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Ethan Frome

By edith wharton, ethan frome themes, passion and transgression.

Wharton shows the difficulties of repressed and illicit passion, passion without any sanctioned outlet. Ethan has had a loveless marriage, and Mattie Silver has been the catalyst for some very powerful emotions. Passion is blocked by social convention and circumstance. Wharton is a devotee of naturalism, and in many of her novels the environment is the true shaper of men's destinies. Ethan's situation dooms his passion for Mattie Silver. But passion should not necessarily be seen as a potential liberator; in the novel passion seems more like yet another force that robs men of their agency.

Determinism/Naturalism

Determinism is an important theme in this novel and in many of Wharton's other books. Starting with late-nineteenth century American literature, exposure to Darwin and thinkers like Huxley and Spencer began to have a strong influence on American novelists. Naturalism, the school of thought that makes individuals subject to forces of heredity and environment, was a new philosophical force in novels and plays. Individuals have little or no agency, and the environment destroys or nurtures as it sees fit. A person is either born to adapt or made to fail. In Ethan Frome , the influence of this Darwin-inspired outlook is undeniable. Wharton links it to an older form of determinism, the harsh philosophy of New England's old Calvinists, by choosing Starkfield, Massachusetts as her setting. The historical backdrop of Puritanism is for atmosphere rather than for religious instruction: there is little God in Wharton. The environment, which can be natural, cultural, or situational, is the force that decides men's fates.

The land and the people

The connection between the land and the people is a recurring theme of the novel. The narrator is amazed by the harshness of the Starkfield winters, and through his experience of the winter he comes to understand the character of the people. In her introduction to the novel, Wharton talks of the "outcropping granite" of New England, the powerful severity of its land and people. This connection between land and people is very much a part of naturalism; the environment is a powerful shaper of man's fate, and the novel represents this relationship by constantly describing the power and cruelty of Starkfield's winter.

Rural New England in winter is a land under siege, with tiny towns and tinier farms separated by vast expanses of cold and snow. The isolation is both physical and emotional. Ethan feels from a young age that he is alone in his sensitivity to natural beauty and his curiosity about science. By the time of the narrator, the tragedy of Ethan Frome has removed him even farther from the other people of Starkfield. The narrator remarks that in a town like Starkfield, people's lives are harsh enough so that they have little time to alleviate the pain and troubles of others.

Lost potential

This theme is closely connected to the themes of determinism, connection between the land and the people, and isolation. As Starkfield is not a nurturing world, Ethan's curiosity and intellect have had few outlets. Both in his youth and in his old age, the disparity between his intellectual curiosity and the limitations of his environment is painful. By the time the narrator meets him, Ethan is not only the ruin of the man that he was, but the ruin of the man that he could have been.

Loss and transience

Wharton also creates a feeling of loss and transience. Wharton uses the flashback structure to draw attention to buildings that once were beautiful that now have decayed. In Frome's youth the buildings are new and handsome, whereas by the time the narrator sees them they are old and faded. Beginning with Chapter 1, the tone of the descriptions is much more sensual: there is a sense of the town as a living place, with smells and colors described evocatively. But we are looking at the past, and it is a far cry from the dead world the narrator of the opening shows us. The effect is a very bleak portrayal of the relationship between a small town and the passage of time. In a big city, old buildings become historic, or they are replaced by new buildings. In Starkfield, old buildings simply fall into disrepair. Family fortunes dwindle, and men like Ethan Frome fade and deteriorate as slowly and certainly as the buildings of their immediate environment. The most horrible contrast is between the young and vibrant Mattie Silver and the broken and hateful old crone that the narrator meets in Chapter 10.

From the author's own introduction to the novel, written in 1922 and included in most editions, there is a sense of frustration with earlier portrayals of rural life in New England. Wharton is reacting against a kind of literature that romanticizes poverty and rural life. She depicts rural life as incredibly harsh. Poverty's greatest curse is that it takes away options. It traps Ethan at the farm, just as later it forces Ethan, Zeena, and Mattie to live under the same roof.

Ethan Frome Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Ethan Frome is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

in what way does the social and economic context of the passage most clearly help develop a theme

From the author's own introduction to the novel, written in 1922 and included in most editions, there is a sense of frustration with earlier portrayals of rural life in New England. Wharton is reacting against a kind of literature that...

Style Analysis

Check this out:

http://www.ukessays.com/essays/english-literature/point-of-view-in-ethan-frome-english-literature-essay.php

Was Mattie silver smart?

