Ammons) and, “the village [that] lay under two feet of snow” (1). No fairy tale is complete without a villain, which Wharton depicts as Ethan’s sickly wife Zeena, whose “face alone would type her as a witch” (Ammons). From her sickly stature to “her high-boned face taking a grayish tinge…” (24), Zeena perfectly fits into the visual image of a witch, such as in the fairy tale Snow White. Zeena is jealous of the budding relationship between her husband and her housekeeper/cousin Mattie, hence evolving her into a villainous character when she attempts to stop Ethan and Mattie’s love for one another. Another common thread in fairytales such as Cinderella and Rapunzel is the beautiful fair maiden which is characterized through Matttie in Ethan Frome. Mattie’s young face with “the colour of the cherry scarf in her fresh lips and cheeks” (34) accompanied with “something soft and flowing in her gait” (47) create the image of a lovely fair maiden seen throughout fairy tales. Finally, Ethan plays the role of the charmed prince who is instantly drawn into Mattie’s fairytale-like traits such as her young fresh appearance and cheery personality. He often dreams of a perfect fairytale life with Mattie, “He let the vision posses him as they climbed the hill to the house” (32). However, while most fairytales end happily, Wharton’s story does not. In the end, Mattie and Ethan attempt to escape from their tortured lives and die in peace together, but there attempt fails miserably. While sledding towards their preconceived death, they take a terrible turn towards misfortune as they escape with horrible injuries and tormented souls as they survive the crash. While incorporating the main elements of a fairytale, Wharton adds a realistic touch by creating an end of pain, suffering, and torture for the “prince” and “fair maiden” of her epic tale in Ethan Frome.
ReplyDeleteMerriam-Webster defines a fairytale as “a story in which improbable events lead to a happy ending”. Snow White, Cinderella, and other fairytales contain the “the witch, the silvery maiden, the honest woodcutter” (Ammons). In Ethan Frome, there is the “wicked witch” Zeena, the delightfully, enchanting Mattie, and the dream man, Ethan Frome. Mattie was “left alone to make her way” (51) after the loss of her parents, Zeena called her to Starkfield to “help her with the house work” (51) and this led to Mattie becoming “indentured to them” (50). This parallels with Cinderella’s fairytale because she was treated as a slave by her stepmother and stepsisters. Once Zeena leaves for a short trip, Ethan observes Mattie’s “lustrous...lips, edged…eyes with a velvet shade, and she seem[s] more…taller, fuller, more womanly in shape and motion” (67). Clearly, the “prince” is falling in love with the beautifully, destitute maid. Similarly, upon seeing Snow White, the prince falls in love with her due to her beautiful looks.
ReplyDeleteUntil a certain point, Ethan Frome sounds like the “perfect” fairytale because the witch has left and the maid has created a place in the prince’s heart. However, the ending of Ethan Frome makes it “fractured” because unlike other fairytales it does not have a happy ending, which clearly serves as a contradiction to the definition of a fairytale. Unlike the “perfect” fairytale, the “wicked witch”, Zeena, becomes victorious because both Ethan and Mattie finally become puppets under her control. After the climax, both Mattie and Ethan become handicap both physically and mentally. Mattie becomes “soured” because of her mental and physical disabilities while Ethan “suffers the most” (139), as he becomes a “prisoner of life” (107). Unlike Snow White or Cinderella who found their “Prince Charmings”, Mattie becomes a victim of circumstance and lives the life of a single woman. The “perfect” fairytales create hope in innocent hearts that there will always be a Prince Charming for you, whereas Wharton, in Ethan Frome, depicts how life is not a perfect fairytale, which can then be connected to her own life. In her letters, she explained how she had a difficult time dealing with marriage, which is clearly mirrored in her writing. Wharton found the institution of marriage a very difficult concept to digest, which is why she continuously viewed it as an enigma that was filled with nothing but pain. Her suspicion towards this concept is clearly seen through the vulnerable marriages in Ethan Frome. Even though Ethan Frome contains few “fairytale” moments, the climax of the story makes it “fractured”.
