The Complex and Effective Structure of Ethan Frome :: Ethan Frome Essays

The Complex and Effective Structure of Ethan Frome People have often pondered the reasons for the greatness of Edith Whartons novel, Ethan Frome. What is it that causes this story to be considered an all-time Ameri stub classic? One journalist quotes a humanities professor at MIT who states that, We turn to Wharton because the truths she tells are a bracing tonic in a culture steeped in saccharine sentimentality. The journalist goes on to describe the typical, popular story and how they often have endings where romantic ideals are magically fulfilled... There is overmuch more to Ethan Frome than simply an unhappy ending to contrast with the many other stories that have sugar-coated and sanguine endings. At first glance, the ending of Ethan Frome may pop out to be only depressing. In truth, Wharton offers the reader a complex ending through the careful incorporation of poetic justice and irony. Although when we are young, we commonly convalesce ourselves gravitating to books with predictable endings that leave the protagonist and us with what we want, as we mature we develop a hunger for different, more thoughtful or realistic solutions. This is not to say, however, that we can be satisfied solely through the reading of any story that concludes with mere tragedy. The reason why the book Ethan Frome is so widely read is because at that place is a great deal of technique behind the fragment of mere tragedy. Edith Wharton is able to distinguish her novel through the use of irony. banter has been the defining element of many great pieces of literature throughout time. The use of irony dates back all the way to ancient Greece when it was used by Sophocles in the play Oedipus Rex. Irony was also a key element in many of Shakespeares works and appears in many famous short stories. In Ethan Frome, Ethan ends up falling in love with Mattie who at the time seems young and effervescent in comparison to his sickly, deteriorating wife. In at tempting to free himself and Mattie from his commitment to Zeena, Ethan ends up causing Mattie to become paralyzed, taking with it her previous, busy characteristics. All the household responsibilities then fall into the hands of Zeena who is ultimately the most vivacious of the three.