Both Age of Innocence and Ethan Frome shared similar symbolism. To start with, in Age of Innocence, Newland and May attend an opera. In this opera the man kissed the brown string on the women’s dress as he walked away from her. He needed to leave her because they should not be together, just like Newland and Ellen should not be together because he was engaged to her cousin. This compared to the part in Ethan Frome, when Mattie knitted the brown stuff and Ethan kissed it. Mattie pulled the brown stuff away from Ethan before long. This symbolized the fact that Ethan needed to leave her because he was married to Zeena for seven years. These parts are related because they both symbolize a love that needed to be forgotten, a love that needed to be left in the past.…
But if you'll wait around till the old man comes around maybe he can put his hand on it.” This quote showing the suspense of repairing the dish before Zeena gets back from her medical trip so he can fix their “marriage”. The store clerk looking in all corners of the store but can't find any glue symbolizes maybe Ethan should come out and tell about his love for Mattie even if it seems immoral. Ethan shouldn't build up all this guilt for being in love with someone, they can't chose who to fall in love with. Marriage is a process of two people who make their relationship permanent, official and public. But if you don't love that person stop hiding yourself and tell the truth. Don't be scared of making choices that are the best for…
In this chapter, Zeena voiced her health problems and told Ethan that she was going to leave for Bettsbridge to visit a doctor for her pains. As she explained the plan and who she would travel with, Ethan showed no feeling of worry or concern. He automatically agreed to everything, and did not offer to go with her or ask if she needed anything. Notably, he lied about his plans so he would not have to ‘bear the encumbrance’ of dropping her off. Additionally, this was because he has extreme feelings for Mattie, whom he does not wish to leave. Zeena must have felt hurt by the fact that her own husband did not feel anything for her. For this reason, it almost seems as if before Zeena left, she had to ‘establish her dominance’ with Mattie. Perhaps this sprouted a feeling of self consciousness. For example, the tone in which she specifically pushed the empty bottle and told her a job she has to do is much more commanding. It gives a feeling of superiority to Zeena so Mattie feels threatened to not go after Ethan. To further explain, the quote is ‘if you can get the taste out’ which makes the statement sound even more demeaning as it is asking if she has the capability to do such a simple task of properly cleaning a…
During the movie Wharton uses an understatement for Ethan and Zeena’s marriage. While Zeena is away seeing the doctor, Ethan and Mattie messed around. One day Mattie wanted to make the table look “pretty” so she sat out the red pickle dish. The pickle dish was a wedding present Zeena received. Ethan and Mattie was talking and she was getting Ethan seconds, the cat jumped up on the table and knocked the dish onto the floor causing it to shatter. The dish symbolized Ethan and Zeena’s marriage falling apart in a way. When the dish broke Mattie felt very bad about it so she was going to fix it. Ethan took her into town and bought glue so she could glue it back together but it never happened. Zeena returned home sooner than expected because she…
Whenever Mattie and Ethan are together and around Zeena at the same time, things get a little awkward. Both Ethan and Mattie try to hide their feelings and love toward one another while Zeena is around. If Ethan was truly altruistic, he would have told Zeena that he does not love her anymore, and that he loves Mattie. Ethan does not do so. Instead, he hides his love for Mattie around Zeena. Zeena slowly begins to recognize signs, and believe, that Ethan gives more attention to Mattie and not herself. Therefore, Zeena wants Mattie to be leave their house, and hire someone else. When Ethan fights for Mattie to stay, it truly showed that Ethan did not care what Zeena thought about Mattis. All Ethan cared about was to persuade Zeena that they needed to keep Mattie around. That was also an example showing Ethan is selfish and only cares about what he…
“The village lay under two feet of snow… in a sky of iron the points of the Dipper hung like icicles and Orion flashed his cold fires…the white house-fronts between elms looked gray against the snow, clumps of bushes made black stains on it…” (Wharton, 26).…