Snow White paints a pretty picture of the idealistic life. She has a few troubles, but in the end she makes out well. Shining in adversity, although she is forced to live modestly in a small cottage, the endearing seven dwarfs help her through it. Besides Prince Charming makes those “struggles” all disappear. Who doesn’t love this story? How many girls are waiting for Prince Charming to swoop in and sweep them off their feet, begging for their souls to awakened with a kiss? However, as Edith Wharton reveals, fairy tales often only tell one side of the story. Ethan has finally found true love, which is independent from pursuit of pity or responsibility. He fantasizes about his fairy tale ending when he comes across a memory in his mind of a man he once knew that divorced his wife and ran away with his new-found love. Ethan looks upon their life away from misery and forced obligations with envy and hope: “He [the man] had married the girl and prospered...They had a little girl with fair curls, who wore a gold locket and was dressed like a princess” (74). The little princess is what Ethan so painfully longs for. In the end, as we all know, Ethan and Mattie’s happy ending is shattered. In a surreal, fairy tale-like event, Mattie and Ethan collide into a tree while sledding. However, at the close of the novel, instead of having some miraculous and magical recovery or alternate injury, the two simply live a life limited by their permanent handicaps. In this way, Ethan Frome is a severely fractured fairy tale. The suspense building between the two lovers leaves us grasping for more stolen glances, more time alone, anything to keep them together. However the relationship culminates to...nothing. Yet, it also seems that fairy tales are a bit fractured themselves. On the surface, Zeena appears to be the evil stepmother. She is bitter and resentful and inhibits the lovers from actualizing their relationship. A foil to the lovers, Zeena is made out to be vile, yet a closer look reveals she is actually quite a sympathetic character. Her husband has been stolen by her own cousin! And she cannot help the fact that she is ailing and sick! How brutal that she is the one who is targeted as malicious when she ends up taking care of the two sinners when they become incapacitated. It seems that fairy tales are quite twisted themselves as they fail to tell the story of why the stepmother became so evil, and perhaps her behavior isn’t that uncalled for...perhaps.
ReplyDeleteLife is not always fair. Edith Wharton portrays the sting of reality that most fairytail authors avoid. Ethan Frome is “Wharton's modern fairytale for adults, while true to traditional models in the way it teaches a moral about "real" life at the same time that it addresses elemental fears (e.g., the fear of death, the fear of being abandoned), does not conform to the genre's typical denouement. The lovers do not live happily ever after. The witch wins’ (Elizabeth Ammons).Even though the happy ending and marrying of prince charming are pleasant endings, not every relationship works out that way. Edith addresses the other ending; the ending that is known, but not the common want or ideal.
ReplyDeleteThere is reason for her approach. In Edith’s life she had a hard time with relationships and finding love. She thought that marriage “consequently suggested more tugging, and pain, and diversified elements of misery” (Edith Wharton) because it binds a couple for the rest of their lives. She did not understand why people would want to be stuck experiencing pain and hardship. Writing a fractured fairytail is Edith Wharton’s way of expressing reality and revealing that “the grass isn’t always greener on the other side” (Robert Fulghum). Edith’s, fractured fairy tail, represents her fractured heart; a result of a lifetime of broken trust and painful heartbreak.