Being smart in any sense is subjective. I know you are looking for an answer but it really is up to you. I don't think she was cunning or had intentions to usurp Ethan's wife. She loved Ethan and really didn't know what to do about it. She doesn't...

Study Guide for Ethan Frome

Ethan Frome study guide contains a biography of Edith Wharton, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Ethan Frome
• Ethan Frome Summary
• Character List
• Prelude and Chapters 1-2 Summary and Analysis

Essays for Ethan Frome

Ethan Frome literature essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Ethan Frome.

• Restraints on Desire in Ethan Frome and The Age of Innocence
• Ethan and Mattie: Victim and Victor
• Use of Setting in Ethan Frome
• A Natural[Ethan]istic Story
• Unavoidable Manipulators

Lesson Plan for Ethan Frome

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Introduction to Ethan Frome
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Ethan Frome Bibliography

E-Text of Ethan Frome

Ethan Frome E-Text contains the full text of Ethan Frome

Wikipedia Entries for Ethan Frome

• Introduction

Home — Essay Samples — Literature — Novel — Ethan Frome: The Significance of Setting in Edith Wharton’s Novel

Ethan Frome: The Significance of Setting in Edith Wharton's Novel

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Ethan Frome

Edith wharton.

The Narrator , an engineer assigned to a job at a power plant near the town of Starkfield, MA, is intrigued by a tall crippled man he sees at the local post office. He learns that the man, Ethan Frome , was injured in a sledding accident 24 years earlier, but can get little more from the secretive locals. Circumstances lead the narrator to hire Ethan to drive him to and from his work. One night a violent winter storm forces Ethan to invite the Narrator to stay overnight at the Frome farm, where what he sees inspires him to reconstruct the tragedy.

The Narrator's vision begins with 28-year-old Ethan Frome peering through a church window at 21-year-old Mattie Silver , Ethan's wife's cousin. Mattie works at the Frome farm, where she provides domestic help to Zeena , Ethan's ailing wife, in return for room and board. As Ethan watches, Mattie dances with the arrogant Denis Eady , son of the town's wealthy grocer. Jealous, Ethan eavesdrops as Mattie refuses Denis's offer of a ride home and begins the two-mile walk back to the farm alone. Ethan hurries after her and they continue past a dangerous sledding hill, where Mattie's friend Ruth Varnum and Ruth's fiancé Ned Hale have recently avoided a serious accident. The attraction between Mattie and Ethan is palpable, but unspoken. When they reach the farm, they are surprised to find the door locked. Zeena greets them at the door, complaining that she is feeling "too mean to sleep." Ethan goes to bed with an uneasy feeling that Zeena guesses his feelings for Mattie, though she gives no outward sign.

The next day, Ethan postpones hauling a delivery of lumber to Andrew Hale , a local builder. Stopping at the farmhouse, Zeena, dressed in traveling clothes, informs him that she is making an overnight trip to Bettsbridge to consult a promising new doctor about her "shooting pains." Ethan quickly agrees to the plan, realizing that it will allow him to be alone at the farm with Mattie. He lies to Zeena that he can't take her to the station because he must collect payment from Andrew Hale.

Although he knows Hale never pays in advance, Ethan goes to him for the money in order to avoid being exposed as a liar. But Hale politely declines his request, and Ethan does not press him. Returning empty-handed to the farm, he finds Mattie presiding over a carefully-laid supper table. The blissful scene is shattered, however, when Zeena's red pickle-dish , a favorite wedding present, is knocked to the floor by the cat. Anticipating Zeena's anger, Mattie is terrified, but Ethan assures her that he will glue the fragments together before Zeena returns. The two go upstairs to bed without declaring their passion for one another or so much as touching.

The next day, farm work and bad weather conditions delay his errand to buy glue to mend the pickle-dish. When he returns home, he learns from Mattie that Zeena has already arrived and gone straight up to their room. Collecting himself, Ethan goes up to greet her, only to learn that the doctor has told her she will die unless she hires more efficient domestic help. She tells him a new hired girl will arrive the following day, and that Mattie must go immediately.

Mattie, waiting at the supper table, learns of her dismissal from Ethan, who kisses her passionately, no longer able to hide his feelings. Zeena approaches and interrupts them. She joins them at the dinner table, although previously she had claimed to be too ill to eat. Complaining of heartburn, Zeena leaves the table in search of stomach powders, but returns carrying the broken pickle-dish . Mattie confesses, which only fuels Zeena's determination to replace Mattie.

