Term Papers on Ethan Frome

Term Paper Title	Ethan Frome
# of Words	1024
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	4.1

Ethan Frome

AP English 3

Sometimes authors toy with the emotions of the reader and his perception of right and wrong by the way characters are described. In a wellwritten essay, relate how the character Zeena Frome is in the right and the character Ethan and Mattie are in the wrong. Relate how characterization (the description and creation of a character and his or her traits) serves to make the reader despise Zeena and pity Ethan and Mattie, despite the fact that Zeena is the one being wronged.

            In Edith Wharton’s novel, Ethan Frome, Wharton uses a number of literary techniques that toy with the emotions of the reader.  The main story is written in an omniscient "thirdperson" point of view which enables the reader to understand the thoughts and feelings of all characters.  However, Wharton is very conservative on how this devise is used, causing the reader to develop a biased, onesided opinion. This becomes evident as Ethan and Mattie develop a relationship while Ethan is still married to Zeena.  Even though Zeena is being wronged, the animosity that was built up prior to this incident makes the reader feel as if the relationship between Ethan and Mattie is appropriate.  Although Wharton tries to convey that Ethan is right, there are still numerous reasons why Zeena is the one who is truly doing the right thing.

            Initially, it is obvious from the very beginning that Ethan did not marry Zeena for love.  After Ethan’s father passed away, Zeena took care of Ethan’s mother.  After Ethan’s mother passed away, Ethan could not bare the thought of being alone so he married Zeena.  He selfishly decided to disregard the feelings of love from Zeena just to satisfy his own fear of abandonment. This is not only unfair to Zeena but it is also the root of her unhappiness.  Throughout the book Zeena is described as "sickly" and Zeena is blamed for the lack of communication between her and her husband. A deeper analysis of this issue would show the reader that the fault of the lack of communication does not lie with Zeena, but with Ethan. When Ethan got married to Zeena he made a scared vow to love her.  When Zeena found out that he had broken that vow she became devastated. The way in which this novel was composed deceives the reader into thinking that Ethan was the victim when in fact his suffering was his own doing and his actions caused Zeena pain as well.

            Furthermore, Zeena was wronged when Ethan cheated on her with Mattie.  Ethan devoted all of his attention to his lustful thoughts of Mattie while completely ignoreing Zeena.  Moreover, Wharton used vivid imagery and other literary techniques to convince the reader that Ethan’s impure thoughts were justified when describing Zeena. When describing Zeena, Wharton used words associated with winter while descriptions of Mattie were springtime comparisons. Throughout the book, Mattie appears to be the happy, appealing opposite of Zeena.  Whar...

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