Ethan Frome (Signet Classics)

Book Description

Set against the bleak winter landscape of New England, Ethan Frome is the story of a poor farmer, lonely and downtrodden, his wife Zeena, and her cousin, the enchanting Mattie Silver. In the playing out of this short novel's powerful and engrossing drama, Edith Wharton constructed her least characteristic and most celebrated book. In her Introduction, the distinguished critic Elaine Showalter discusses the background to the novel's composition and the reasons for its enduring success.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting book!.......2007-08-21

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton was a really interesting. When you first start reading the book, it's not that interesting. But as the story progresses, the book gets better and better. Ethan Frome is about the love story of Ethan Frome, Zeena Frome, and Mattie, Zeena's cousin. Ethan falls in love with Mattie, but Zeena wants her to go, so Mattie and Ethan try to commit suicide but it fails. Edith writing at times was boring and at times interesting. I would overall recommend it though, because of the interesting story.

"We shall never be alone again like this.".......2007-07-22

Edith Wharton filled her novels with a feeling of ruin, passion and restriction. People can fall in love, but rarely do things turn out well.

But but few of even her books can evoke the feeling of "Ethan Frome," whick packs plenty of emotion, vibrancy and regrets into a short novella. While the claustrophobic feeling doesn't suit her writing well, she still spins a beautiful, horrifying story of a man facing a life without hope or joy.

It begins nearly a quarter of a century after the events of the novel, with an unnamed narrator watching middle-aged, crippled Ethan Frome drag himself to the post-office. He becomes interested in Frome's tragic past, and hears out his story.

Ethan Frome once hoped to live an urban, educated life, but ended up trapped in a bleak New England town with a hypochondriac wife, Zeena, whom he didn't love. But then his wife's cousin Mattie arrives, a bright young girl who understands Ethan far better than his wife ever tried to. Unsurprisingly, he begins to fall in love with her, but still feels an obligation to his wife.

But then Zeena threatens to send Mattie away and hire a new housekeeper, threatening the one bright spot in Ethan's dour life. Now Ethan must either rebel against the morals and strictures of his small village, or live out his life lonely. But when he and Mattie try for a third option, their affair ends in tragedy.

Wharton was always at her best when she wrote about society's strictures, morals, and love that defies that. But rather than the opulent backdrop of wealthy New York, here the setting is a bleak, snowy New England town, appropriately named Starkfield. It's a good reflection of Ethan Frome's life, and a good illustration of how the poor can be trapped.

Even when she describes a "ruin of a man" in a cold, distant town, Wharton spins beautiful prose ("the night was so transparent that the white house-fronts between the elms looked gray against the snow") and eloquent symbolism, like the shattered pickle dish. There's only minimal dialogue -- most of what the characters think and feel is kept inside.

Instead she piles on the atmosphere, and increases the tension between the three main characters, as attraction and responsibility pull Ethan in two directions. It all finally climaxes in the disaster hinted at in the first chapter, which is as beautifully written and wistful as it is tragic.

If the book has a flaw, it's the incredibly small cast -- mainly just the main love triangle. Ethan's not a strong or decisive man, but his desperation and loneliness are absolutely heartbreaking, as well as his final fate. Mattie seems more like a symbol of the life he wants that a full-fledged person, and Zeena is annoying and whiny up until the end, when we see a different side of her personality. Not a stereotypical shrew.

"Ethan Frome" is a true tragedy -- as beautifully written as it is, it's still Wharton's description of how a man merely survives instead of living, hopeless and devastated.

Early 20th Century love triangle.......2007-06-11

This is a short story of a love triangle forcing a man to choose between his sick wife and her cousin. For being written in 1911, it is not the worst book ever published, but today's readers who are experiencing it for the first time will find it dull and lifeless. Compared to other writings of the time, it is enjoyable and succinct, not adding extra fluff in an attempt to make it more interesting.

A Mysterious Love.......2007-05-15

Edith Wharton's fictional novel "Ethan Frome" takes place in an urban area outside of Starkfield, Massachusetts. Ethan Frome is a poor farmer, who is married to an unhealthy wife that he does not love. Zeenie, Ethan's wife, is a hypochondriac but fails to realize it; she loves taking care of people when they are sick. Although when she has no one to take care of she acts sick to get attention from Ethan and others. While at a dance, Ethan spots a beautiful young women by the name of Mattie Silver. He immediately falls in love with her without even knowing it at first. One winter day, Mattie was forced out of the Frome household because of Ethan's wife Zeenie. That afternoon, Ethan asks Mattie for one more night together. Ethan decides to take Mattie on a sled ride on there last night together. While going down a hill, Ethan miscalculates a rock ahead of him and hits it. Sadly, Mattie is knocked unconscious after a blow to the head. Thirty years later, Zeenie is taking care of Mattie at the Frome household due to her condition after the accident. Now Ethan spends his life not only with his wife, but with his love as well. I think people should read this book because it shows the dark views on people and love. This classic novel will have you thinking love and how far it may go.
Isaac Armas

A Dark Love Story.......2007-04-05

Sometimes love can be frustrating, as illustrated by this classic tale. A man locked in a loveless marriage finds passion with another woman, but must restrain his feelings.