That night, Ethan starts to write a letter informing Zeena he has decided to elope with Mattie and go out West. Considering the plan further, though, Ethan realizes that he has no way of getting even the bit of money needed to travel West. He's also afraid of what will become of Zeena if she can't sell the farm. He falls asleep, leaving the letter unfinished.

Ethan decides to approach Hale and lie in order to get the money he needs. But at Hale's house he meets Hale's wife, who praises his dedication to Zeena. Her compassion makes Ethan ashamed of his plan to lie, and he gives it up. He returns to the farm to find Mattie's departure already underway. He tells Zeena that he, not the farmhand Jotham Powell , will drive Mattie to the train.

Instead of driving directly to the train station, Ethan and Mattie first go to Shadow Pond, the site where they had first fallen in love. Afterwards, they stop at the sledding hill and Ethan proposes that they go for the ride they've often considered taking. The first ride is accomplished without incident, but then Mattie suggests that they go down again, but steer into a big elm tree at the bottom of the hill rather than face parting from one another. Ethan complies—but just before they strike the tree Ethan sees a vision of Zeena's face, and momentarily swerves. Neither of the two are killed by the collision, but both are crippled for life.

The frame story resumes 24 years later, as the Narrator follows Ethan into the farmhouse kitchen. There he encounters two gray-haired women, one tall and thin, the other huddled in a chair. The tall one is Zeena, and the paralyzed woman, whose voice whines just like Zeena's, is Mattie Silver.

The following day, the Narrator tells his landlady, Mrs. Ned Hale , about his night at the Frome farm. The Narrator and Mrs. Hale talk sympathetically about Ethan. They describe him as imprisoned on the poverty-stricken farm with two discontented hags, doomed to contemplate the ruin of his hopes and to blame himself for his role in their destruction.

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Personal or Social Tragedy? A Close Reading of Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome

Photograph of writer Edith Wharton, taken by E. F. Cooper, at Newport, Rhode Island. 

Wikimedia Commons

"…after all, the tragedy unveiled to us is social rather than personal… 'Ethan Frome' is to me above all else a judgment on that system which fails to redeem such villages as Mrs. Wharton’s Starkfield." —Literary critic and author Edwin Bjorkman

Readers of Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome (1911) can hardly fail to be moved by the suffering of the title character. Ethan is, quite literally, a physical and emotional wreck. His misery captivates the narrator. Indeed, the whole body of the novel represents the narrator’s effort to reconstruct the tragic circumstances of Ethan’s life. Yet even as the story concludes, we are not quite sure what or who to blame for Ethan’s ruin. Was Ethan ruined by his personal problems (his loveless marriage) or by “the crushing, choking atmosphere” of his social environment? Had Ethan been able to express his love for Mattie, could he have lived happily in Starkfield?

This lesson will challenge students to weigh the textual evidence for and against the claim that Ethan’s woes lay in staying in Starkfield—and not in the details of his personal relationships. In the process, students will engage in a close reading of pre-selected passages from the novel, along with a few passages of their own choosing through at-home reading journals. These close reading exercises will culminate in an in-class debate and possibly the crafting of a short argumentative essay, in which students will have an opportunity to respond to Bjorkman’s thesis.

Guiding Questions

Is Ethan’s story a personal tragedy born of his indecision and personal failures, a social tragedy forecast by the oppressive New England setting, or both?

Learning Objectives

Situate Ethan Frome within the context of American regionalist literature.

Gather, annotate, and analyze key quotations from Ethan Frome.

Respond to contemporary reviews of Ethan Frome.

Use textual evidence to support their own claims about the plight of the novel’s protagonist.

Lesson Plan Details

Who is responsible for Ethan’s ruin and misery? Ethan himself? Zeena? Fate? Starkfield? What would it have taken for Ethan to be happy? Marrying Mattie? Having more money? More courage? Better luck? Leaving town? Ever since the book’s publication, these questions have been central to the critical reception of Ethan Frome . The critic Edwin Bjorkman, for example, offered the following comment in a 1913 essay:

"Glancing over the all too brief volume [Ethan Frome] in retrospect, I can find only one point where it suggests a certain degree of failure, of growth still unachieved…   "As I read the book now, I come away with an impression that, in the author’s mind at least, the one thing needed to change Ethan’s life from a hell to a heaven would have been the full and free expression of his love for Matt. "Romantic love, as idealized for us by our forefathers, has long ago gone into bankruptcy. Had Zeena died and Matt married Ethan—well, it is my private belief that inside of a few years life on that farm would have been practically what it was before Matt arrived, with Matt playing the part of a Zeena II—different, of course, and yet the same. For the life in our Starkfields is cursed or saved not by this or that single incident, not by the presence or absence of this or that individual, the curse lies in staying there, in breathing the crushing, choking atmosphere of Starkfieldian sterility."