In Ethan Frome, Wharton uses symbols and archetypes to create Ethan's anguish to his moral obligation to his wife Zeena which keeps him from his true love, Mattie. His moral prison is established with the headstone of another Ethan Frome and his wife that bores that they "dwelled together in peace for fifty years," which interests Ethan (Frome 66). Later on, his own neighbors "don't see there's much difference between the Fromes up at the farm and the Fromes down in the graveyard" (Frome 140). The symbol of "the Fromes down in the graveyard" establishes Ethan's similarities to the dead illustrating his moral obligation to Zeena for eternity (Frome 140). When Ethan feels Zeena's presence, coincidently Zeena's grey cat "[elongates] its body in the direction of the milk-jug, which stood between Ethan and Mattie" (Frome 69).The cat then tries an unobserved retreat and "[backs] into the red pickle-dish, which [falls] on the floor with a crash" (Frome 69). The color archetypes of red' establish Ethan and Mattie's love while the grey' cat establishes Zeena who breaks their love, the dish. Ethan is always besieged by Zeena even when lacking her presence. He…
Once they were married and Zeena became ill they became very distant. Mattie was like a bright light when she came to live with them. Mattie and Ethan would talk and Ethan could enjoy life without the nagging and sickness of Zeena. He would always remember that he married Zeena out of his own self pittypity of not wanting to be alone. From that moment he has not been happy since until he met Mattie. Ethan lied, and became deceitful hiding things from Zeena such as the red pickle dish just to protect Mattie. Once Zeena decided that Mattie was a threat and decided she needed to leave, Ethan had no recourse. Once again, he had no say so and would never be able to change Zeena 's mind. Ethan wanted so bad to run away with Mattie, but knew that there was no way he could leave Zeena with no money in Sparkfield on an already starving farm. Ethan was not one that could hurt anyone, he would rather live forever unhappy then hurt anyone. Ethan decided death was the solution, the only true way he was ever going to get out of Sparkfield, get away from Zeena, and be with Mattie was if they both died in a tragic accident so they both could be together forever after life. He was willing to die since he couldn 't be with Mattie. This shows true unhappiness but also Ethan 's commitment to his wife. Comment by Prof Marc:…
Benjamin Franklin once said, “Where there is a marriage without love, there will be love without marriage.” (Benjamin) Marriage is the foundation for social order because it restrains us from self centeredness and self indulgence. However, with the wrong significant other, one can find themselves on the path to adultery. (Craven) Ethan Frome is a story of a family caught in a deeply rooted domestic struggle. In the novel, the main character Ethan is caught in a love triangle between his wife Zeena, and his maid Mattie. There are numerous themes and conflicts throughout the context. However, within the themes of weakness, isolation, poverty, loves and death, the author brings in five different symbols. A symbol is a thing that represents or stands for something else, esp. a material object representing something abstract. (Symbolling) Moreover, they allow the characters to articulate their emotions more clearly to the reader, which is very useful in bringing light to the story, and it illuminates the meaning that cannot be expressed in words. For example, a dark room symbolizes darkness, depression, gloominess, and hopelessness; therefore we would link that part of the story with darkness. Although, some symbols are easy to define, others require more research and reading. Likewise, through reading Ethan Frome, the color red, pickle dish, cat, setting, and light and darkness all highlight the major conflicts that arise throughout the context. (Wharton)…
Seeing the things she doesn’t have hurts her intensely. In the French version of the text it is said that “[s]he had a well-to-do friend, a classmate of convent-school days whom she would no longer go to see, simply because she would feel so distressed on returning home. And she would weep for entire days from vexation, regret, despair and anguish” (Maupassant 1). Her thirst for more bring emotional grief onto herself. Furthermore, the climax of her life, the product of all of her wanting, is short lived by the loss of the necklace. Her self pride as a higher class woman stops her from telling the truth and decides to buy a replacement for her friend forcing her to lose all her money and material belongings and begin to live in true poverty. The narrator then describes her complete loss of beauty, “[s]he had become the woman of impoverished households — strong and hard and rough. With frowsy hair, skirts askew, and red hands” (Maupassant 5). In fact, she has changed so much that her friend could not recognized her shown because when she greats her, the narrator states “The other astonished to be familiarly addressed by this plain goodwife, did not recognize her at all, and…
