Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome is a powerful novella on the tragic tale of a lowly farmer, Ethan Frome. Throughout the novella it is apparent she uses the affects of naturalism and realism in the setting as well as development of character. As defined in our textbook realism is "a literary technique that attempts to create the appearance of life as it is actually experienced". Naturalism is described as a movement related to realism but which is more a "philosophical attitude" than a literary technique. As hinted by its name naturalism comes "from the idea that human beings are part of nature and subject to its laws". Using the following definitions and sites given below, give textual evidence of how Wharton the idea of naturalism and realism.
Here are the sites:
http:www.america.gov/st/peopleplace-english/2008/May/20080512222313eaifas0.993786.html
*For the second site you only need the information from the introduction and Edith Wharton (1862-1937) under Cosmopolitan Novelists
~Allison and Ciara
In the novella Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton uses realism and naturalism to develop the character of Ethan Frome as a man who has struggled with love among other things throughout his life. The realism and naturalism that Wharton introduces and uses throughout the novella work off of each, and Wharton uses the setting to mirror Ethan Frome’s character and develop the idea that, “human beings are part of nature and subject to its laws.” In the novella the setting is set in Starkfield, Massachusetts which is a very desolate town with harsh, cold winters. This reflects the idea of Naturalism in that Ethan Frome struggles to overcome these tough conditions because he is a part of nature and cannot overcome all its obstacles. Just as he often struggles with the harshness of the setting, naturalism would suggest that he also thrives on the positives of the settings. This is why Wharton is careful to point out that Ethan “did his clearest thinking” on clear, cold, crisp mornings while his muscles were “swinging to their familiar tasks” and his lungs were “expanding with long draughts of mountain air” (49). This is a perfect example of how naturalism plays a role in the novella because Ethan literally lives with nature. Realism is also a part of this because this is indeed how Wharton creates, “the appearance of life as it is actually experienced.” She follows the theory of naturalism in order to utilize the literary technique of realism.
ReplyDeleteRealism in literature deals with a stories that tries to portray life as real as possible. In life there are many trials and tribulations which results in frustration. This frustration is shown in all of the characters throughout the story. Sometimes the frustration is a product of the oppressive environment, and sometimes it stems from their personalities. Ethan's early plans to become an engineer are frustrated by the need to care for his father and mother as well as for the farm. He had always wanted to "live in towns, where there were lectures and big libraries and 'fellows doing things.'" His marriage to Zeena is a study in frustration, not only because of her hypochondria and the fact that they are childless, but because their interests are so different. "Other possibilities had been in him, possibilities sacrificed, one by one, to Zeena's narrow-mindedness and ignorance. And what good had come of it?" Mattie, in turn, is limited by her poverty and lack of skills. None of these people are very good at expressing themselves. In fact, Wharton referred to the characters in the novel as her "granite outcroppings." Walking Mattie back to the farm, deliriously happy in her company, Ethan gropes for a "dazzling phrase" to impress her with, but can only growl "Come along." Frustration is evident also in Ethan and Mattie's longing for each other. Their physical contact is passionate but mostly limited to furtive handholding. When Ethan surprises Ned Hale and Ruth Varmus kissing under the Varnum spruces, he feels "a pang at the thought that these two need not hide their happiness."
ReplyDeleteIn Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome naturalism as well as realism are prevalent themes throughout the novella. Wharton utilizes naturalism not only in the adultery of Ethan’s secret relationship with Mattie but also with the setting. Wharton “has taken rural Massachusetts and made it into a snow-drenched land of mystery and secrets”. From the beginning of chapter one the scene is set as “lay under two feet of snow”(26). This theme is used to set the tone for the entire novel. In the previous blog we discussed how the harsh winter took toll on the characters and plot. It applies here as well. Ethan’s struggle of his affairs with Mattie is symbolized in the natural environment.
ReplyDeleteWharton’s use of realism throughout the novella enhances the readers understanding of Ethan’s dismal life. Being a poor farmer, Ethan clearly does not life the life of luxury. Wharton clearly grasps the life of a lower class farmer, and relays the message on to the reader. Staying with the overall theme of struggle in Ethan’s life, Wharton again puts the protagonist down by simply making him a lower class laborer. Ethan is no longer a man but a mere “ruin of a man”(1). The constant degrading of Ethan’s life is a prime example of Wharton’s use of realism.