Ethan Frome (Enriched Classics (Pocket))

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Illicit Love Loses to Puritanical Ethics [60]
"We shall never be alone again like this..."
Ethan Frome
Ethan Frome The Man Shackled By Fate

Ethan Frome (Enriched Classics (Pocket))
Edith Wharton
Manufacturer: Pocket
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0743487702

Book Description

ENDURING LITERATURE ILLUMINATED

BY PRACTICAL SCHOLARSHIP

EACH ENRICHED CLASSIC EDITION INCLUDES:

• A concise introduction that gives readers important background information

• A chronology of the author's life and work

• A timeline of significant events that provides the book's historical context

• An outline of key themes and plot points to help readers form their own interpretations

• Detailed explanatory notes

• Critical analysis, including contemporary and modern perspectives on the work

• Discussion questions to promote lively classroom and book group interaction

• A list of recommended related books and films to broaden the reader's experience

Enriched Classics offer readers affordable editions of great works of literature enhanced by helpful notes and insightful commentary. The scholarship provided in Enriched Classics enables readers to appreciate, understand, and enjoy the world's finest books to their full potential.

SERIES EDITED BY CYNTHIA BRANTLEY JOHNSON

Customer Reviews:

Illicit Love Loses to Puritanical Ethics [60].......2007-09-22

Aristocratic New York woman residing in Paris writes about impoverished New England man's demise in love - a formula which few would encourage today, and certainly was a misanthropic venture in 1911 when this book was published.

But, Wharton excels in her delivery. The dialogue incorporates much of the Massachusetts' accent. The description of the countryside: magnificent. "On a road I had never traveled, we am to an orchard of starved apple trees writhing over a hillside among outcroppings of slate that nuzzled up through the snow like animals pushing out their noses to breath." And, the story - Bronte meets Sterling. Depressing, grey as the winter weather, and as cold as a Massachusetts' December.

Zeena, originally thought to be named Zenobia, is Ethan Frome's wife from hell. They live in the aptly named town of Starkfield. Zeena, ill and nagging, haunts Ethan as her querulous droning echoes in his psyche, whether he be in the home listening or safely outside working in the farm. Zeena's niece, Mattie or Matt, comes to aid her ailing aunt. And, without any appreciation, she does her chores.

Frome's exclusive enjoyment is seeing Mattie's face each morning - so much does he like this that he commences shaving every morning to look right for her. The amorous affection is not a one-way road. Each becomes increasingly more entranced by the other. And, when Zeena leaves for an overnight stay at a doctor's, opportunity knocks.

But, this is Wharton and written about people in puritanical Massachusetts in the late 19th century - much of the book is reminiscing in 1911 about what transpired 20 years earlier. Illicit love is the forbidden fruit. Contract or arranged marriages delivered sexual pleasure, not love of the heart. Wharton's characters often are prisoners of their societal marriages - Ethan Frome being worse than others as he also lacks any societal privileges or money. True love is doomed too often in Wharton's books: Selden in "House of Mirth", Newland Archer in "Age of Innocence" and Ralph Marvell in "The Custom of the Country" lead similar demises.

The ending is tremendously depressing. I will not detail what transpired, as that would be unfair to readers of this review. But, its twist is what reminds me of Sterling or O'Henry. It was both alarming, and perfect.

"We shall never be alone again like this...".......2007-08-04

Ethan Frome.......2007-01-10

I was surprised to receive this very thin, small novel, but within those 175 pages, Edith Wharton has woven a supremely delicate and beautiful tale. If you're looking to be taken away to another place and another time - but only have a few hours - this is the book for you! Anita Shreve's introduction is equally impressive.

Ethan Frome The Man Shackled By Fate.......2006-10-02

The Romeo and Juliet of its time, Ethan Frome is a suspenseful story about a man shackled by marriage to the lady of his nightmares, and when he finds the love of his dreams he is torn to shreds by what he should do and what he needs to do. An excerpt from the story that best summarizes his predicament is "With the sudden perception of the point to which his madness had carried him, the madness fell and he saw his life before him as it was. He was a poor man, the husband of a sickly woman, whom his desertion would leave alone and destitute; and even if he had the heart to desert her he could have done so only by deceiving two kindly people who had pitied him." As you can see the story has an intricately designed plot that keeps you wondering until the end.

