"Ethane Frome," by Edith Wharton

A loveless marriage, and a hopeless affection. This is the story of Ethan Frome, written by Edith Wharton. A wintery setting unveils the nature of his relationship as bleak, cold, and with seemingly no end. Edith Wharton (1862–1937), the author of this novel, was born into a well distinguished family settled in New York, educated by private tutors at her home. From a young age, she had a strong love for literature, and at 16 she was already writing poems, however it was not until 1902 where she published her first novel, The Valley of Decision. From here, she continued to write more and more novels, until getting to her most renowned one, Ethan Frome, published in 1911. She moved to France and died from a stroke, but not before writing her autobiography in 1934. 

We are first introduced to our characters. Ethan, his wife Zeena, and her cousin, Mattie. Zeena is extremely demanding and cold, however she is crippled, so she relies on Ethan to support her. Mattie is her cousin who comes to live with the Fromes after her parents die, so she also must help Zeena, as she has no home and not a penny to her name. Ethan comes to form a connection with Mattie, but knows they can't be together. That is the conflict in the novel, and was introduced when Ethan was watching her dance and realized that his feelings of affection towards her were prominent. Mattie was close to a marriage with her dance partner, so Zeena is on the verge of letting her go as a helper, which is a concept that is carried on throughout the novel. Ethan obviously doesn't want to see Mattie go, so he will go to various lengths to keep her by his side. Diving into Ethan’s character, we can see he is a troubled man, being stuck as a farmer, making not a lot of money, as well as being stuck as the husband to a wife that he doesn’t love. His life in the beginning essentially revolves around making Zeena content, and keeps his feelings for Mattie closeted to himself. As the story progresses, he becomes more expressive and outgoing, making plans with Mattie. This results in a sad irony in the end, where their unlikely relationship results in yet another disappointment or tragedy for Ethan.

I enjoyed this book for a lot of reasons, but mainly, I thought that the symbolism hidden in small details was very interesting to see unfold. One example of this is the setting, described as bleak and cold, which represents psychological states of characters, as well as the colors of the relationships between them. Another piece of symbolism is Mattie’s red ribbon and scarf, which represents her passionate nature, which plays a big role in the story. Overall the way these details play into the story was really well thought out, and helped the progression of the plot, as well as making the story more interesting to pay attention to. If you are into a romance story, Ethan Frome is a great book to buy. It is very short, and even with that limited amount of words, there is a very well written story of a forbidden love, with an amazing theme of irony shown at the end. Also the story is very realistic, which adds to why I liked it. Ultimately, Wharton's novel reminds us how choices we make shape how our lives turn out, and how every tiny decision can make a huge impact on how we decide to live on.