In her novella, Edith Wharton uses the ideas of naturalism and realism to emphasize the story’s setting and characters. Through the thoughts and actions of Ethan Frome, Wharton realistically depicts his life as a New England farmer and as a man caught between the binding of his marriage and his overpowering love for Mattie. An interesting tie to naturalism is used to define Ethan’s obsession with Mattie, even though he dared not show any outward affection because of fear of his wife and others. Mattie expresses much emotion around Ethan, and “these alterations of mood were the despair and joy of (him). The motions of her mind were as incalculable as the flit of a bird in the branches” (41). Because Ethan could not express his feelings, it made him even more attached to Mattie. The emotions of women can be compared to the constantly changing conditions of nature. They are both unpredictable, which can lead to severe danger ahead, as Ethan soon found out. Wharton’s use of both realism and naturalism vividly the New England area’s rapidly changing conditions and the characters involved with the tragedy of Ethan Frome.
ReplyDeleteEdith Wharton's "Ethan Frome" is very heavily influenced by naturalism and realism as writing periods. I found that realism really played a huge role in the novella, because it does not weave a tale of fantasy, but a raw and telling narration of a tragic life. The technique of realism is defined by our text book as " a literary technique that attempts to create the appearance of life as it is actually experience". Wharton never fails to depict Ethan and those who surround him as tragic characters, which is typical of realism. The novella utilizes this idea of realism by creating a tragic story where even love cannot conquer all. It also incorporates the concept of naturalism with the concept that human beings are a part of nature and subject to its laws. This comes into play with Ethan's ties to the land. He has been stuck in Starkfield for all of his life, tied to the land that he inherited from his father. He is a slave of the land and is forced to live by nature's laws. These concepts of naturalism and realism are utilized by Wharton to greatly enhance the novella.
ReplyDeleteThe ideas of naturalism and realism are constantly presented throughout "Ethan Frome". Ethan's course relationship with his wife,Zeena, is not covered up by false imagery of what marriage should be but is exposed in a realist manner that highlights the issues of Zeena's health and Ethan's unhappiness which caused the "mention of Zeena to [paralyze] him" (68)which leads him to his affair with Maddie. However, Maddie is far from described in a realist manner because the bow in her hair at dinner and the way she walks with Ethan after he picks her up from the dance presents her in a way that contradicts the rest of Ethan's tragic life which is exactly why he has an affair with her. Ethan is connected to his farm not only because of family but because he knows he must have a way to pay for all of the expensive medicines Zeena brings home. The graves in the front yard that Ethan must pass everyday reminds him that the "same epitaph would be written over him and Zeena"(66). Ethan Frome must endure a life that is full of blunt realism and torturous naturalism.
ReplyDeleteEdith Warton uses both realism and naturalism in her novella "Ethan Frome". Both realism and naturalism affect the three main characters Ehan, Zeena (Ethan's wife), and Mattie (Zeena's younger cousin). ALl of the characters are realistic because they are portrayed as to experience life the way it actually is. Ethan, Zeena, and Mattie all have flaws whether they be physical, emotional, or both. Ethan and Zeena both have physical and emotional flaws because Ethan is "stiffened and grizzled" with "a lameness checking each step" he takes and has formed a forbidden love with Mattie(11). Zeena is physically flawed because she is "what Starkfield called "sickly"" and gets progessively worse throughout the story. She is emotionally flawed because she has grown to be a bitter woman with her mother's death, her limited marriage with Ethan, and Ethan's recent attachment to Mattie. Mattie, while doesn't have any physical flaws until the accident with Ethan, is emotionally flawed because she is pennieless and orphaned and also returns Ethan's forbidden love. Naturalism also comes into play with these characters because the nature of where they live affects the outcome of their lives. All the characters become more harsh and beaten down by the cold bleakness of the winters of Massachusetts. It also limits Ethan's farming buisness which limits the family's income. ALl the characters are changed and altered by each's flaws and by the harsh climate they are swallowed up by.