“Mirror Mirror on the wall. Who’s the fairest of them all?” This famous Disney movie line uttered by the evil and power-hungry queen within the movie Snow White was the perfect line for a villain within the ideal fairytale. The jealous queen could not stand for the sweet and innocent Snow White. She concocted a potion to transform her dark beauty into a homely, wrinkly woman in order to deceive Snow White and ruin the happy ending yet to come. The Queen fails in the end because in fairytales, true love conquers all. Of course Snow White and the prince live happily ever after because this is how every fairytale is supposed to end. It would ruin the idealistic theme of fairytales if the two lovebirds did not end up marrying and spending the rest of their perfect lives together in harmony. Edith Wharton’s novel Ethan Frome follows the story line of Snow White closely especially with the relationships held between the main characters. Like the prince, Ethan falls in love with the ordinary girl, Mattie, who in his eyes is the extraordinary woman he longs to find and marry. Wharton’s story differs from Snow White with Zeena’s character. She is definitely not a queen and certainly not the old hag who plans to destroy the lovers’ relationship. The middle-aged woman, Zeena, is very plain, “always cranky” and nothing truly stands out about her (179). Stumbling upon the lovers’ affair, Zeena realizes that her marriage is poor just like her health. She is only seen as the “evil stepmother” when she tries to force Mattie out of the household. This is where the ending deviates from the perfect fairytale due to “the implicit contrast between Zeena’s victory in Ethan Frome and the stepmother’s defeat in Snow-White no doubt contributes to the terror of Wharton’s story” (Ammons). If I were to rewrite Wharton’s novel and create that blissful ending, I would have Ethan confront Zeena with total confidence and profess his deep love for Mattie. Then he would sweep Mattie into his arms and take her away on horseback. Then the book would close with the two marching hand in hand down the aisle dressed in the finest clothes. The two would live as if they were one, as if “her blood seemed to be in his veins”, as if their love was unbreakable (170). Tons of people would be smiling due to the radiance of the newlyweds. Instead, Wharton develops a horrible tragedy. Mattie and Ethan want to be together yet they know that this ending is not reality. They plan to die together in order to be together forever. This ends unpredictably when they in fact do not die, but both suffer critical injuries and were handicapped for the rest of their lives. And this is ironic because Zeena, who originally was the sickly character, ended up having to take care of the two feeble lovers while knowing of their betrayal against her.
ReplyDeleteFairy tales are often thought of as the story of a beautiful princess whose happiness is challenged by some evil villain, but who ends up saved and free of worry married to some handsome prince. One Fairy tale rises above all others, Snow White. A similar story is found in Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome, however the two have very different endings. The stories are very similar as Whatorn “draws on familiar elements of Snow-White as touchstones for a new, original fairy tale”(Ammons). The two stories are similar and Wharton is “rue to traditional models in the way it teaches a moral about "real" life at the same time that it addresses elemental fears”(Ammons), where the stories diverge is in their use of realism. Snow White, being purely fairy tale, gets her prince and lives happily ever after. Ethan Frome, however, is primarily a realist work written in the style of a fairy tale, and as such the main character doesn’t get to have all their dreams magically come true, instead the Snow White ending is reversed and Zeena, the witch, lords over Ethan and Mattie, Snow White and the Prince respectively. Ammons summarizes it best saying: “The lovers do not live happily ever after. The witch wins.” (Ammons)
ReplyDeleteAs the time halted to a painstaking crawl, the time had come to make the decision that would decide the faith of Ethan and Mattie. They took the leap of faith and proceeded down the icy slopes toward the menacing elm tree. They accelerated closer and closer to their impending doom. It seemed as if they both were about to witness the last seconds of their life until an urge prompted Ethan to flip the sled, causing them to come to a screeching halt in the snow while only a mere few feet from the tree. At first, Ethan and Mattie were stunned as they had survived their attempt to reach happiness within their souls until something very peculiar happened. A bird flew down from the highest branch of the elm tree and sung a beautiful rhapsody, unparalleled by anything they had ever heard before. Ethan and Mattie suddenly looked at each other and smiled, they knew that this was the sign they were looking for, the sign that finally gave Ethan the courage to break-free from the tyranny of his wife to the realm of the unexpected. He had finally come to terms with his feelings: he realized that living with Mattie was the only way that he felt was right. They wasted no time as they rushed home to gather his things. As they came in they tiptoed to avoid waking Zeena. Ethan left a note telling Zeena every explicable reason for his actions. As he gazed through his room one last time, he felt guilty and selfish, but out of the corner of his eye, the beautiful song bird was perched on the sill, singing as if everything had come full circle.