Readings on Ethan Frome (Literary Companion Series)

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Readings on Ethan Frome (Literary Companion Series)

Manufacturer: Greenhaven Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0737701994

Edith Wharton : Novellas and Other Writings : Madame De Treymes / Ethan Frome / Summer / Old New York / The Mother's Recompense / A Backward Glance (Library of America)

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Short novels of society
Ethan Frome
quick to read but still has a twisted plot

Edith Wharton : Novellas and Other Writings : Madame De Treymes / Ethan Frome / Summer / Old New York / The Mother's Recompense / A Backward Glance (Library of America)
Edith Wharton
Manufacturer: Library of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0940450534

Book Description

Collected here in one volume are six works that represent nearly a quarter century in the productive life of one of the most accomplished and admired of American writers. They explore the private worlds of our "Gilded Age." A once free-spirited American woman in Paris tries to extricate herself from her marriage to a French aristocrat in "Madame de Treymes." A divorced mother finds herself in a strange romantic triangle in "The Mother's Recompense." Repressed passions smolder in small town New England in the classic "Ethan Frome," a tale of unhappy marriage and desperate love which erupts in an act of shattering violence, and in "Summer," which Wharton called the "hot 'Ethan.'" Also included here are "Old New York," four linked novellas set in succeeding decades from the 1840s to the 1870s, Wharton's renowned autobiography "A Backward Glance," and "Life and I," a fascinating autobiographical fragment published here for the first time.

Customer Reviews:

Short novels of society.......2007-03-22

In a way, Edith Wharton was at her best in her novellas -- her stories are lean, taut and emotionally deep. And "Edith Wharton: Novellas and Other Writings" explores views on love, sex, marriage, the conventions of the 19th and early 20th century, and even her own life. They're not just fascinating, but beautifully written.

"Ethan Frome" is the male half of a loveless marriage, with the fretful, fussy Zeena. Then Zeena's lovely cousin Mattie Silver comes to live with them, and she brings out a happier, more passionate side of Ethan. But when Mattie is sent away, Ethan must make a decision. He knows he can't stay in his horrible marriage, so will he run away with Mattie? The choice they make will affect all three lives.

"Summer" shocked the 1917 public, with its frank-for-its-time look at a young woman's sexual awakening. It takes place in the New England village of North Dormer, where the young librarian Charity lives. But when Charity falls in love with an upper-class young rake named Lucius, she finds herself pregnant and unmarried -- a destructive combination in the 1900s. There's only one respectable way out.

"The Mother's Recompense" explores the difficulties of Kate Clephane, who abandoned her husband and daughter, and now lives as an unhappy divorcee on the Riviera. She's unexpectedly invited back, to attend her daughter's wedding -- only to find that her daughter's fiancee is one of Kate's ex-lovers. Now Kate has to wrestle her own regrets and jealousies, to figure out whether to tell her daughter the truth.

"Madame De Treymes" is a sort of Henry Jamesian novella, taking place in early twentieth-century Paris. It follows the unhappy lives abroad of two Americans -- the miserable Fanny Frisbee is married to a nasty aristocrat, and living in Paris. As a knight on a white horse, her friend John is trying to convince her to divorce her hubby and marry him...

"Old New York" is a collection of four novellas, exploring different facets of, well, Old New York -- family strife, adultery, illegitimate children, and a young man's inner changes. And "A Backward Glance" is totally different -- Wharton's autobiography, describing not only her life, but her friendships with the artists of the day, and the inspirations for her rich fiction.

Edith Wharton gave unvarnished looks at social conventions throughout her career -- she doesn't judge, she just tells it how it was, whether she's talking about the Roaring 20s or the uptight Victorian era. Divorce was almost unthinkable, affairs scandalous if revealed, and women had the cards stacked against them in matters of love, marriage and sex.

So her works are even better when you set them in context, full of characters who were totally unlike her. Some were male, some timid and naive, some disgraced (she herself was divorced, though this didn't hurt her socially), and some completely broken by society's dictates. Few of her characters are much like Wharton, but she gets inside their heads and makes them entirely believable.

Wharton's formal, often poetic writing style makes these stories all the richer. They're rich with light, smells, sounds and the swirl of nature, even in a city. But it's offset by the starkness of her stories -- if she took a hard look at hypocrises and social conventions, she didn't flinch from showing what happened to those that transgressed. It's realistic, but a bit depressing.