ReplyDeleteWharton’s use of realism and naturalism are clearly present in the novella Ethan Frome. Ethan had dreams of living in a “large town” and becoming “an engineer.” Ethan wishes to run away from his current life and start a new one in the city, as he had once planned to do, but it develops into nothing more than a wish, since he doesn’t have the money to get away, nor “the heart to desert her.” The characters are all realistic, all flawed. Ethan is “smash[ed] up” and “looks as if he was dead and in hell” already; Zeena is “bitter” because she is always “sickly”; Mattie is “an orphan” who manipulates people to get what she needs. (She lives with Ethan and Zeena and has Ethan supporting her. She is “forgetful and dreamy” and she woos Ethan so that he will pick up all of her housework so that Zeena will not kick her out, and she does no work at all.) As far as naturalism goes, of course Wharton’s choice of environment is a huge obstacle for all three characters. Also, the name of the town, Starkfield, connotes a desolate tundra wasteland, and certainly no place to farm: stark meaning barren and plain (as shown with the description of trees being “starved” and “writhing”) and field connoting a place of growth and new life. This juxtaposition of ideas shows that, yes there is hope of a better life for Ethan, but because of the realism element mixed into the novella, he will never get a taste of it. He will only have his dreams deferred.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the Novella Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton, Ethan, the protagonist experiences situations and decisions that envelope his dreary lifestyle. Realism, Edith uses to create a connection with the reader by relating it to life and lifestyle in that period. Ethan and his wife Zeena are not wealthy, they seem to get by on Ethan's work with their mill and his house of, "plaintive ugliness," maybe a little more run down than the common household, but he has nothing overly intricate or fancy, solely simplistic and functionary. However, each house no matter how poor of how affluent has something they treasure, or either monetary or emotional significance. To Zeena, this was the pickle dish which she, "never uses," because she adores it so much keeping it with, "her best things," but Mattie brings it out when Zeena was away and it shatters. Also Ethan grows fond of Mattie, his wifes cousin, a temptation that would change their lifestyle completely. This affection is relatable because every reader will be subject to love at some point in their life, and they will realize it comes with hard times and good times. Just as the fragility of the human condition, but no matter how much one trys to protect it, it is still subject to break as most good things come to an end, its human nature. Naturalism also contributes to the novella as Ethan and Zeena are very close with nature because they live in the outskirts of a very small town. Their house, has a sunken sense to it which, "presents a life linked to the soil," covered by snow and blanketing in the fragility of the household operating under much tension between all the characters.
ReplyDeleteNaturalism find a home in the novella of Ethan Frome. In the very beginning the reader is struck with the difference between the apparent "vitality of the climate and the deadness of the community" (7). The surrounding landscape seems inviting but the residents of Starkfield hibernate rather than enjoy the snowy blanket. In this statement the relationship between Ethan and Mattie is represented in the idea of naturalism. One can see Mattie as the inviting and dazzling presence of snow, while the slow response to frolic is the reaction of Ethan to act on his feelings for Mattie. The naturalistic hinting continues when Mattie and Ethan share their fateful moments before the sleigh ride. Mattie declares that it is almost to dark while Ethan boasts that he could sled down the hill with his eyes closed. As the two lovers spend their last moments together the night began to fade into a "starless dusk"(141). While sunset is symbolic of romance and the love between Ethan and Mattie, the mention that there are no stars reveals that there is no hope for their love, for stars are what lovers look to for hope that they do not love in vain. Thus, the novella by Edith Wharton, Ethan Frome, is fraught with naturalistic tendencies.
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ReplyDeleteSo far everyone has done a great job on the blogs! Great use of textual evdence!
ReplyDeleteFor those that still have not started writing or posted their blog: in addition to giving textal evidence to support Wharton's idea of naturalism and realism, try to include a specific motif or symbols she uses to enhance these two ideas.
By using naturalism and realism, Wharton illusrates the character of Ethan Frome. Ethan was faced with many struggles. He has high hopes and wishes for his life, but they all come crashing down in the most tragic predicament he is put into. Not only does his situation affect him, it also has a significant effect on all three of the characters. Naturalism comes "from the idea that human beings are part of nature and subject to its laws". Ethan and the rest of the characters are subject to natures laws and also the harsh realities of their situations that they have created for themselves. In contrast but also along with the concept of naturalism used, realism can be shown by the image of his "Sleigh gliding up through the snow like a stage-apparition behind thickening veils of gauze"(10). Realism is reflected by uses of harsh realities. When Ethan attempts to end his life to "fix " things, he ends up making a harsher life for himself and everyone else around him. Like his other unrealistic dreams and aspirations, this one as well came crashing down.