ReplyDeleteThe typical, almost guaranteed happy ending to every story nowadays has become rather boring, static, and generally unwanted to many. Dynamics keep the world going round. Humans are always looking for something out of the ordinary that they can enjoy, question, and try to discover the cause of. Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome offers exactly this. There is no beautiful, story-ending kiss where they live happily ever after. On the contrary, Mattie and Ethan are forced to live as cripples after their failed attempt at suicide and their everlasting relationship beyond the real world realm. This offers a refreshing break from the make-me-want-to-gag-everything-in-life-is-perfect routine (Snow White). While the reader leaves most fairytales with that fake, warm feeling that everything good will happen without any negatives in life, the reader leaves Ethan Frome with a sense of realism and fairness. So Ethan was married to a hag and couldn't express his love for Mattie in fear of retaliation from the town. Cry me a river. Shouldn't have married Zena in the first place then. Maybe if he would've taken the time to truly get to know Zeena, learn her personality traits, discover her goals in life, he wouldn't be in this position in the first place. People have to realize that, when the going gets tough, no Prince Charming or "higher power" is going to fix things for them. If you're on the verge of getting evicted from your apartment because you can't make the payments, then move. Or, get another job. Because there won't be angel that comes down and gives you money to pay your rent. Humans need to stop crying about woe-is-me and fix it themselves. Maybe then they'll gain a little realistic attitude and can start to differentiate between what's real and what isn't. Ethan is so stupid, honestly. If you wanted to committ suicide...a sled? Really? Running a sled into a tree? That is your big solution to your unbearableee life? Give me a break. Take a gun, shoot your beloved Mattie, put it under your chin next, and finish the job. Then, hope you shot yourself so that you will actually die. After that, hope that you end up in the same afterlife. I guess if there was no afterlife, Ethan's bubble would've really been burst. But hey, I guess that's why it's literature and not real life. There shouldn't be a happy ending to this as Ethan doesn't deserve one with his eccentric personality and selfish behavior but, since the assignment calls for one, I'll do it.
ReplyDeleteInstead of following through with their desperate plan to kill themselves with their sled *cough*, Ethan and Mattie gained some common sense, packed up their belongings, and left the town that night. They went and began their lives in the ever-so-powerful-and-opportunistic New York City. Ethan became an established psychiatrist (ironic isn't it considering he wanted to kill himself...by sled mind you). Mattie became a paid escort to many of the rich businessmen in the city, once again continuing her promiscuous ways. However, she did not participate in any physical activity with them. So with Ethan being a psychiatrist and Mattie profiting from her escorting, they were able to open their own convenient store on the side and lived off the profits. They lived in the suburbs right outside of the city, happily ever after, never hearing from that awful place of Starkfield, Massachusetts, ever again. The end.
Ethan took a leap. He finally called up the courage to talk to Zeena. With love and compassion Ethan poured his heart out to Zeena explaining the love that still remains underneath the betrayal. “Zeena I hope you can understand and find it within your heart to forgive me for hurting you. I have fallen for Mattie and I have to follow my heart. I know this is best for both of us. I hate to leave you, but I am sure you will find something better.” Before Zeena could respond, Ethan kissed her on the cheek then ran out the door. She felt disgusted and alone. Ethan hustled to meet Mattie to tell her the news and their new plan to run off west together.
ReplyDeleteAs Edith Wharton underwent a spell of depression, the perfect happily ever after ending probably seemed impossible and preposterous to her while in a doom and gloom state of mind. Ethan Frome’s fractured and disturbed fairytale ending defers away from the impractical and overly optimistic plot of a happy ending fairytale like “Snow White.” Snow White an unhappy character at first with a somewhat dismal outlook on life, until she meets the Prince of her dreams and ultimately falls madly in love and lives happily ever after. In Wharton’s novel, Mattie is a poor soul and Ethan cannot resist, as Snow White could not the Prince; however, Ethan fell in love with the flavor of the year and the new, young exciting woman in his life. The chance of this relationship working out is slim, which leaves Wharton to put an end to it. While Snow White lives on in an unlikely circumstance, happy forever with her Prince, Ethan does not after a realistic ending to a sinful affair, a circumstance deemed unhappy and unfulfilling. Although it allows Ethan to break free of his and Zeena’s bitter relationship, by no means does this resort to him living happily ever after, alone.
