![]() ![]() This lesson will challenge students to weigh the textual evidence for and against the claim that Ethan’s woes lay in staying in Starkfield-and not in the details of his personal relationships. Was Ethan ruined by his personal problems (his loveless marriage) or by “the crushing, choking atmosphere” of his social environment? Had Ethan been able to express his love for Mattie, could he have lived happily in Starkfield? Yet even as the story concludes, we are not quite sure what or who to blame for Ethan’s ruin. Indeed, the whole body of the novel represents the narrator’s effort to reconstruct the tragic circumstances of Ethan’s life. Ethan is, quite literally, a physical and emotional wreck. ![]() Readers of Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome (1911) can hardly fail to be moved by the suffering of the title character. Literary critic and author Edwin Bjorkman "…after all, the tragedy unveiled to us is social rather than personal… 'Ethan Frome' is to me above all else a judgment on that system which fails to redeem such villages as Mrs. ![]()
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