Ethan Frome
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
|
| Author | Edith Wharton |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Romance novel |
| Publisher | various (public domain) |
| Released | 1911 |
| Media Type | |
| Pages | 176 |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-451-52766-6 Ethan Frome (Signet Classics (Paperback)) |
Ethan Frome is a 1911 novel by Edith Wharton. It is set in turn-of-the-century New England, in the fictitious town of Starkfield, Massachusetts. Starkfield is said to be based on the town Plainfield, Massachusetts.
The book was later made into a film adaptation in 1993.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The novel is told by an named narrator who recounts his encounter with the character of Ethan Frome in the wintry town of Starkfield and the story of his life.
Ethan grew up with a desire to escape Starfield for bigger cities, and also to pursue a career in science. However, his schooling was cut short by the ill condition of his parents, and he had to return to take care of them. He met Zenobia (nicknamed Zeena) when she came to the Frome house to tend for his ailing mother. When his mother died in autumn, Ethan hastily asked Zeena to stay with him because he could not bear the thought of being alone for the entire winter. He and Zeena eventually married, although it seemed to be more of a marriage of convenience rather than one of true love. Soon after, Zeena became a burden on Ethan with her hypochondriac illnesses and constant complaining about their situation in Starkfield. JEFF GURANDS tedious way of life continues on for several years, until a young woman named Mattie Silver is sent by relatives of Zeena to their home for free housekeeping duty. Mattie needs the housing because she has been left penniless and an orphan; despite this, she has a youthful and vibrant personality that acts as a foil for Zeena's shrewishness and ill temperament.
Ethan finds Mattie's liveliness to be a bright spot in his otherwise humdrum existence. He is attracted to her, but still feels an obligation to remain with his wife Zeena. To compensate for this, he embarks on a chivalrous affair with Mattie; he takes every opportunity to spend time with her, but never fully consummates his passion beyond a kiss.
The comfort he seeks in Mattie's company is threatened when Zeena says that she will replace Mattie with a hired housemaid. During the time between this announcement and Mattie's leaving, Ethan considers leaving his wife numerous times to elope with Mattie, but every time he lacks the confidence to rebel against the morals of his being and community.
On the day of Mattie's departure, emotion overcomes Ethan, and he tells Mattie that he wants to live with her forever. They decide to take a final sled ride down together into a bulky tree, so it will kill them instantly, rather than live the rest of their lives separated. Ethan, desperate to escape his loveless marriage and meaningless life, complies. The accident, however, fails to kill them, but paralyzes Mattie permanently and leaves Ethan barely able to walk.
After the story is told, the narrator is shown inside Ethan's home, where he finds two old women, one which complains in a whiny voice of the coldness. The whining woman turns out to be Mattie, and the other woman is a healthier Zeena who now looks after Ethan and Mattie.
[edit] Presentation
The story is presented from the viewpoint of a visitor to the town who hears of the entire story not from Ethan, but from other villagers, like the visitor's landlady, Mrs. Ruth Varnum Hale and the trolley operator, Harmon Gow. The novel's power lies in the subtle uses of vibrancy (such as the red glass pickle dish) against the stark, cold background of a Massachusetts winter.
[edit] Moral
The novel has been viewed negatively by some critics, such as Lionel Trilling, as lacking in moral or ethical significance. However, the novel was somewhat autobiographical, with Ethan analogous to Wharton, Zeena to her husband, and Mattie to her lover at the time, and it was most likely not written as a moralistic piece. Wharton's doctor had suggested that she write to get out some of her tension, and Ethan Frome is a prime example of her doing that, and nothing else.
[edit] Popular culture
Ethan Frome is mentioned in the song "Won't you come home, Disraeli" by Allan Sherman. In this comedy cover of the Dixieland jazz song "Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey", Sherman jokes that Queen Victoria was reading Ethan Frome whilst waiting for the then First Lord of the Treasury, Benjamin Disraeli, to return from official business. This would of course have been impossible, due to her dying a decade before the book was published and Disraeli himself dying some two decades before Her Majesty.
Ethan Frome is also mentioned in the last stanza of the Regina Spektor song '2.99 Cent Blues':
but when I get me all real tired
and I got no more strength to roam
I catch me a horse driven carriage ride
from a local man named Ethan Frome
he don't say much as he tips his hat
and he carries his body as heavy as lead
and he could have been flying through the snow on his sled
but he wife was in bed and the horses had to be fed
besides it's 2.99 a story
pay up it's just 2.99 a story...
2.99 a gallon
Ethan Frome was also the name of a computer virus, circa 1996, that altered MS Word Documents at random, changing certain meta-data attributes, including the document author and document creation date.
On the television show "The Simpsons", the novel is referenced when Lisa Simpson joins a "Book of the Month" club. She reverently clutches a huge dictionary-sized volume to her chest and exclaims, "Finally a copy of Ethan Frome to call my own." The joke? This novel is under 200 pages long.
Ethan Frome was also mentioned in the movie Grosse Pointe Blank starring John Cusack. After returning to his high school for his 10 year reunion, he runs into his former English teacher and asks, "Are you still - you know - inflicting all of that horrible Ethan Frome damage, or is that off the curriculum?"
[edit] External links
- Ethan Frome, available freely at Project Gutenberg
- Ethan Frome at American Literature