Wharton's warping of whimsical wishes dashes hopes for a happily ever after in order to achieve reality. Life is not fair. Life hurts. Life is full of disappointments because it is filled with imperfect people and therefore our expectations for perfection are unachieved. Zeena is faced with a husband who changes his mind about their marriage and lustfully pursues her younger cousin. Her husband Ethan’s, “flame of hate rose in him that it ran down his arm and clenched his fist against her” (95) because she desperately attempts to hold their crumbling marriage together. Ethan plagued with a selfish search for acceptance pursues Mattie, who offers the Repunzel equivalent escape to his tower of imprisonment. Mattie arrives at his home, abandoned by her family and emotionally vulnerable, thus perfect prey for her lustful desires. These three catastrophically conflicting relationships deviate from happily ever after because they are closer to actual people with unique desires and emotional baggage. Zeena or “the witch” becomes so because of her juxtaposingly “honest woodcutter,” or her husband’s selfish desires, which partially originate from their unsuccessful marriage. The two expand a vehement circle of disdain fed by the fuel of “the silvery maiden” or Mattie who enters the scene. (Ammons) A fairy tale ending would seem almost unrealistic and humorous like disneyfied versions in which Ariel’s prince Eric defeats Ursula with a piece of wood at the ship’s helm despite her control of the sea’s and whirlpool.
ReplyDeleteEthan rapped his stress-filled, white knuckles against Mattie’s wooden door. No reply. He forced entry unannounced to find her sobbing on the floor next to her suitcase, haunted by her conscience and rejected by yet another set of family members. At this point in time Ethan envisioned them both escaping their incarceration to run freely in meadows together. Eloping to chase their dreams was the only option. Then something magnificent occurred. His fairy godmother appeared in the frame of the window, shrouded with sky blue glitter and hope. “Your pumpkin carriage awaits you outside Ethan,” she spoke through a smile and continued, “Furthermore, you do not have a curfew and your transportation will continue infinitely.” “And what of my wife?” He said sure that he had brought up the end of his dream. “Oh she has realized her selfishness in expecting returned love and loyalty from you,” the godmother informed him. “You are free to do whatever you wish, and live happily ever after. No catches and fine print involved.”
@Bracey: Excellent diction! Your word choice kept your post lively and enthralling. Loved the connection with The name “Edith” and “Ethan”
ReplyDelete@Caroline: Great textual evidence! The quotes you chose were embedded well, and they really drew a parallel between the novel being a fractured fairytale.
@Tasha: You displayed how the barren landscape was reflected in the novel. You also used Snow White and Beauty and the Beast, which kept it interesting.
@Prutha: Great job with the amount of supporting details! I liked your depiction of the entrapment found in the novel.
@ Anna Cait: I loved that you used the suspense found in the novel. It was a new point, and you supported it well.
@Taylor: Great job supporting the idea that Ethan Frome was really about her struggles. You utilized quotes very artfully.
@Kelsie: I really liked your hook. It really foreshadowed what the blog was written about. You also supported Snow White and Ethan Frome being written very alike.
@Ryan: You used the article frequently and well. Your thesis that Ethan Frome was a fractured fairytale was proven well.
@Tyler: Your hook which incorporated time into the novel was very interesting. You also used good imagery to depict the harshness of Ethan Frome.
@McCleod: I liked the way you phrased your sentences. You used satire which made your blog different from the others to read.
@Kelsey: You really persuaded the reader of the reality of Ethan Frome. You did not sugar-coat proving how Ethan was a story written with the ideal of reality.
@Alexander: You showed how Edith’s experiences paralleled Ethan’s with great similarity.