Bjorkman points to a fundamental ambiguity in Wharton’s narrative—is the oppression of the environment such that opportunities for personal growth are choked out? Is this a problem for the society as a whole, or is it, instead, simply a problem for Ethan and his family?

Wharton conception of Ethan Frome was motivated, in part, by her response to a previous generation of (mostly female) “New England fiction” writers, who wrote with some affection about the small communities tucked away in the New England landscape. What follows are Wharton’s own comments on the New England fiction of the late nineteenth century, and its influence on the writing of Ethan Frome :

"I had known something of New England village life long before I made my home in the same county as my imaginary Starkfield; though, during the years spent there, certain of its aspects became much more familiar to me.   "Even before that final initiation, however, I had had an uneasy sense that New England of fiction bore little—except a vague botanical and dialectical—resemblance to the harsh and beautiful land as I had seen it. Even the abundant enumeration of sweet-fern, asters, and mountain-laurel, and the conscientious reproduction of the vernacular, left me with the feeling that the outcropping granite had in both cases been overlooked. I give the impression merely as a personal one; it accounts for 'Ethan Frome,' and may, to some readers, in a measure justify it." —From Wharton’s Introduction to Ethan Frome

"But the book to the making of which I brought the greatest joy and the fullest ease was 'Ethan Frome.' For years I had wanted to draw life as it really was in the derelict mountain villages of New England, a life even in my time, and a thousandfold more a generation earlier, utterly unlike that seen through the rose-coloured spectacles of my predecessors, Mary Wilkins and Sarah Orne Jewett. In those days the snowbound villages of Western Massachusetts were still grim places, morally and physically: insanity, incest and slow mental and moral starvation were hidden away behind the paintless wooden house-fronts of the long village street, or in the isolates farm-houses on the neighbouring hills…" —From Wharton’s 1934 autobiography, A Backward Glance

These comments, along with the Bjorkman passage cited above, are all reproduced in the Ethan Frome: Sources handout . You may want to print and distribute that handout before beginning the lesson in preparation for the activities below.

Note that the generation of New England fiction that motivated Wharton was a subset of the much broader “local color” or “regionalist” movement in American literature, which flourished during the decades following the Civil War. An overview of the local color movement (its defining characteristics, techniques, and authors) is available on Prof. Donna Campbell’s American Literature site. You may wish to copy and distribute this overview for use with Activity 1 below, or prepare to project it on a screen or otherwise share it with students.

Edith Wharton: A life in pictures and texts , via Internet Public Library, offers a biography of Wharton through pictures, and serves as a nice introduction to her life for students. The excellent exhibit, Edith Wharton’s World , at the EDSITEment-reviewed Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery website highlights Wharton’s associations with various great literary, cultural, and political figures of her era, including: William Dean Howells, Henry James, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Theodore Roosevelt. 

• Review the lesson plan and the websites used throughout. Locate and bookmark suggested materials and websites. Download and print out documents you will use and duplicate copies as necessary for student viewing, including the “Close Reading” worksheet and the Ethan Frome: Sources handout .
• Students can access the primary source materials and some of the activity materials via the EDSITEment LaunchPad .
• An online text of Ethan Frome is available at Project Gutenberg .

Activity 1. Edith Wharton and (New England) Regional Literature

Begin by introducing the class to Edith Wharton’s life, using the resources discussed in the Background section above. Explain that Wharton follows a generation of mainly female authors who wrote about life in New England—authors who placed a heavy emphasis on the significance of the regional landscape, culture, mores, and dialect. Note that these authors belonged to a movement in nineteenth century American literature called “local color” or “regionalist” fiction.

Provide an overview of the local color movement, drawing from Prof. Donna Campbell’s American Literature site (see Background for more information, above). Review the list of “characteristics” and “techniques” associated with regional literature, and have students take note of the specifics for the following:

• Detailed description
• Frame story

As you go through this list, remind students that they will be keeping “reading journals” as they read Ethan Frome , and they should keep the above in mind as possible ways to respond to their reading selections (e.g., for one journal entry, students might focus on the narrator, or a specific theme, or the use of description in a chapter).