ReplyDeleteThroughout her novella "Ethan Frome," Edith Wharton depicts the life of an ordinary man by the name of Ethan Frome in the harsh environment of New England. In addition to the harsh environment created in the outdoors with the weather, Wharton includes a harsh environment in the home, an environment that she felt stepped outside the realm of fantasies and fairy tales and showed real, natural human interactions that were not sugar coated. For this, "Ethan Frome" can be considered to be a realist and even naturalist piece of literature.
ReplyDeleteThroughout most of the novella, the reader witnesses Ethan's day-to-day life and struggles with his wife, Zeena, who is a sickly woman. Sporadically throughout the beginning of the novel Ethan is reminded and almost haunted by Zeena's actions towards him. At one point, Ethan was trying to enjoy the peacefulness of the moment, daydreaming about his wife's cousin, Mattie, his forbidden love, "and not a sound was audible but Zeena's asthmatic breathing" (Wharton 35). A little later on in the novella, Ethan is waiting for Zeena when all he hears is her "...dragging down-at-the-heel step," which immediately warns him that she and her droopy condition and outlook on life are getting near (69). This recurring motif of sickness haunts Ethan throughout the novella and represents realism for Ethan. He is faced with the fact that life is not always happy-go-lucky and he must live with what he has now.
As the novella goes on, Ethan is confronted with the fact that his strained relationship with his wife is holding him back from confessing his true love for Mattie, as he reveals more and more of his inescapable situation; there seems to be no way to get away from Zeena. The buildup of all of these events, showing the predominance of naturalism in the work, eventually leads Mattie to suggest and Ethan to agree the unthinkable as he is escorting Mattie to the train station; the pair will commit suicide by sledding. As they are sitting on the sled in what they hope will be their last few moments in this treacherous life, Mattie's arms around Ethan feel so right to him and he realizes that "this was better than parting" (92).
Since their "accident" is not successful in the manner they had hoped, Mattie and Ethan become crippled and must be cared for by Zeena, furthering the naturalist theme of finding oneself in a trapped, inescapable situation while also reiterating the realist motif of sickness; that's just how life is and you've got to go with it.
We are all miniscule beings when put into the perspective of things. In Edith Wharton's novella Ethan Frome, the main character, Ethan, is shown to be a part of nature, therefore he is subject to nature's laws. Throughout his entire life Ethan has been unable to pursue his own aspirations because of the difficulties that he has been dealt. As a subject of nature, he virtually has no ability to change how his life will end. After beginning to study physics and pursue his dreams of becoming an engineer, "his father's death and the misfortunes following it" put "a premature end to Ethan's studies." Death is natural and inevitable, unable to escape death, Ethan was forced to change his path and take care of his family. Being subject to the laws of nature such as death can put a toll on one, it becomes exhausting when nature will not let one follow his own desires. Because Ethan is cursed with the inability to defy nature, he must accept nature for what it is, selfless and brutal, uncaring for individual's desires.
ReplyDeleteBrooks: I really like the quote you used, I feel like it really emphasises Ethan's character and his relation to the cold winter days.
ReplyDeleteEmily: Your information on Ethan's background really sets a feel for the realism in the story.
Ray: I loved the quote used about the setting, it really shows that naturalism in the story.
Christiana: Interesting way to tie naturalism in with Ethan's obsession with Maddie.
Margaret: Great way to show the realism of tragic characters by discussing Ethan's rough life.
Haley: Nice way to show realism by highlighting the bluntly shattered relationship between Ethan and Zeena.
Lindsay: I love the quotes you used to depict each of the tragic characters, really showing the realism of the novella.
Virginia: The descriptions your quotes provided on each character really showed the realistic tragedy of them.
ReplyDeleteJessica: Your tie-ins to the characters and the land are great, which good supporting quotes to defend the naturalism of the story.
Jessie: I really enjoyed reading your interpretations of the characters relating to nature, the quotes were right on point.
Sarah: Great textual evidence of realism in the tragic fall of Ethan's character.
Dan: The quotes that you used to descirbe Ethan's view of his sickly wife Zeena were great in presenting the realism of the novella. Your recollation of the accident scene really helps tie the naturalism into the novel and the situations that Maddie and Ethan must now face together.
Alex: Your emphasis on the overall theme of death really shows the naturalism that the novella possesses. The quote on death really ties it all in.