Doomed love and personal reflection are what makes up a lot of "Edith Wharton: Novellas and Other Writings," a magnificent collection of her shorter books. Sad and beautiful, gripping and classic.

Ethan Frome.......2003-11-07

Ethan Frome is a man that has never been able to make decisions for himself. When he married his wife Zeena it the fact that she made a good companion for the situation with his mother. Their relationship was good at first but it slowly started to die when zeena became sickly. He always did what would be best for other people, but when zeena's cousin came to live with them he took time to see her because Mattie made him feel good about himself. Ethan has been in the same place all of his life and never found a true love. Then mattie came and for once ethan stopped looking at what would be best and started looking for that wonderful feeling.

quick to read but still has a twisted plot.......1999-11-16

I had to read this in under two hours for a literary project and I was very pleased to discover an author who managed to write such a constant yet emotional plot in less than 100 pages. It still hasn't dawned on me whether or not Durham was sensible in his choice. I will be writing a full analysis this week so if ever you need help, email me, and I'd be glad to be of service. Good read for the intellectually stimulating conversationalists.

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Ethan Frome
Edith Wharton
Manufacturer: Tantor Media
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: 1400130638

Book Description

Ethan Frome, a poor farmer, is trapped in a loveless marriage. His ambition and intelligence are oppressed until the arrival of his wife's young vivacious cousin.

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Cold and bleak but haunting

Ethan Frome (Penguin Classics)
Edith Wharton
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0142437808

Book Description

Ethan Frome works his unproductive farm and struggles to maintain a bearable existence with his difficult, suspicious, and hypochondriac wife, Zeenie. But when Zeenie's vivacious cousin enters their household as a “hired girl,” Ethan finds himself obsessed with her and with the possibilities for happiness she comes to represent.

In one of American fiction's finest and most intense narratives, Edith Wharton moves this ill-starred trio toward their tragic destinies. Different in both tone and theme from Wharton's other works, Ethan Frome has become perhaps her most enduring and most widely read novel.

Customer Reviews:

Cold and bleak but haunting.......2007-09-02

This is a short, intense novel that absolutely gripped me when I read it. The cold, bleak setting seems so appropriate to Ethan Frome's existence. A life full of obligation and duty, with no hint of joy or spontaneity.

Mattie Silver, a cousin of Ethan's wife Zenobia (Zeena) brings a small amount of light and life into Ethan's life. Ethan pays a heavy price for this, as do both Mattie and to a lesser extent Zeena.

This is a sad novel about duty, tragedy and mutual obligation. It is not a light read, but it is a wonderful piece of prose that demonstrates that there is a form of beauty in brevity.

Highly recommended.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Ethan Frome and Other Short Stories (Bantam Classic)

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Short, sweet, but not so to the point

Ethan Frome and Other Short Stories (Bantam Classic)
Edith Wharton
Manufacturer: Bantam Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0553212559
Release Date: 1987-03-01

Book Description

On a bleak New England farm, a taciturn young man has resigned himself to a life of grim endurance. Bound by circumstance to a woman he cannot love, Ethan Frome is haunted by a past of lost possibilities until his wife’s orphaned cousin, Mattie Silver, arrives and he is tempted to make one final, desperate effort to escape his fate. In language that is spare, passionate, and enduring, Edith Wharton tells this unforgettable story of two tragic lovers overwhelmed by the unrelenting forces of conscience and necessity.

Included with Ethan Frome are the novella The Touchstone and three short stories, “The Last Asset,” “The Other Two,” and “Xingu.” Together, this collection offers a survey of the extraordinary range and power of one of America’s finest writers.

Customer Reviews:

Short, sweet, but not so to the point.......2001-08-18

I believe that this book could be classified as one of those stories that you are glad you took the time to read after you finish it, but getting to that final stage of completion is more of a task than it may seem.

Surprisingly, this is one of the few short stories (90 some pages) that I have ever read, that seemed to droan on for a good half of the time. Never the less, there were some profound moments in the story in which I felt I had been given some truly great moments in literature. My only qualm was that it needed to be about half (or cut it down by a fair 20 pgs) so the reader would not loose so much interest. Do remember though, it is only 90 pages long, so it is not one of the more monotonous scripts out there.

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Spark Notes Ethan Frome
Edith Wharton , and SparkNotes Editors
Manufacturer: SparkNotes
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1586634224

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Ethan Frome
Edith Wharton
Manufacturer: Charles Scribner's Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Ethan Frome: A Nightmare of Need (Twayne's Masterworks Studies, No 121)

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Ethan Frome: A Nightmare of Need (Twayne's Masterworks Studies, No 121)
Marlene Springer
Manufacturer: Twayne Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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