Note to students that Edith Wharton was in some ways critiquing some of the New England regionalist writers of the time. Read with the class Edith Wharton’s own comments on her New England regionalist predecessors, which can be found in the Ethan Frome: Sources PDF (a link is also available via the EDSITEment LaunchPad ). Notice that despite the apparent affinities between Wharton and her predecessors, Wharton’s own motivation lay largely in repudiating the idealized portrayals of New England life characteristic of the regionalist genre.

Take note of the two authors whom Wharton explicitly accuses of viewing New England through “rose-coloured spectacles”: Sarah Orne Jewett and Mary Wilkins (Freeman). If students in the class are familiar with the works of either Jewett or Freeman, ask them if Wharton’s complaint against Jewett and Freeman seems justified? Otherwise, encourage students to pay close attention to the qualities of regionalist literature as discussed above. Throughout their reading of Ethan Frome , they should keep in mind this question:

• Based on the criteria discussed in class, to what extent is Ethan Frome consistent with the typical regionalist novel? To what extent does it break from the regionalist mold?

This question is an excellent one to return to at the conclusion of the novel.

Activity 2. Introducing Ethan

Turn to the introductory chapter of Ethan Frome and, if time allows, read it aloud with students (alternatively, have them read it the night before). As the class completes the chapter, help them closely review the chapter with the following questions in mind, pointing to specific passages in order to discern answers. The point of this exercise is both to introduce the novel as well as to demonstrate close reading skills that students show employ as they read the novel and consider ideas in their reading journals.

Review “who” is telling the story and how the narrator is getting his information. Ask students to describe the characters they are introduced to in the opening “frame” of the narrative. Invite the class to discuss the setting of Ethan Frome and its role in the overall construction of the novel.

• Who is the narrator and where is he from?
• Is it significant that the narrator is from out of town? Why or why not?
• How does the narrator differ from those who supply him with information about Ethan Frome?
• How is Starkfield depicted? What does its name suggest?
• How does the narrator describes the town and its inhabitants? Is the tone celebratory, disdainful, or somewhere in between?

This exercise is partially to review the novel, but also to show students how to read closely by first beginning with a simple question (e.g., who is speaking?) and then move into a deeper reading of the situation with more in-depth questions. Be sure to point out to students how beginning with straight-forward questions and then “drilling down” with increasingly complex questions in the same line of thought can reveal quite a lot about a novel’s elements, be it narration, setting, or theme. Also note that questions can begin as factual ones (e.g. “What is the name of the town”) to more abstract, argumentative ones (e.g. “Is Wharton’s depiction of Starkfield always ‘stark,’ or does she also note some redeeming qualities of the landscape?”).

As students read through the whole of Ethan Frome , they can focus on any number of issues, while keeping track of their ideas in their reading journals. In addition to following attributes of regionalist literature, students might consider any or all of the following questions:

• Where in the text of Ethan Frome can we detect Wharton’s professed commitment to portraying life in New England “as it really was”?
• Based on Ethan Frome, what are some characteristics of rural New England and the people who live there?
• How do we know that the story is as much about Starkfield—the place—as it is about Ethan, the person? How are the characters and the setting intertwined?

With these in mind, conversations about literary realism, depictions of community and setting, and other such topics can be discussed throughout the class exploration of the novel. To help guide students further in their close-reading efforts, use the following activity as your class is reading the novel.

Activity 3. Reading Ethan Closely

To stimulate close reading of the novel, present the short excerpt from Edwin Bjorkman’s essay, written 2 years after the publication of Wharton’s novel. (Note that the excerpt can be found in the attached Ethan Frome: Close Reading handout .) First, ask students to explain Bjorkman’s central thesis: namely, that Ethan was ruined by staying in Starkfield—not by staying with Zeena. Then discuss:

• Is Bjorkman right to claim that, “in the author’s mind at least, the one thing needed to change Ethan’s life from a hell to a heaven would have been the full and free expression of his love for Matt”? Does the class share Bjorkman’s impression that Wharton concedes too much to “romantic love”?
• Is there any textual evidence to support Bjorkman’s claim that, “Had Zeena died and Matt married Ethan…inside of a few years life on that farm would have been practically what it was before Matt arrived”? Is there any textual evidence against that claim?
• How does Bjorkman’s critique square with Wharton’s own comments on New England regionalist literature?