In Ethan Frome the one who suffers the most is Ethan although he brought it upon himself. Ethan is miserable and like they say misery loves company so he makes everyone around him just as miserable as he is. Although Ethan is married he puts himself where he is in a loveless marriage and falls in love with Mattie, he can’t get divorced because it was an unethical thing to do so he suffered so much for falling in love with Mattie and kills himself.…
They where going to make passionate love while sleighing downhill. If they succeeded to finish they would leave to go to Florida and start over again. If they didn’t make it, they would crash on the elm tree and their fate would be in God’s hands. They started gaining speed but because Ethan wanted it to last he purposely slowed them down. Mattie was in ecstasy and wasn’t paying attention, since they both felt as if only the two of them existed in the world. Unfortunately, they crashed. They where like two eagles mating, who flew up high in the air, and let themselves fall, leaving their lives to fate alone. Only one thing was different in this occasion. The eagles of Starkfield never died. Mattie had passed out and was lying on the cold snow, but her face and hair were warm and full of life. For a moment, Ethan panicked, believing his beloved was dead, and he stood over her shouting, ‘Mattie Mattie I love you!’ He was desperately crying while Mattie slowly opened her beautiful eyes and moved her gorgeous eyelashes. Her glimmering eyes looked at Ethan and her luscious lips moved to form the phrase ‘I love you Ethan’. Ethan was relieved, however he knew that in order for them to survive and be happy together, they would first have to pass through Zeena.…
These thoughts are communicated via Suits created by Aaron Korsh, a lawyer based show about two unconventional thinkers solving cases while keeping a secret that one of them is a college dropout. In one scene of the episode“We’re done” Mike, a character with photogenic memory but a college dropout is preparing spaghetti sauce for Rachel, his girlfriend from the firm. The details from this scene are laid out with the camera angle placed closed to the pan but away from Mike which allows them to show the ingredients of the sauce, such as tomatoes, oregano, and cheese. Mike doesn’t realize the burden of him being a college dropout until he gets fired from the firm. Here, crushing the tomatoes symbolizes his hard efforts going down the drain because just like crushing tomatoes unveils its plain and sour taste, his weakness has forced him to release the sourness in his career. However, just as oregano and cheese dilute the sourness of tomatoes, his photogenic memory and his job experience will anchor the stability in his new job. A similar approach is found in Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, which is about Janie, the protagonist, self-actualizing after each of her three marriages. Her first marriage with Logan, helps Janie identify her first weakness. The text reads, “When she had finished with that she dumped the dough on the skillet and smoothed it over with her hand...The sow-belly in the pan needed turning. She flipped it over and shoved it back” (32). The dumping of the dough on the skillet here is representing the frustration that Logan dumps on Janie every day by mocking about her not helping in the fields. However, Jody Starks introduction in Janie’s life makes her feel valued for once, where she realizes her weakness of not…
Zachary David Alexander Efron, also known as Troy Bolton, or the love of my life. He has starred in numerous movies and countless tv shows. Anyone would be able to recognize his beautiful face and his unforgettable smile. His perfectly toned body really sets the mood for every movie that he takes his shirt off in. However, he was not always gorgeous. When he first popped out of the womb on October 18th, 1987 he looked like a potato. Who knew that a potato could bloom and turn into a talented actor and singer. His mom Starla Baskett, a bold name choice might I add, and David Efron are the reasons for this wonderful potato man being who he is today. If it was not for them pushing him to pursue his acting and singing career in fifth grade we…
Stanza two of the poem takes time to reveal what each individual notch or marking on the tally stick represents in their actual lives. The most intricate carving described represents the day of their wedding. Their lives were brought together that day the same way “the grains converge and join” (6-7) on the stick. With a simple brush of the thumb, the narrator is brought back into the past and remembers all of the different details about that day. Ironically, arrowheads, a symbol generally associated with violence, are used to depict the days of their children’s births. This association was made because an arrowhead gives direction and purpose to an arrow, much like the way a child can give those same meanings to a parent. The arrowheads combine with the etched crosses, used to symbolize the death of parents and loss of friends, and they “make a kind of design” (12) along the stick.…