Ethan Frome：A Yearning for Freedom

鐘怡

Abstract： This thesis deals with Edith Whartons famous novella Ethan Frome. After a summary of its plot， this paper dissect Mrs. Whartons Naturalistic view in this story and point out that its the authors naturalistic view that leads to Ethans tragedy. By applying reader-response approach， I then analyzed Ethan Fromes significance.

Key words： Edith Wharton Ethan Frome Naturalism Historical Context

Before Ethan Frome， Ive read Mrs. Whatons short story Roman Fever， and her Pulitzer Prize winner The Age of Innocence. The first two stories all deal with one topic——adulterous love. Ethan Frome is nothing noticeably different when I first read it， as it tells a quite similar story.

The background is set in a fictional town， Starkfield， United States. When Ethan was young， he studied at a technological college. However， “His fathers death put a premature end to Ethans study.” He came back to work on his fathers farm and took care of his sick mother alone. Then he impulsively married a woman who came to help him. She was a person who saw no good in life. And Ethan once reflected “there had never been anything in her that one could appeal to. （Wharton， 118）” Ethan dragged along with his life until Mattie， his wifes cousin， came to live with them. She is full of love for life. After one years living together， they fell in love. Zeena sensed something unusual between her husband and her cousin and heard some rumors about them. She then decided to send Mattie away. Ethan had no guts to stand up against his wife. When Ethan drove Mattie to the station， the two lovers did the most courageous thing in their lives. They went for a sled， which was actually a suicide attempt. But they survived. This smash-up paralleled Mattie for the rest of her life and her character had then thoroughly changed. Ethan came to be described as “the most striking figure in Starkfield”， “the ruin of man”. From then on， Zeena took care of the other two. Then the three of them， Ethan， his wife and Mattie， live under the same roof together till death do them part.

I agree that readers should take an active part in translating the meaning of the text， in other words， to “filling in the texts gaps” or to “concrete the text”. What does it reflect which can help me “concrete” the text”？ What is it in Ethan Frome that Mrs. Wharton tried to tell her readers？

Ethan Frome is a reflection of Naturalism

A perspective of Naturalism looms over the whole story. Naturalist writers believed that a persons heredity and social environment determine his character. And they also think that nature is an indifferent force， acting on the lives of human beings.

“....here becomes Stephen Cranes view in “The Open Boat”： “This tower was a giant， standing with its back to the plight of the ants. It represented in a degree， to the correspondent， the serenity of nature amid the struggles of the individual--nature in the wind， and nature in the vision of men. She did not seem cruel to him then， not beneficent， nor treacherous， nor wise. But she was indifferent， flatly indifferent. （Campbell）

Ethan and Mattie are nature lovers. Mrs. Wharton has depicted breath-taking scenery in Starkfield. One sentence in this novella says “Ethan had always been more sensitive than the people about him to the appeal of natural beauty.…（Wharton， 34）”. To Ethan， the sense for beauty is a mournful privilege. How lonely he must has been when no one understands him. Though later he got his Mattie who appreciated the beauty as much as he did， their love confronted with huge difficulties that they werent able to deal with. Ethan and Matties tenderness and pure soul make a sharp contrast with their own ending， and that just helps complete the cruel tragedy.

Significance of Ethan Frome

When I close the book， I have to ask myself， what is the significance perceived by the readers a hundred years later？ My answer： Ethan Frome is a story about the chase of FREEDOM.

Watching Ethan and Matties story is just like watching two little sparrows trying to fly， struggling as hard as they do， but their weakness always pulls them down to the harsh ground. The road to freedom is tough， only those brave ones can survive. Ethan is afraid of change. He fears that his change may lead to the destruction of his name. Mattie is weak. She is afraid of being left alone. She is not independent enough. She surrenders herself too soon to a love that is morally condemned. Thats her weakness. Zeena is weak in many aspects. She always gives way to what other people say. Her pet phrase is“my folk says……”.

I once investigated some people， asking them this question： “if you are caught in a dilemma， where your cravings disagree with your societys traditional values， what will you do？” Now the former one excelled the latter. The only person who voted for “traditional values” said that she grew up in a quite conservative environment. She took homosexual lovers for an example. She argued that these people somehow all end up marrying straight ones. But this is where her arguments I found rather lame. On the contrary， many western countries legalized homosexual marriage successively， like Holland in 2001， Belgium in 2003， Spain and Canada in 2005， etc.

Thinking about what our ancestors believed in the past， we will find some traditional values rather ridiculous today. Women were not allowed to be educated； one man was allowed to marry several women； emperors were the son of the Heaven……. Social values are always changing， and they can also be changed by us， by the people who live in a society.

As long as one doesnt betray his conscience， theres nothing he could not do for his freedom. This is what Mrs. Wharton and Ethan Frome has taught me.

Work Cited

Campbell， Donna M. “Naturalism in American Literature.” Literary Movements. 15 July 2008. 25 Jan 2010..

Edith Wharton. Ethan Frome. New York： Scribner Library Books， 1939.

Edith Wharton Page. Wikipedia Foundation， Inc. 17 Jan 2010. 25 Jan 2010.

Selden Raman， Widdowson Peter， Brooker Peter. A Readers Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory（4th edition）. Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching And Research Press.