After a brief discussion of these points, students will be ready to complete the “Close Reading” worksheet . The worksheet contains four pre-selected passages from Ethan Frome , each containing evidence for and/or against Bjorkman’s claims. With his claims in mind, as well as Wharton’s own professed reasons for writing the novel, students should analyze and annotate the passages. Then, in the space provided, students should write 3-4 sentences using each passage to address the following question:

Does the text portray Ethan as a victim of his social and physical environment, or of his own personal choices and temperament?

Once students have analyzed the four assigned passages, they should add additional quotations of their own choosing and repeat the passage analysis exercise for each one. Note that this activity can be assigned in a variety of ways—spread out over several evenings of reading; given as an in-class assignment for individuals or for groups; divided among groups who then must debate one another on either side of the issue; or any number of other options.

Depending on the time available, generate discussion based on quotations students find, questions such as those listed above, ideas students share from their reading journals, or return to the discussion about regionalism. Students will likely bring up issues such as free choice (or lack thereof) and personal agency, peer pressure, public versus private, personal versus social roles and responsibilities, and any number of others. Feel free to contextualize Wharton further as a realist who reflected, in Ethan Frome particularly, a more deterministic flair often seen in the naturalists. As with previous exercises, ask students to use textual evidence to back up their assertions.

As a final activity, consider asking the class to take one side or the other on the central issue of Ethan’s agency and debate the point. Give students at least 5 minutes to find key passages to use as evidence (and more time, if possible, so that the debate is substantive).

There are a number of potential assessment activities for this lesson plan. Student reading journals can be collected for review, as can the close reading worksheets. Teachers might evaluate the students’ group work or individual participation in the final debate in Activity 3. Attention to textual evidence, originality of ideas, and presentation of material all serve well as criteria for evaluation.

For an essay assignment, students who completed the Close Reading Worksheet will be ready to compose a short essay discussing the following claim: Ethan is portrayed as a victim of his social and physical environment . Students should not merely state their agreement or disagreement with the claim; they should try to articulate a more complicated reading of the text, indicating the extent to which the claim is true and the extent to which it must be qualified. They should give reasons for their conclusions, in the form of close analysis of textual passages. The most effective essays will strive to account for the whole body of evidence, noting counter-examples and anticipating counter-arguments along the way. Note that by this point, students have already done all the prep-work necessary to begin this assignment, as they will have already compiled and annotated at least eight passages that bear directly on the essay prompt.

As Wharton began her career, the realist school that had so dominated American fiction since the Civil War was just beginning to give way to the rising stars of literary naturalism. Indeed, in many ways Ethan Frome stands at the confluence of the realist and naturalist periods of American literary history. Wharton was claimed by the older generation of prominent realists (like William Dean Howells) for depicting life “as it really is”; yet her emphasis on the power and hostility of our physical and social environments also marked her as a naturalist. Students will notice that both of Wharton’s literary identities are on full display in Ethan Frome , making the text an ideal segue into the works of naturalists like Stephen Crane and Jack London. To explore the complex relationship between realism and naturalism, this lesson can be taught in conjunction with Crane, London, and Literary Naturalism .

Selected EDSITEment Websites

• Local Color
• Edith Wharton: A life in pictures and texts
• Ethan Frome
• Edith Wharton’s World

Materials & Media

Personal or social tragedy: worksheet 1 - ethan frome sources, personal or social tragedy: worksheet 2 - ethan frome close reading.

Ethan Frome

79 pages • 2 hours read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-2

Chapters 3-5

Chapters 6-8

Chapter 9-Epilogue

Character Analysis

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Important Quotes

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Prologue Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue summary.

While visiting Starkfield’s post office, the narrator—an engineer temporarily working at a nearby power plant—notices a scarred and limping man. Impressed by the man’s “careless powerful look” (8), he learns from the local stagecoach driver that the man’s name is Ethan Frome and that he received his injuries in a sledding accident 24 years earlier. When a strike at the plant forces the narrator to winter in Starkfield, he becomes increasingly curious about Ethan. However, most people in Starkfield seem reluctant to discuss Ethan’s past.

One day, the narrator abruptly finds himself without a ride to the train station. The stagecoach driver, Harmon Gow , suggests that he hire Ethan, whose farm is unprofitable. For the next several days, Ethan takes the narrator to and from the station in his sleigh. Ethan is generally silent during these rides but shows occasional interest in the narrator’s work.

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